Dodona

Dodona
Dodonaean, Dodonean, Dodonian /dohd'n ee"euhn, deuh doh"nee euhn/, adj.
/deuh doh"neuh/, n.
an ancient town in NW Greece, in Epirus: the site of a famous oracle of Zeus.

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Sanctuary of the Greek god Zeus, located at Epirus.

Mentioned by Homer, it was the site of an oracle, where messages came through the rustling of leaves or other natural sounds. There was also a large bronze gong that vibrated in the breeze.

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▪ ancient site, Greece
      ancient sanctuary of the chief Greek god, Zeus, in Epirus, Greece; the ceremonies held there had many remarkable and abnormal features. The earliest mention of Dodona is in the Iliad (Book XVI, line 234), where its priests are called the Selloi (or Helloi) and are described as “of unwashen feet, sleeping on the ground.” The description suggests worshipers or servants of an earth goddess or of some chthonian power with whom they kept in continual contact, day and night. Homer (Odyssey, Book XIV, line 327) was also the first to mention the oracle at Dodona. A tree (or trees) was reputed to give oracles, presumably through the rustling of leaves and other sounds. Herodotus, but no earlier writer, mentions priestesses, whom he describes as the givers of the oracles, doubtless under some kind of inspiration from the god. A further peculiarity of Dodona was the “bronze,” a large gong set vibrating at every breeze by a scourge held in the hand of a figure standing over it; the persistent ringing passed into a Greek proverbial phrase—Khalkos Dodones (“Brass of Dodona”)—for a continuous talker who has nothing to say.

      Dodona had a famous oracle, but being somewhat inaccessible, the site came to be eclipsed by Delphi.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dodona — in Epirus Blick auf die Ruinen der Tempelanlagen von Dodona …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dodona — Dodona,   griechisch Dodone, alte Kultstätte und Orakelheiligtum des Zeus und der hier als seine Gemahlin verehrten Dione, im Epirus südwestlich von Ioannina (Griechenland). Das Orakel vernahm man im Rauschen der heiligen Eiche des Zeus, dem… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • DODONA — civitas Epiri, in regiunc, Molossia, iuxta quam propinquum erat nemus Iovi sacrum, querneum totum, ubi Iovis Dodonei templum fuisle dicitur, et in eo oraculum omnium, quae apud Graecos fuêrunt, vetustissimum. Quod autem columbas in ea silva… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Dodōna — (a. Geogr.), Stadt in Molossis (Epiros), nach Dodōnos, Sohn der Europa, od. nach Dodōne, Tochter des Zeus u. der Europa genannt, auf welchem auch die heilige Quelle Anapauomene (die gegen Mittag bis zum Vertrocknen ab u. dann wiederzunahm), lag… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Dodōna — Dodōna, berühmtes Heiligtum des Zeus im alten Epirus, lag am Berg Tomaros in der Landschaft Hellopia, ca. 18 km südwestlich von Janina im heutigen Tal von Tscharakovista, beim Dorf Alpochori, wo es 1875 der Grieche K. Karapanos auffand. Der Sitz… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Dodona — Dodōna, altgriech. berühmtes Orakel und Heiligtum des Zeus im alten Epirus; seinen Willen deuteten Priesterinnen aus dem Rauschen der heiligen Eiche …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Dodona — Dodona, das älteste griech. Orakel, pelasgischen Ursprungs; es lag in Epirus am Berge Tomarus, gehörte in späterer Zeit den Thesprotern u. Molossern, war aber nie so besucht wie das ursprünglich hellenische zu Delphi. Der in D. verehrte Gott war… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Dodona — For other uses, see Dodona (disambiguation). Localization of the sanctuary of Dodona. Dodona (Doric Greek: Δωδώνᾱ, Dōdṓnā, Ionic and Attic Greek: Δωδώνη,[1] Dōdṓnē) in Epirus in n …   Wikipedia

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  • Dodona's Grove — (1640) is a historical allegory by James Howell, making extensive use of tree lore.[1] James Howell from Dodona s Grove (1641) by Abraham Bosse …   Wikipedia

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