The most famous oracle of Antiquity, the Delphi Oracle,
originated approximately 2500 years ago, the time at which Confucius
first published the Book of Changes. The answers given by the Delphi
Oracle were invariably pertinent and typically ambiguous. The oracle
told King Cresus of Lydia that a great kingdom would be destroyed
if he attacked the Persians. Encouraged, the king attacked and destroyed
his own kingdom in the process.
Delphi fell under Roman rule in 2 BC. The Emperor
Nero (54-68 AD) ordered the removal of over 500 statues, so when
Emperor Julian (300-366 AD) went in search of the Oracle, he found
Delphi a mere shadow of its former self. The Oracle was officially
closed by Emperor Theodosius in 385 AD.
Very little remains of Delphi today but, pitched between sheer cliffs,
its spectacular location is inevitably and eternally impressive.
Philosophers, intellectuals and artists all over the
world are still deeply influenced by Greek culture. The choice of
name, the Berlin Oracle, not only stands for a place where people
can find answers to their questions, but is a living synonym for
our cultural heritage and the wisdom of Ancient Greece.
The navel of the world is neither in Delphi, nor in Berlin, but
in the heart of mankind. The bonding words which have come down
to us through the ages, have lost nothing of their simplicity and
truth: know thyself.
 
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