There is only one department of the secular history of Greece where Delphi played a predominant and most effective part, the colonial department. The great colonial expansion of Greece, which has left so deep an imprint on the culture of Europe, was in part inspired and directed by the oracle. For the proof of this we have not only the evidence of the preserved by Herodotus and others, such as those concerning the foundation of Cyrene, but also the worship of Apollo 'APVIYfrls, "the Founder," prevalent in Sicily and Magna Graecia, and the early custom of the sending of tithes or thanksgiving offerings by the flourishing western states to the oracle that had encouraged their settlements.
Apollo was already a god of ways, 'Aytnf in, who led the migra tion of tribes before he came to Delphi. And those legends are of some value that explain the prehistoric origin of cities such as Magnesia on the Maeander, the Dryopian Asine in the Pelopon nese, as due to the colonization of temple-slaves, acquired by the Pythian god as the tithe of conquests, and planted out by him in distant settlements. The success of the oracle in this activity led at last to the establishment of the rule that Herodotus declares to be almost universal in Greece, namely, that no leader of a colony would start without consulting Delphi. Doubtless in many cases the priesthood only gave encouragement to a preconceived project. But they were in a unique position for giving direct advice also, and they appear to have used their opportunities with great in telligence.
Their influence on the state cults can be briefly indicated, for it was not by any means far-reaching. They could have felt conscious of no mission to preach Apollo, for his cult was an ancient heritage of the Hellenic stocks. Only the narrower duty devolved upon them of impressing upon the consultants the religious obligation of sending tithes or other offerings. Never theless their opportunity of directing the religious ritual and organization of the public worships was great ; for Plato's view (Rep. 427A) that all questions of detail in religion should be left to the decision of the god "who sits on the omphalos" was on the whole in accord with the usual practice of Greece. Such consul tations would occur when the State was in some trouble, which would be likely to be imputed to some neglect of religion, and the question to the oracle would commonly be put in this way— "to what god or goddess or hero shall we sacrifice?" The oracle would then be inclined to suggest the name of some divine person age hitherto neglected, or of one whose rites had fallen in decay. Again, Apollo would know the wishes of the other divinities, who were not in the habit of directly communicating with their wor shippers; therefore questions about the sacred land of the god desses at Eleusis would be naturally referred to him. From both these points of view we can understand why Delphi appears to have encouraged the tendency towards hero-worship which was becoming rife in Greece from the 7th century onwards. But the only high cult for which we can discover a definite enthusiasm in the Delphic priesthood was that of Dionysus. And his position at Delphi, where he became the brother-deity of Apollo, suffi ciently explains this.
As regards the development of religious morality in Greece, we must reckon seriously with the part played by the oracle. The larger number of deliverances that have come down to its bearing on this point are probably spurious, in the sense that the Pythia did not actually utter them, but they have a certain value as showing the ideas entertained by the cultivated Hellene concern ing the oracular god. On the whole, we discern that the moral influence of Delphi was beneficent and on the side of righteousness. It did nothing, indeed, to abolish, it may even have encouraged at times, the barbarous practice of human sacrifice, which was becoming abhorrent to the Greek of the 6th and 5th centuries; but a conservative priesthood is always liable to lag behind the moral progress of an age in respect of certain rites, and in other respects it appears that the "Holy Ones" of Delphi kept well abreast of the Hellenic advance in ethical thought. An oracle attributed to the Pythoness by Theopompus (Porph. De absti nentia, 2, 16 and 17) expresses the idea contained in the story of "the widow's mite," that the deity prefers the humble offering of the righteous poor to the costly and pompous sacrifice of the rich. Another, of which the authenticity is vouched for by Hero dotus (vi. 86), denounces the contemplated perjury and fraud of a certain Glaucus, and declares to the terrified sinner that to tempt God was no less a sin than to commit the actual crime. A later xpna,u6s, for which Plutarch (De Pytli. Or., p. 404 B) is the authority, embodies the charitable conception of forgiveness for venial faults committed under excessive stress of temptation: "God pardons what man's nature is too weak to resist." And in one most important branch of morality, with which progressive ancient law was intimately concerned, namely, the concept of the sin of homicide, we have reason for believing that the Apolline oracle played a leading part. Perhaps so early as the 8th century, it came to lay stress on the impurity of bloodshed and to organize and impose a ritual of purification ; and thus to assist the devel opment and the clearer definition of the concept of murder as a sin and the growth of a theory of equity which recognizes extenu ating or justifying circumstances (Farnell, Cults. iv. 300). Gradu ally, as Greek ethics escaped the bondage of ritual and evolved the idea of spiritual purity of conscience, this found eloquent ex pression in the utterances imputed to the Pythia (Ael. Var. Hist. iii. 44; Anth. Pal. xiv. 71 and 74). Many of these are no doubt literary fictions; but even these are of value as showing the popular view about the oracular god, whose temple and tripod were re garded as the shrine and organ of the best wisdom and morality of Greece. The downfall of Greek liberty before Macedon de stroyed the political influence of the Delphic oracle; but for some centuries after it still retained a certain value for the individual as a counsellor and director of private conscience. But in the latter days of paganism it was eclipsed by the oracles of Claros and Branchidae.