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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Erythraean Sibyl, by the name of Herophile, was the prophetess of classical antiquity presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Erythrae, a town in Ionia opposite Chios. The town was built by Neleus, the son of Codrus.
The word Sibyl comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word sibylla, meaning prophetess or "women who bear God in their minds" - women of divine mind (sibylle). There were ten Sibyls in the ancient world according to some authorities. They distinguished one another by name.
This oracle prophecied Alexander the Great's divine parentage, according to legend. His mother, Olympias, was said to have had an affair with Zeus, the King of the gods in Greek mythology. Sibyls would give common sense answers whose value depended upon good questions - unlike prophets who typically answered with responses indirectly related to questions asked.
The Erythraean Sibyl was from Chaldea a nation in the southern portion of Babylonia, being the daughter of Berosus who wrote the Chaldean history, and Erymanthe. Herophile was her real name, however since she lived a long time on the island of Erythrae she became known as the Erythraean Sibyl.
Apollodorus of Erythrae affirms the Erythraean Sibyl to have been his own countrywoman and to have predicted the Trojan War and prophesised to the Greeks who were moving against Ilium both that Troy would be destroyed and that Homer would write falsehoods.
The word acrostic was first applied to the prophecies of the Erythraean Sibyl, which were written on leaves and arranged so that the initial letters of the leaves always formed a word.
The Erythraean Sibyl in the beginning of her song, which she commenced by the help of the Most High God, proclaims the Son of God as leader and commander of all in these verses:
- All-nourishing Creator, who in all
- Sweet breath implanted, and made God the guide of all.
[edit] References
Giovanni Boccaccio’s Famous Women translated by Virginia Brown 2001, pp. 42-43; Cambridge and London, Harvard University Press; ISBN 0-674-01130-9
[Category:Sibyls]]
