Paper short abstract:

Based on Graeco-Roman sources, this paper focuses on the various ritual practices that aim at obtaining prophetic responses and that have been attributed to the soothsayer Manto.

Paper long abstract:

This paper analyses those passages, taken from Graeco-Roman authors, that concern the prophetess Manto. This research deepens the dynamics of the mythical connotation of her character, whose foundation acts are mostly related to the art of prophecy. Various documents show that her prophetic powers and ritual performances involve different aspects that vary according to their context. In Greek sources, she is the daughter of the prophet Tiresias and in turn the mother of the seer Mopsus. She practices the art of 'mantike' in Delphi and, in many respects, she is linked to Apollo's oracle. Differently from the Greek sources, in a passage from Seneca's Oedipus (290-383), Manto performs a ritual sacrifice and examines the entrails. Seneca attributes to her the powers of a haruspex. Later, in the same tragedy, Manto and her father Tiresias perform a necromantic ritual, evoking the shadow of Laius (390-657). A similar necromantic ritual occurs in Statius' Thebaid (4.406-645) where Manto indulges into necromancy to summon Laius and the souls of other dead Argives and those of the Thebans. Therefore, this study aims to identify and analyse Manto's ritual techniques of communication with the superhuman, distinguishing them from Greek to Roman sources.