14 Inquiries to Delphi and to Amphiaraus §§53-56.1

Croesus sends to the two proven oracles, affirming his belief, that only they are real oracles, asking whether he should go to war with the Persians and, if so, whether he should find allies. Both oracles give the same response: a prophecy that if he attacked the Persians he would destroy a mighty empire, and a recommendation to find out who were the most powerful of the Greeks and to make an alliance with them.^[1] Croesus is overjoyed at these oracular replies (54).^[2]

The first oracle by itself certainly appears (especially in retrospect) to embody the notorious Delphic ambiguity.^[3] Conjoined with the advice about finding allies, however, it unambiguously suggests that Croesus will destroy the Empire of Persia. If Croesus’s own empire is meant, why should he bother finding allies? (He can surely lose the war on his own!) In the event, he is destroyed even though he has made the alliance with Sparta. The recommendation about allies is wholly superfluous. From the point of view of narrative technique and Herodotus’s theme, the search for allies allows Herodotus to tell stories of Athens and Sparta carrying important messages for his contemporary audience. If Croesus had received only the first message about destroying a great empire, we would perhaps be justified in calling Croesus naive, but the two oracles taken together can hardly suggest anything but victory.

Again Croesus lavishes gifts upon Delphi, now two gold staters to each Delphian, and is given in return the privilege of first consultation at the oracle, exemption from all fees, the best seats at festivals, and the right to any Lydian of becoming a citizen of Delphi. Again the actions of Delphi are much more meaningful if there is to be a continuing relationship with Lydia; again Croesus is confirmed in thinking that he will prevail in his war against Cyrus.

Despite these reassurances, he feels the need to inquire yet again about his security. Again he sends to Delphi, now asking whether his monarchy will last long (55). The oracle responds that Croesus has no reason to fear until a mule becomes king of the Medians. Like the witches’ prediction to Macbeth about the Birnham Wood moving to Dunsinane, Delphi ostensi­bly predicts a long duration. Only in the outcome is some ambiguity evident. Croesus, fortified by three oracles plus the evidence of the oracles’ power, is extremely confident (56.1). He cannot conceive of a mule’s ever becoming king, and he now attends to finding out who of the Greeks is the strongest.

The passage on the oracles makes the peripety in Croesus’s collapse all the more stunning. The principle behind going to an oracle is the reduction of uncertainty in one’s life: foreknowledge is power. But as in very many tragic examples, the foreknowledge is illusive. What more, really, could Croesus have reasonably done?