We
learn from ancient writers about the lesser known "Oracle
of Trophonius." According to the Homeric Hymn
to Apollo, Trophonius along with brother, Agamedes,
were the two architects who had designed and built Apollo's
temple at the oracle at Delphi.
According
to Pausanias' 2nd Century AD Guide to Greece the
two brothers, Trophonius and Agamedes, later on also
designed and built
a treasure chamber for King Hyprieus of Boeotia (Lebadea).
Using a secret entrance into the chamber that only
they knew about, the brothers then went about systematically
stealing Hyprieus' fortunes.
The
king was aware his treasure
was disappearing, and so he laid a snare for
the unknown thief. Agamedes became trapped in the snare;
and Trophonius
cut off his brother's head so that his brother
could not be captured and then tortured and so that
he would
not be discovered by the king. However, the earth
opened and swallowed up Trophonius at what has become
known
as the pit of Agamedes.
The
cave of Trophonius was not discovered again until the
Lebadaeans suffered a plague, and the Delphic Oracle
advised them that an unnamed hero was angry at being
neglected, and that they should find his grave and offer
him worship. The cavern was discovered, the plague ended,
and the oracle of Trophonius was born.
The
oracle was then frequented by those seeking a visionary
experience. After a series of tests showing that the
petitioner would be kindly greeted by the oracle, the
person seeking the vision was lowered into the cave through
a narrow opening that was just large enough to squeeze
a body through. The person would then stay until receiving
an answer.
Most
visitors were paralyzed with terror upon coming up,
and therefore forgot what they'd seen. They
would then be seated upon a chair of Mnemosyne
(memory), where the priests of the shrine would record
their ravings
and then compose an oracle out of them.
It
is said that none of the visitors who consulted the
oracle
ever died
in the experience, save one man who had secretly
gone with the purpose of pillaging the treasures
of the shrine.
The
Vision of Timarchus in the Trophonius Oracle as
told by Plutarch: "He
said that on descending into the oracular crypt
his first
experience was of profound darkness; next, after
a prayer, he lay a long time not clearly aware
whether
he was awake or dreaming.
It
did seem to him, however, that at the same moment he
heard a crash and was struck on the head, and that the
sutures parted and released his soul. As it withdrew
and mingled joyfully with air that was translucent and
pure, it felt in the first place that now, after long
being cramped, it had again found relief, and was
growing larger than before, spreading out like sail;
and next that it faintly caught the whir of something
revolving overhead with a pleasant sound.
When
he lifted his eyes the earth was nowhere to be seen;
but he saw islands illuminated by one another with soft
fire, taking on now one color, now another, like a dye,
as the light kept varying with their mutations.
They
appeared countless in number and huge in size, and
though not all equal, yet all alike round; and he fancied
that
their circular movement made a musical whirring in
the aether, for the gentleness of the sound resulting
from
the harmony of all the separate sounds corresponded
to the evenness of their motion."
