FORECASTING is an old and honourable profession. In many civilisations of the past its practitioners were persons of great importance and had much political influence, and unlike today, they were called upon to apply their skills in a wide variety of different spheres. In the Middle Ages, for example, astrologers provided hints of great events to come, and the Romans had their augers to advise on future tactics. But perhaps the most famous forecasters of all were the oracles of ancient Greece.
An oracle was a temple to a god or minor deity. Somewhat confusingly, the term was also applied to the advice itself, or even to the human intermediary, so in a strange way the Greeks anticipated Marshal McLuhan's 1960s sound bite that "the medium is the message". There were many oracles: that of Zeus was at Dodona, Diana's was at Colchis, and Hercules had his in Athens. But the Hellenic Central Forecasting Office, so to speak, was the Delphic Oracle - the Temple of Apollo on the slopes of Mount Parnassus.
In very ancient times it was observed that goats feeding on Parnassus were thrown into great convulsions when they approached a certain long deep cleft on the side of the mountain. This, it was soon discovered, was because of a peculiar vapour which exuded from the from the cavern, and in due course it was found that the vapour had a similar effect on humans. It was only a small step to impute the intoxicated"ravings of those affected to a divine inspiration from Apollo - the god, inter alia, of prophecy.
Thus it was that a temple to Apollo was erected on the spot. A priestess was appointed whose function it was to inhale the hallowed air; seated on a tripod adorned with laurels, into a trance and made her divine utterances to priests, who in turn interpreted the responses for those who wished to plan their future actions on the advice received. Unfortunately, quite unlike today's forecasts, the message of the oracle was often far from clear, and the responses were sometimes so ambiguous and obscure as to be quite misleading.
Although they served their useful purpose for a time, the oracles of ancient Greece passed into oblivion with the rest of that noble civilisation. Nowadays to quote Milton:
The oracles are dumb; no voice or hideous hum
Rings through the arched roof in words deceiving;
No nightly trance or breathed spell
Inspires the pale-eyed priests from the prophetic cell.