itself after this one and there is a famine in it, it is naturally under this form
that they will make the quotation’’ (2.54.1–3).The Two Main Types of Divination
Two main types of divination are usually distinguished.Inductive divinationis based
on the interpretation of signs, as in the flight of birds, which the gods have sowed in
the universe to enable men to decode them.Inspired divinationwas delivered by
prophets and prophetesses whose minds were seized directly by the gods. Inductive
divination took place wherever one had need of it, from the field of battle to the
eccle ̄sia. Inspired divination was more tied to a sanctuary (chre ̄ste ̄rion,manteion).
Often, the ancients devalued the first type in favor of the second.
Divinely inspired speech, just like the divine sign, needed exegetes who worked on
the basis of intuition, which is mocked by Cicero (On Divination2.30.63–5), but
also within the framework of a logical, empirical, and associative process. The diffi-
culty of this quasi-scientific approach for the believers – but for us the squaring of the
circle – was increased by the varying context of each revelation, which could alter its
significance. An earthquake occurred: King Agis, at the frontier with Argos, decided
to return to Sparta. But in 388 BC Agesipolis was already in Argive territory and
interpreted the earthquake as a favorable omen (Xenophon,Hellenica4.7.1–3). And
an identical dream gave rise to seven different futures (Artemidorus 4.67).
Inductive divination
Inductive divination identifies and decodes the well-known signs disseminated across
the world by the gods and rests upon the analogical pattern of thought, inscribed into
the heart of man, that wants the things down here, the microcosm, to reflect the
world above, the macrocosm. Some people were more sensitive to the perception of
signs and their meanings than others. To disentangle the skein of causal connections,
one had recourse to a specialist, usually termedmantis, in opposition toprophe ̄te ̄s,ora
specialist in inspired divination. Each type of sign could have its own specialist
diviners (Bayet 1936; Scarpi 1998).
Striking and surprising events –prodigies– are known to us from a number of
examples of doubtful authenticity, but which reveal the underlying pattern of
thought. Thus Herodotus speaks of statues sweating on the Acropolis at the approach
of the Persians or of a priestess who grew a beard when her city, Pedasa, was
threatened (7.140, 1.75). Celestial and natural phenomena, such as eclipses and
comets (Pindar,Paeans9) were amongst the most troubling signs, especially if they
were unexpected, like rain or lightning from a clear sky (Demosthenes 43 [Against
Macartatos] 66). Intellectuals, such as the Stoics, paid sustained attention here
(Kany-Turpin 2003). The lightning bolt and thunder are the supreme signs of
Zeus. Earthquakes and tsunamis, signs of Poseidon, were so terrifying as to compel
armies to retreat (Cusset 2003; Lebeau 2003).
Relevant here too is the behavior of animals. The majority belonged to a god – the
eagle of Zeus, the crow of Apollo, the doe of Artemis – and all could become a divine
tool: a weasel on the road, an owl that hoots, a snake that disappears (Amiotti 1998;
150 Pierre Bonnechere