Het Orakel van Delphi in de Peloponnesische Oorlog: Speler of Speelbal?

Abstract

The Delphic Oracle, a renowned religious apparatus and a beacon of religious activity in ancient times. This holy place was an authority for many Greeks in all layers of civilization. It was so important for the Greeks that they even had a place for the oracle in their mythology. In the written history of the Peloponnesian War, on of the most important wars fought out in Greece among the poleis themselves with it's main forces being Sparta and Athens, there is little mention of the oracle.The influence it has on the war, and vice versa the influence of the war on the oracle, are almost always overlooked. A strange thing since they appear to be connected. Because of this the influences they may have on each other shall be explained in this thesis. Was the Delphic oracle a puppet of the warring parties or was it in fact a party of it's own in this war? Besides this the thesis will mention the influence the oracle had on the diplomacy in this war. How did this express itself and what can we say of other parties, from the bottom up, have influenced the diplomacy in this war. This will be done by looking at the works of the Greek historian Thucydides who wrote on both the Peloponnesian war as well as the Delphic oracle. In his work he also mentions the treaties that resulted from the diplomacy in this war. Al this is necessary to answer the main question that arises from this historical event: What was the role of the Delphic oracle in the course of the Peloponnesian war?