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Sibyls

Cimmeria
Hellespontia
Sibyl
Sibyl
Sibyls were prophets or oracles in ancient Greece. It is thought that the first sibyl was based at Delphi around 1100 BCE. By 400 BCE there four sibyls in Greece and by 100 BCE there were ten. They were described by a couple of Greek authors (eg. Heraclitus) and were named after their locations eg. Phrygian, Helespontine or Delphic sibyls. Information about them had been written down at Alexandria in the Oracula Sibyllina around 0 BCE. However, this book was not available in the west until the 16th century. Sibyls can be seen as female versions of the Old Testament prophets in that they criticised immorality, bad religious practices, idolatry and so forth. They prophesised hell and damnation to those who trangressed. As Christianity became more widespread in the west, the sibyls started to appear more apocalyptic, monotheistic and capable of predicting a Saviour. Michelangelo included five sybils in his Sistine Chapel work.

Sibyls became popular in Elizabethan times in England. Part of the reason for this was that during the Reformation many people became increasingly nervous of being accused of idolatry. Puritans were very critical of saint idolatry. Sibyls were safer. Ironically, sibyls during this period were sometimes compared to Cassandra and her ignored prophecies (eg. Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida).

Pictures of sibyls are not often found in England. In Devon, they are found on screens in four churches - Ipplepen (dated around 1485), Bradninch (1528), Heavitree and Ugborough (around 1540). There are a couple of images at Berry Pomeroy that may have been of sibyls, but time and desecration have messed them up so we can't be sure. Unlike the saints, the emblems associated with a sibyl can be obscure, random or non existent.



References




Devon Screens

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