I can’t seem to find the Oracle of Delphi’s complete works. The libraries remain shut and when I go to Google I find the search engine inadequate in the matter of the ‘Complete Pythia’. So I throw the following story out there unsourced in the sure and certain knowledge that next week’s letters page looks set to be a bloodbath for me. Spectator readers are among the most learned readers around, and I know my fate if I relay any of this inaccurately. Nevertheless, here we go.
Several years ago an utterance I’m pretty sure came from the Delphic Oracle lodged in my head. A foreign king (I hear you tapping ‘Dear Sir’ as I type) wanted to know whether he should go across the river and invade a neighbouring kingdom. The Oracle, whose utterances were famously ambiguous — not to say Delphic — proclaimed: ‘If the king crosses the river, a mighty realm will he destroy.’ The King took this to mean that he would have a great victory. He gathered the army, crossed the water and lost his own kingdom back home. We might pause here for a moment to note that the Oracle of Delphi could be a right bastard.
Anyhow, this stuck in my mind because of the history of our own country during recent years. There were moments in the Theresa May years in particular when the Delphic story seemed especially pertinent. The British public had made this great statement of intent. The path seemed clear. Then the politicians engaged in a spot of their own bloodletting. We ended up with a minority government. You know the rest. The point is that we had tried to make our great leap and instead looked set to lose everything. We voted to be an independent nation and lost our own kingdom.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in