---
name: Pythia
period_ancient: -800 - 395
period_modern: 2001 - 2024
locations: Delphi (Greece), Mount Parnassus
---

# Pythia

## Cultural Context

**Figures Associated:**
- Pythia (the Oracle of Delphi); regarded as Apollo's mouthpiece, she delivered prophecies influencing major Greek decisions from politics to personal matters. Selected from local women, the Pythia underwent purification rituals and possibly chewed laurel leaves to enter trance states. Her role blended spiritual, cultural, and political significance.

**Events Associated / Significant Cultural Impact:**
1. The Oracle at Delphi's political influence; for over a millennium, kings, generals, and ordinary citizens consulted the Pythia before major decisions. Her prophecies shaped wars, colonization, and political alliances across the ancient Mediterranean.

2. The geological theory of prophetic trance; modern research suggests the Oracle's visions may have been induced by ethylene gas rising from geological faults beneath the temple, creating a natural hallucinogenic chamber.

**Fashion Icons / Symbolism:** Oracle Ball / Magic Ball, Skirt of Pythia, laurel wreath, tripod seat, temple serpent imagery


## Drug Connections

**Modern:** [NOS](../../traits/overlays/molecules/nos.md)

**Ancient:** [Ethylene](../../traits/overlays/molecules/ethylene.md)

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythia
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/delphic-oracle-s-lips-may-have-been-loosened-by-gas-vapors/

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## Miberas with this Ancestor

[#0118](../../miberas/0118.md) • [#0124](../../miberas/0124.md) • [#0125](../../miberas/0125.md) • [#0179](../../miberas/0179.md) • [#0183](../../miberas/0183.md) • [#0214](../../miberas/0214.md) • [#0222](../../miberas/0222.md) • [#0240](../../miberas/0240.md) • [#0257](../../miberas/0257.md) • [#0263](../../miberas/0263.md) • [#0313](../../miberas/0313.md) • [#0341](../../miberas/0341.md) • [#0463](../../miberas/0463.md) • [#0468](../../miberas/0468.md) • [#0475](../../miberas/0475.md) • [#0493](../../miberas/0493.md) • [#0502](../../miberas/0502.md) • [#0511](../../miberas/0511.md) • [#0527](../../miberas/0527.md) • [#0549](../../miberas/0549.md) • [#0579](../../miberas/0579.md) • [#0606](../../miberas/0606.md) • [#0627](../../miberas/0627.md) • [#0637](../../miberas/0637.md) • [#0653](../../miberas/0653.md) • [#0689](../../miberas/0689.md) • [#0706](../../miberas/0706.md) • [#0756](../../miberas/0756.md) • [#0779](../../miberas/0779.md) • [#0780](../../miberas/0780.md) • [#0803](../../miberas/0803.md) • [#0879](../../miberas/0879.md) • [#0912](../../miberas/0912.md) • [#0927](../../miberas/0927.md) • [#0960](../../miberas/0960.md) • [#0966](../../miberas/0966.md) • [#0989](../../miberas/0989.md) • [#1029](../../miberas/1029.md) • [#1080](../../miberas/1080.md) • [#1180](../../miberas/1180.md) • [#1192](../../miberas/1192.md) • [#1210](../../miberas/1210.md) • [#1223](../../miberas/1223.md) • [#1237](../../miberas/1237.md) • [#1241](../../miberas/1241.md) • [#1298](../../miberas/1298.md) • [#1300](../../miberas/1300.md) • [#1306](../../miberas/1306.md) • [#1314](../../miberas/1314.md) • [#1351](../../miberas/1351.md) • ... and 396 more

*446 Miberas total*
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