Fumes and Visions

[David Morris]

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/19/science/19DELP.html

March 19, 2002
Fumes and Visions Were Not a Myth for Oracle at Delphi
By WILLIAM J. BROAD

For at least 12 centuries, the oracle at Delphi spoke on behalf of the gods, 
advising rulers, citizens and philosophers on everything from their sex 
lives to affairs of state. The oracle was always a woman, her divine 
utterances made in response to a petitioner's request. In a trance, at times 
in a frenzy, she would answer questions, give orders and make prophecies.

Modern scholarship long ago dismissed as false the explanation that the 
ancient Greeks gave for the oracle's inspiration, vapors rising from the 
temple's floor. They found no underlying fissure or possible source of 
intoxicants. Experts concluded that the vapors were mythical, like much else 
about the site.

Now, however, a geologist, an archaeologist, a chemist and a toxicologist 
have teamed up to produce a wealth of evidence suggesting the ancients had 
it exactly right. The region's underlying rocks turn out to be composed of 
oily limestone fractured by two hidden faults that cross exactly under the 
ruined temple, creating a path by which petrochemical fumes could rise to 
the surface to help induce visions.

In particular, the team found that the oracle probably came under the 
influence of ethylene — a sweet-smelling gas once used as an anesthetic. In 
light doses, it produces feelings of aloof euphoria.

"What we set out to do was simple: to see if there was geological truth to 
the testimony of Plutarch and the others," said Dr. Jelle Zeilinga de Boer, 
a geologist at Wesleyan University, who began the Delphic investigations 
more than two decades ago.

As is often the case in science, the find was rooted in serendipity, hard 
work and productive dreaming. At one point, not unlike the oracle herself, 
the scientists were stimulated in their musings by a bottle of Dão, a 
Portuguese red wine.




_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com