Posted on 10/04/2012 5:34:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
According to legend, the sibyl traveled to Tarquin's palace bearing nine books of prophecy that set out the whole of the future of Rome. She offered the set to the king for a price so enormous that he summarily declined -- at which the prophetess went away, burned the first three of the books, and returned, offering the remaining six to Tarquin at the same price. Once again, the king refused, though less arrogantly this time, and the sibyl burned three more of the precious volumes. The third time she approached the king, he thought it wise to accede to her demands. Rome purchased the three remaining books of prophecy at the original steep price.
What makes this story of interest to historians as well as folklorists is that there is good evidence that three Greek scrolls, known collectively as the Sibylline Books, really were kept, closely guarded, for hundreds of years after the time of Tarquin the Proud. Secreted in a stone chest in a vault beneath the Temple of Jupiter, the scrolls were brought out at times of crisis and used, not as a detailed guide to the future of Rome, but as a manual that set out the rituals required to avert looming disasters. They served the Republic well until the temple burned down in 83 B.C., and so vital were they thought to be that huge efforts were made to reassemble the lost prophecies by sending envoys to all the great towns of the known world to look for fragments that might have come from the same source. These reassembled prophecies were pressed back into service and not finally destroyed until 405, when they are thought to have been burned by a noted general by the name of Flavius Stilicho.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.smithsonianmag.com ...
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Interesting article. A certain young fan of Riordan’s might find it neat to see how archeology and mythology sometimes cross.
Cool stuff. The explanation of a ritual representing a trip through the underworld seems reasonably convincing—especially since there is no other explanation offered.
No need to excerpt from The Smithsonian. You already paid for it. ;)
;’)
This is awesome.
Perhaps a NATURAL cave existed there and the Greeks further excavated and expanded it.
One has to wonder wth was going through their minds.
Probably sex beer and guns. No, scratch that, sex wine and swords.
Probably sex beer and guns. No, scratch that, sex wine and swords.
Probably sex beer and guns. No, scratch that, sex wine and swords.
Robert Temple devotes many chapters to this in his book,Netherworld, which I found very interesting.
http://www.amazon.com/Netherworld-Robert-Temple/dp/009941466X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1349539895&sr=8-3&keywords=netherworld
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