Source of Law
Source of Government
In Punitive Process:
Delphi & Herakles
Delphi & Orestes
Sources for Orestes
Delphi & Common Man
Homicide & Today
Bibliography
Delphi and the Common Man
Delphi was not just for characters like Herakles and Orestes , the oracle offered advice concerning the mundane concerning the process of purification and retribution. The story of Cleomedes, who killed his opponent during a boxing match and, when deprived of prize went on rampage, killing children at a school before hiding in a temple, and ultimately disappearing, is outlined in Pausanius. In this case, the oracle informed the people what had happened to Cleomedes, and told them to worship him.
But even the common at Delphi could be considered very strange to the modern world. It was necessary for the purification process that something receive the blame for an unnatural death, intentional or otherwise. This means an inanimate object which played a role in a death, such as by falling on the victim, would be prosecuted and punished. In an example of this from Pausanius, a young boy had been playing beneath a dedicatory statue of an ox at Olympia, when he stood up he hit his head and subsequently died from the blow. The Delphic Oracle interceded when the Eleans were going to remove the statue, advising that the statue must undergo purification rites, but then could remain. (Pausanius 5.27.1).
In a similar example, Pausanius provides another instance where a statue of Theagenes which had fallen on someone who had been whipping the statue as if it were actually Theagenes. The statue was cast into the sea as a result, in a form of exile, but when the city faced a famine, the oracle advised them to recall their exiles, including this statue (Pausanius 6.11.7).