Plutarch, De Defectu Oraculorum, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 1

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[1]

(The persons taking part in the conversation are: Lamprias, Demetrius, Cleombrotus, Ammonius, Philip, Didymus, and Heracleon.)

The story¹ is told, my dear Terentius Priscus, that certain eagles or swans, flying from the uttermost parts of the earth towards its centre, met in Delphi at the omphalus, as it is called; and at a later time Epimenides² of Phaestus put the story to test by referring it to the god and upon receiving a vague and ambiguous oracle said,

Now do we know that there is no mid-centre of earth or of ocean;

Yet if there be, it is known to the gods, but is hidden from mortals.

Now very likely the god repulsed him from his attempt to investigate an ancient myth as though it were a painting to be tested by the touch.

De Defectu Oraculorum. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Obsolesence of Oracles (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. V. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τῶν ἐκλελοιπότων Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙI. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1891.) — 1 focus

[1] 409e ἀετούς τινας ἢ κύκνους, ὦ Τερέντιε Πρῖσκε, 409f μυθολογοῦσιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄκρων τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τὸ μέσον φερομένους εἰς ταὐτὸ συμπεσεῖν Πυθοῖ περὶ τὸν καλούμενον ὀμφαλόν· ὕστερον δὲ χρόνῳ τὸν 10 Φαίστιον Ἐπιμενίδην ἐλέγχοντα τὸν μῦθον ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ λαβόντα χρησμὸν ἀσαφῆ καὶ ἀμφίβολον εἰπεῖν

οὔτε γὰρ ἦν γαίης;¹ μέσος ὀμφαλὸς; οὐδὲ θαλάσσης

εἰ δέ τις ἔστι, θεοῖς δῆλος θνητοῖσι δʼ ἄφαντος.

15 ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὖν εἰκότως ὁ θεὸς ἠμύνατο, μύθου 410a παλαιοῦ καθάπερ ζωγραφήματος; ἁφῇ διαπειρώμενον.

Translations (1)

Why the Oracles Cease to Give Answers Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. IV. Goodwin, William W., editor; Midgley, Robert translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 1 focus

[1] THERE is an old story, friend Terentius Priscus, that heretofore eagles or swans, flying from the opposite bounds of the earth, met together where now stands the temple of Apollo Pythius, in the place now called the Navel; and that some while after, Epimenides the Phaestian, willing to satisfy his curiosity, enquired of the oracle of Apollo with regard to this story, but received such an answer as made him never a jot the wiser; upon which he said:

No navel is there of the earth or sea:

’Tis known to Gods alone, if one there be.

Thus fitly did the God chastise this bold enquirer into ancient traditions.

Notes on the current edition

The Obsolesence of Oracles

1. The numerous other references to this story may be found most conveniently in Frazer’s Pausanias, v. p. 315.

2. Diels, Frag. der Vorsokratiker, ii. p. 191, Epimenides, no. b 11.

Plutarch De Defectu Oraculorum 1

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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(The persons taking part in the conversation are: Lamprias, Demetrius, Cleombrotus, Ammonius, Philip, Didymus, and Heracleon.)

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

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