Thread by @ArysPan

The theatre in the Oracle at Dodona, built by Pyrrhus, Hellenistic king of Epirus during the 3rd century BC.

Initially dedicated to Mother Earth (Gaia- known as Dione) and later to Zeus and Dione, it was considered the oldest of the Greek oracles by the ancient Greeks.

Its history dates back to the 2nd millennium BC. The oak trees of the grove was supposedly the path of communication with Gaia (later Zeus and Dione). The priests delivered divinations by interpreting the rustling of the Sacred Oak’s leaves and the flight of wild pigeons.

According to Herodotus consulting was also given by the Peleiades, the silver-headed priestesses. Herodotus says that one of a pair of two black doves which have flown from Thebes in Egypt sat on an oak tree at Dodona and in human voice indicated the site as sacred.

The Oracle of Dodona was first mentioned in the Homeric epics while many authors from antiquity wrote about it and of its complex very old history/mythology.
Remained a pan-hellenic site of great importance - although later Delphi replaced it as the most prominent Oracle.

Some very interesting links to read further:
•ancient-greece.org/history/dodona…
•theoi.com/Cult/ZeusDodon…
•hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Geo/en/…