The Sibyl (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Pär Lagerkvist
- First Published: 1956
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Philosophical
- Time of Work: The second century (well after Christ’s crucifixion and before the decline of the Delphic oracle in the late third century)
- Setting: Delphi
- Genres: Long fiction, Expressionist literature
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, Prisoners, Christianity, Ethics, Pilgrims or pilgrimages, Priests, Greece or Greek people, Paganism, Fables, Oracles, Second century, Theism
- Locales: Greece, Delphi, ancient
Characters Discussed
The Sibyl, an old woman who occupied the position of pythia, or oracle, at Delphi. She was given by her parents into the service of the Delphic god of prophecy, who, in this story, is a combination of Apollo (represented by serpents) and Dionysus (represented by goats). Having spent her adolescence and much of her young womanhood as the bride of the god, she violates her office by having sexual union with a man whom she loves. The man very shortly meets his death, and the Sibyl gives birth, not to his son, as she had expected, but to the son of the Delphic...
[The entire page is 648 words long]
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