Dodo'na

Dodo'na, the seat of the oldest Greek oracle, was situated in Epirus, in one of the wildest districts south-west of the Lake of Janina. The Greek and Egyptian accounts of its origin differ. The priests of Egyptian Thebes related that two holy women were carried off from that city by a party of Phœnicians, one of whom was sold in Libya, the other to the Greeks, and that these women founded the oracles at Dodona and Ammon. The inhabitants of Dodona related that two black doves took their flight from the city of Thebes, in Egypt, one of which flew to Libya, the other to Dodona; that the latter perched upon an oak, and with a human voice commanded that an oracle should be founded on the spot. Herodotus thought that if the Phœnicians did actually carry off the two women already alluded to, one of them was probably sold into Greece; that the strange language and dark complexion had caused them to be likened to birds; and that when they became acquainted with the Greek tongue, they were said to have spoken with a human voice. Later authors ascribe the founding of the city to Deucalion. The sanctuary itself was dedicated to Zeus, who made known his will by the wind rustling through the boughs of a grove of lofty oaks or beech trees. This was interpreted by the priests, who were termed Selloi or Helloi. The goddess Dione, by some said to be Aphrodite, by others Hera, afterwards appeared by the side of Zeus, and the place of the priests was occupied by priestesses (Peleiades), who announced the will of the deity. Dodona, though not equal in renown to Delphi, was yet frequently consulted on occasions of importance both by the Spartans and Athenians. Though the city was destroyed in 219 B.C. by the Ætolians, it recovered at a later period, and was in existence in the 6th century A.D. See Dodone et ses Ruines, by Carapanos (1878).