Today’s entry is on the Sybil and the Sibylline Books, something I find so fascinating and I hope you do too! The first major text that references the Sybil is Virgil’s Aeneid is Aeneid 6. The Sybil are prophetesses in Greek religion, legend and literature.

A quick little bit of etymology. The name ‘Sybil’ is of Greek Origin. It derives from the Greek word Sibylla, meaning prophetess. The name itself has been in common use in Christian countries since the Middle Ages in the forms of Sibilia and Sibila.

Traditional myths tend to depict the Sybil as a woman of old age who uttered predictions in a state of frenzy. However, as a as figure of the mythological past her prophecies, always in Greek hexameter, were handed down in writing. The Sybil were the priestesses of Apollo and in some sources, they appear to also be his mediums, i.e. Apollo would possess them and use them as mouthpieces to deliver his prophecies.

In the 5th and early 4th centuries b.c., the Sybil was always referred to in the singular form, and she was located at Cumae (an Ancient Greek colony located on the mainland of Italy). However, from the late 4th century onwards the number of Sybil apparently multiplied and after that, they were referred to always in the plural (Sybilla- Sybil). At the end of the fourth-century b.c. there appear to have been four Sybil, located in Cumae, Phrygia, Erythrae, and Hellespont. But, by the end of the first-century b.c. there appear to have been ten Sybil in Eastern Iran, Cumae, Delphi, Erythrae, Hellespont, Libya, Persia, Phrygia, Samos, and Tibur.

In the Aeneid, the Sybil of Cumae accompanies Aeneas on his journey to the Underworld. He finds her at a temple in Cumae and Apollo possesses her to convey a prophecy which she relays to Aeneas details for the rest of his journey. She tells him that a second Achilles has been born in Latium, that Juno will be a part of the Trojan destiny, and that once again a foreign bride will be the source of all Trojan woes (seriously at this point maybe they should just stop marrying foreign women…?). One thing I found very interesting about the Sybil in the Aeneid is the way her possession was described. Virgil writes, “But the priestess, not yet submissive, was still in wild frenzy in her cave. The more she tried to shake her body free of the great god the harder he strained upon her foaming mouth, taming that wild heart and moulding her by his pressure. ”. How she struggles against Apollo makes me wonder if the role of the Sybil was an optional one, or forced upon them.

Another famous myth about the Sybil, and the origin of the Sibylline Books, is that an old woman approached one of the last seven Roman kings- Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud). The Sybil approached Tarquin with nine books claiming they were prophecies he could turn to in the event that Rome was ever in trouble. When Tarquin asked for the price, she quoted him an extortionate amount, he then proceeded to laugh and send her away. The next day, the Sybil turned up again and offered Tarquin six of the nine books, saying she had burnt three of them. When he asked for the price again, she gave him the same price she had originally demanded for all nine. Once again Tarquin laughed her away. On the third day, she returned with three of the original nine books, saying she had burnt three more of the books, and told asked for the price she had asked for for all nine. Tarquin became more serious, believing that the insistence and confidence ought not to be ignored. He brought the remaining three books, all for the price of the original nine. These three collections of prophecies became known as the ‘Sibylline Books,’ and Augustus built the Palatine Temple in 28 b.c. to house these books. Also, for any of you wondering, the three scrolls no longer exist because once again SOMEONE BURNT THEM. Seriously I am on my last nerve with people burning historical texts.

A Babylonian Sibyl was later credited with writing the Judaeo-Christian Sibylline Oracles (on which 14 books still thankfully survive). The Sibyl, therefore, came to be regarded by some Christians as a prophetic authority comparable to the Old Testament. This view goes so far that on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo alternates between Sibyl’s and prophets.

Anyways! I hope you all enjoyed reading about the Sybil. (Also side note if you fancy a bit of laugh go check out Michelangelo’s paining of the Sybil of Cumae- he based all his paintings off of male models and its like a hench hench old lady). Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

bu sonsuz mekanların ebedi suskunluğu beni ürkütüyor.

I don’t know what’s with this series but I come back everytime.

For a moment, the girl was silent. Then she said, “I met him in September, but it would hardly have been fair to ask you, or anyone else, Tom, to share that particular secret.”

Erskine said with a sudden anger, “But you might have been killed!”

“Perhaps,” she said. “But I don’t think so. In any case, I’m safe now, amn’t I? And the truth can do none of us any harm. Sybilla, I’m calling at Boghall, and then going straight on to Dalkeith. I’ll let you know what happens. Tom …”

He said heavily, “You’re determined to go on with your championship of this—this—”

“Outlaw? I want to finish what I’ve started, Tom. Is that a bad thing? If I’m right, then I’ll have prevented an injustice. If I’m wrong, then the popular point of view—and yours—is vindicated. In any case, you are the man I am contracted to marry. You don’t suppose I have forgotten that?”