@direguineapig1755
I love the fact that you don't just teach us something about ancient religions, you teach about good scholarship and critical analysis. Those are such important skills for everyone to practice
@mjr_schneider
This is one of those stories that I read about once and just accepted it uncritically because it made intuitive sense, but when you think about it more, it really doesn't. It's just so much simpler to suppose that it was a trance like those found in other religious rituals that don't require intoxicants.
@gjvnq
Ancient Oracles: My prophecies are correct. You are the one who intepreteed them wrong. Modern programmers: My code is correct. The problem is the user. Human nature neve changes :)
@asheep8019
I loved this video, particularly because it took a line between two opinions posed by some of my former professors: that either there was no gas leak or it was ethylene. That either she was high off ethylene or that she wasn’t in a trance at all but cynically giving pronouncements. I don’t see a reason to doubt the many sources saying there was a crag spewing some kind of gas, but that doesn’t mean that it necessarily had to be intoxicating in and of itself. It could have just as easily have been, as you’ve said, a physical element as a part of a more complex ritual. Personally I don’t enjoy writing off ancient authors entirely to believe we know so much more this many years later, and I don’t enjoy believing that we have a perfectly rational explanation either. Theories which offer a more nuanced interpretation always are more appealing to me, and I’m glad you made the conclusion you did.
@Beach_flower
This is fascinating! I grew up in a Pentecostal church and I was nodding my head aggressively while you described speaking in tongues as a learned behavior. I observed AND participated in speaking in tongues, “falling in the spirit,” prophesying, and uncontrollable laughing. All of these things are a complex mixture of genuine belief, feeling pressure of displaying yourself as holy, music, atmosphere, etc etc that causes feelings of being in a trance. Love how you thoroughly explained good scholarship. So glad I came affords your page- what a world we live in where I can listen to a lecture of this caliber on my couch. Thank you!!!
@bobmcbob9856
I definitely feel like the oracle having blue lips would be the sort of thing ancient people would latch onto as a sign of her importance & therefore write about
@EllaChevalier
I had an anthropology professor who had to leave an Amharic religious ceremony because he felt himself getting "possessed". It's crazy how much things as simple as rhythm, music, chanting, etc. can alter our consciousness, even if we DON'T believe in ghosts and gods.
@FiveStudios32
I’m so glad you made this video since I was under the impression that the natural gas theory was widely accepted by historians. It actually served as an important lesson for me as a history student to think more critically about ancient texts, as there is guaranteed to be missing context.
@z-beeblebrox
I've heard the "high on gas" hypothesis before, but what I never realized - as I've never done any proper research on the subject - is just how LONG the Oracle of Delphi was a profession. Just goes to show how insidious the "great man" theory is that any time I hear a historical title my default assumption is that it refers to a single person in time, and not a legacy that can span centuries. But with this new understanding, it becomes much more reasonable to me that vaporous gases - at best - only inspired the holiness of the location and likely played little role in the Oracle's actual rituals. You just don't go multiple centuries telling fortunes if your ritual involves toxic fumes. That's a quick way to wind up with no future volunteers
@sainiharika
I love how you critically evaluated this whole situation. Soo much respect.
@elfarlaur
I am always a little skeptical about such scientific explanations for religious experience. Many modern secular people are so obsessed with trying to find the most rational explanation for things like trances and ignore the possibility for self induced states of altered consciousness. People cling to the idea of the gasses because it allows us to explain this phenomenon in the most rational way. If there is a lot of evidence for it then sure I'll buy it, but this reminds me of people claiming that Scandinavian berserkers were consuming mushrooms even though there is little to no evidence of this being true, just because that rationally explains this phenomenon.
@cuckoophendula8211
Before watching this, I'm already reminded of that one scene in the Simpsons where characters having visions of their own personal heaven was later revealed to be breathing in a leaking gas pipe.
@sabagamager6253
This was the second video in a row in which you got visibly and audibly agitated when rebutting popular theories :D Nothing bad, rather nice to see how passionate you are about the subject. Thanks for another great video!
@Beefystumeat
I’d heard the remark about her being high in the movie “300,” did a couple of Google searches, and figured the case was closed 15 years ago. I’m so grateful to be able to extend my history education through your channel.
@iveedoodle
ngl, i'm convinced that the chosen oracles were just kids who showed signs of psychosis, 'hearing' the voice of apollo, and then picked up by religious leaders to train for prophecy
@markadams7046
I'm curious to know when did the Oracle fall out of use? Does its falling out of use give any clues as to what may have triggered the visions?
@dojokonojo
Sometimes I wonder if the Pythia ever gets "performance anxiety." Like if the visions stop happening one day for an extended period for any given reason, does the Priestess just say Apollo is not doing his part, or make up something very cryptic so one one can ever guess she was making it up?
@jacobborgmann7762
Academic Shots Fired! What an intense day in the world of ancient religious studies
@cemreomerayna463
How easy to miss so many highly serious counter-arguments when one theory ringing to ears has already swept the mass media.
@ReligionForBreakfast