El papel del santuario de Delfos durante la guerra del Peloponeso

Abstract

The relationship between Sparta and the sanctuary of Delphi was more than fluid before the Peloponnesian War, the panhellenic conflict that ended with the assumption of political and military control of Greece by the Lacedemons and from which the Delphic Oracle was not kept out. But to what extent did Apollo position himself on the Spartan side? Did his interventions prove decisive to the final victory of the Peloponnesian League? This paper investigates the Delphic diplomatic maneuvers carried out during the course of the conflict to try to know the weight that the oracular activities exerted on both sides, relying, for this purpose, on the stories provided by various ancient authors (being Thucydides, as a repporteur and participant in the war, the main source) and in the numerous studies of modern scholarship in this regard.