Aristonice

Aristonice (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστονίκη) was an Ancient Greek prophetess who served as the Pythia in the 5th-century BCE and counseled numerous Ancient Greek polities regarding their conduct in the Greco-Persian Wars.

According to Herodotus, a 5th-century BCE Greek historian, Aristonice had instructed a Cretan and an Argive delegation to retain neutrality; she warned a Spartan delegation that, should Sparta fight, either their king or their city would fall; and she warned an Athenian delegation to surrender and flee.^[1] More specifically, Aristonice warned the Athenians to "φεῦγ᾿ ἔσχατα γαίης" ("pheûg’ éskhata gaíēs"), which the classicist A. D. Godley translates as "flee to the ends of the earth."^[2] Alternatively, the philologist Noel Robertson suggests that the term "γαῖᾰ" ("gaîa") may also mean "land" or "country," and therefore the text may refer exclusively to the land of Greece, or—even more specifically—Attica. Consequently, the passage may also be translated as "Flee to the ends of Attica" or "Flee to the ends of Greece," which could itself be interpreted as a reference to the Peloponnese.^[3]

The tendency for the Pythia to proscribe neutrality or surrender to Greek cities instead of resisting the Persians may indicate that the oracle had intentionally sought to aid Xerxes in his conquests.^[4][3] However, Robertson suggests that it is unlikely that the city of Delphi would ally with the Persians, as their city was intimately connected with the Peloponnesian League, which was itself staunchly dedicated to resisting occupation.^[3] The historian George Beardoe Grundy suggests that the oracle may have believed that the Persian invasion was largely directed against Athens specifically. Therefore, Aristonice may have hoped that—by encouraging the Athenians to migrate—she would remove the casus belli for the Persian offensive, perhaps protecting the other Greek city-states in the process.^[5]

Herodotus recounts that the Athenian ambassadors, although initially dejected, were then approached by a prominent resident of Delphi named Timon, who advised them to approach the oracle once more, this time with olive branches. Upon returning to Aristonice, the Athenians supposedly received another prophecy. The second divination opens with a description of Pallas unsuccessfully entreating Zeus, likely—according to Robertson—in reference to the persistent attempts of the Athenians to consult the oracle. Regardless, the messengers, considering the second prophecy to be more propitious than the first, wrote down the oracular response and reported back to the city of Athens.^[3] However, Robertson argues that the two prophecies are not dissimilar in content—both beseech the listeners to flee.^[3] Aristonice stated that a "wooden wall" would provide safety for the Athenian people, which was interpreted by some Athenians as a reference to wooden ships.^[1]

Themistocles, an Athenian politician, convinced the people of Athens that the prophecy actually foretold of a naval victory at Salamis, which caused the Athenian public—now assured of victory— to prepare for war. The prediction of Themistocles eventually became true following the Athenian victory at the Battle of Salamis.^[1] Roberton, however, suggests that the passage likely did not allude to ships, as an armed naval resistance would conflict with the previous instructions of the oracle to flee.^[3] Other Athenians, particularly—according to Herodotus—the elderly population, interpreted the prophecy as alluding to the wooden wall that had once surrounded the acropolis. Robertson likewise rejects this interpretation, arguing that a wooden wall would be an impractical defensive structure incapable of enduring the Persian advance. Instead, Robertson suggests that the oracle was most likely referring to the impromptu fortifications established to protect the Corinthian isthmus, itself the gateway to the Peloponnese. Thus, Robertson argues that the oracle intended for the Athenians to withdraw to the Peloponnese and regroup with other Greek city-states opposed to the Persians.^[3]

It is perhaps possible that the story of the oracle had been heavily altered through oral transmission before it had reached Herodotus. Aeschylus, a 5th-century BCE Greek tragedian, in his play The Persians, describes a ruler of Asia riding a "swift Syrian chariot,"^[6] which may relate to the mention of "Syrian horses" in the account of Herodotus. These two passages may reflect the same oral tradition—though, it is unclear whether Aeschylus invoked the oracle or vice versa.^[7] If the story had acquired a mythic character prior to its codification in the works of Herodotus, then the words of Aristonice may have been reshaped to conform to the customs of dactylic hexameter, a style characteristic of Greek epic literature.^[7] However, the historian Peter Green argues that the ambiguous nature of the prophecy best reflects the words of a Pythia who spoke prior to the events of the Greco-Persian Wars and therefore did not already know the outcome. According to Peter Green, had the prophecy been composed at a later date, its authors would be more likely to adjust the prophecy to better align with the ultimate conclusion of the conflict. Green suggests that the exact meaning of the prophecies was likely left intentionally opaque, so as to allow the statements to remain true regardless of the ensuing events.^[8]

The exact chronology of the events is uncertain.^[7] Herodotus concludes the description of the prophecies with verb ἐγεγόνεε, which is inflected for the pluperfect tense, a grammatical category in Ancient Greek utilized to express events occurring prior to another specified point in time. This phrase may indicate that—at least according to Herodotus—the oracles were delivered prior to the assembly of "all the Greeks" described in the ensuing passages. This assembly may itself represent the Congress at the Isthmus of Corinth in 481 BCE, at which various Greek poleis attempted to organize a resistance against the Persians. Alternatively, the classicist James Allan Stewart Evans argues that the final pluperfect is unrelated to the subsequent topics and merely refers back to the introduction of the first prophecies.^[7] The second prophecy may reference Salamis as possible site for a future battle, which—presuming that the oracle could not truly foresee the future—may itself indicate that the Greek coalition was already planning the historical Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE. However, Herodotus otherwise suggests that the choice of battle at Salamis was an impromptu decision made by the Athenians as a result of the inability of the Peloponnesian forces to reach Boeotia.^[10] Yet, this account of Herodotus is contradicted by the Themistocles Decree, a document of dubious authenticity which claims that the decision to abandon Attica as a pre-determined plan.^[11]

In the second prophecy, the oracle references the arrival of cavalry and foot infantry from the mainland, which—according to the classicist Jules Labarbe—may indicate that the events occurred in 480 BCE, whilst the Persian army was stilling crossing into Greece from Anatolia.^[7] The classicists Joseph Wells and W.W. How argue that the somber tone of the oracle indicates that the Greek military situation had deteriorated significantly, likely as a consequence of the retreat of the Greek coalition from the Vale of Tempe in 480 BCE and the Persian invasion of Thessaly. Wells and How suggest that the prophecies must have been offered prior to the Greek defeat at Thermopylae in 480 BCE, as there would not be sufficient time available for the Athenians to send two delegations to the Pythia.^[12] Moreover, the historian J.A.S. Evans notes that Herodotus himself recounts a tale whereby Macedonian messengers supposedly informed the Greeks at Tempe of the size of the Persian force.^[13] If this story is to be accepted, then it indicates that the Greeks were not fully aware of the threat imposed by the Persians until 480 BCE, thereby removing any apparent justification for the oracle to express such despair in 481 BCE.^[7]