Athletes and Athletics in the Oracular Tablets of Dodona

The corpus of published oracular tablets from Dodona, dated to ca. 550-167 BCE, contains a number of questions related to the world of Greek athletics. Most of the oracular inquiries submitted by athletes focus on their prospects of victory in specific events or contests. An analysis of the inquiries in question suggests that athletes aiming at victory in modest, local-appeal games as well as top-tier athletes aiming at success in the Olympic games, occasionally resorted to divination as they navigated challenges and coped with the uncertainty of strategic decisions connected to training, travel, and competition.