The most famous oracle of ancient Greece was the oracle of Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. Mount Parnassus is the second highest mountain in Greece, Olympus being the first. Here Apollo spend much of his time with the Muse. These are nine goddesses, daughters of Zeus/Jupiter, who each oversaw one of the nine forms of poetry. The oracle was sacred to Apollo, the god of prophecy. The oracle of Delphi was a high priestess, called Pythia. She would sit and gaze into a bowl of water then go into a frenzy and speak. The priest would then interpret the prophesy. The Oracle of Delphi was consulted by the city states of Greece before every major political or military decision.
The second most important oracle is actually older. The oracle of Dodona in Epirus is dated to around 2,000 B.C. In the sacred grove the priestesses would interpret the sound of rustling leaves and bronze wind chimes. It is believes to have been originally sacred to Gaia/Rhea, the mother goddess. Later it was attributed to Zeus or the feminine form of Zeus, Dione, the goddess of the bright sky or the rain bringer.
