Afterword

The papers in this volume offer a variety of perspectives on divinatory phenomena attested among ancient Greeks and do so across an appreciable span of time – from earliest Greek oracular notions evolved from pre-Greek sacrificial cult concepts to Greek narratives emanating from Roman imperial times. At the later end of the temporal continuum, Lucian is made especially conspicuous by Fields’ treatment of the satirist in her concluding chapter, but cumulatively Pausanias could hardly be judged to be inconspicuous in the volume, nor could Plutarch, the Delphic priest. But despite the thematic and chronological range of the contributions, there are commonalities and similarities that run throughout. Herodotus, for example, does not fail to make at least one appearance in every chapter and occupies a central position in the expositions of Chapters 3–7. In that core set of Herodotean chapters, however, the historian often provides a literary vehicle for rehearsal and consideration of matters of orality and of poetics relevant to divination pointing us back toward the earlier end of the temporal continuum on display within this work.