[117]
57. "However, the main question is this:
Why are Delphic oracles (of which I have just given
you examples) not uttered at the present time and
have not been for a long time? And why are they
regarded with the utmost contempt? When pressed
at this point their apologists affirm that 'the long
flight of time has gradually dissipated the virtue of
the place whence came those subterranean exhalations which inspired the Pythian priestess to utter
oracles.' One might think that they are talking
about wine or brine which do evaporate. But the
question is about the virtue of a place—a virtue which
you call not only 'natural' but even 'divine,'—pray
how did it evaporate? 'By length of time,' you
say. But what length of time could destroy a
divine power? And what is as divine as a subterranean exhalation that inspires the soul with power
to foresee the future—a power such that it not only
sees things a long time before they happen, but
actually foretells them in rhythmic verse? When
did the virtue disappear? Was it after men began
to be less credulous?
[p. 505]
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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