Astragaloi Ἀστράγαλοι
56 hexameter dice-oracles of Lycia; five knucklebones, one god each.
Across the cities of Lycia and Pisidia, in southern Asia Minor, oracle-tables once stood in public places where anyone could consult the gods by a throw of the bones. The querent cast five astragaloi — knucklebones, whose four long faces count as one, three, four, and six — and read off the combination. Each of the fifty-six possible results carried a hexameter oracle and stood under the patronage of a particular god, whose name opens the answer.
Reading the stones
Because each astragalos shows only four values, the five together give fifty-six distinct sorted combinations, from five ones to five sixes. This edition orders them by their total. The god named at the head of each oracle — Zeus the Saviour, Aphrodite, Hermes, and the rest — is integral to the response, not decoration; the verse that follows is the god’s counsel, often closing with an instruction to propitiate another deity.
The edition
The oracles are collected from many inscribed stones — at Termessos, Attaleia, and elsewhere — assembled in Friedrich Heinevetter’s dissertation of 1912, which remains the standard critical text. Where the stones disagree, or where Heinevetter restores a damaged line, the edition records it: each oracle shows its witnesses and its state of preservation, and heavily reconstructed lines are flagged for collation against the facsimile. Damaged or missing oracles are shown as withheld, not reconstructed here.
The edition
- Primary source
- F. Heinevetter, Würfel- und Buchstabenorakel in Griechenland und Kleinasien (diss. Breslau, 1912) — the dice-oracle inscriptions of Lycia.
- Scan
- archive.org / wrfelundbuchst00heinuoft
- Rights
- Public domain (Heinevetter 1912; the inscriptions are ancient).
39 of 56 oracles transcribed, 17 withheld; witnesses and preservation shown per oracle.
Integrity
This edition’s text is served verbatim from the sealed canon file combinations.json. Its SHA-256, as recorded in canon/MANIFEST.json:
27318cd040c19a815bf1c060bf49e1336033d909a324bd534981d295296db382
Download the sealed source file — combinations.json
Download the file above, then verify it (from wherever it saved):
sha256sum combinations.json
# Windows:
certutil -hashfile combinations.json SHA256How to cite this edition
Cite the whole edition: Syrgianis, N. (ed.), The Adyton: Four Ancient Greek Oracle Systems, digital critical edition, 2026, https://theadyton.org/en/.
Astragaloi, digital critical edition
(Adyton, College of Human and Business Efficiency Ltd), after F. Heinevetter, Würfel- und Buchstabenorakel (Breslau 1912).
Cite an oracle by its Heinevetter number, e.g. «Astragaloi no. I (Adyton ed.)».
Stable URL: /en/astragaloi/#a-1-1-1-1-1
The oracles
Διὸς Ὀλυμπίου
Ζεὺς σωτὴρ ἀγαθὴν βουλὴν σαῖσι φρεσὶ δώσει,
δώσει δ' εὐφροσύνην καὶ δώσει πάνθ' ὅσ' ἂν εὔχῃ.
ἀλλ' Ἀφροδείτην εἱλάσκου καὶ Μαιάδος υἱόν.
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witnesses K,S · preservation partialtranscribedἈθηνᾶς Ἀρείας
ἐχθρὰν καὶ κακότητα φυγὼν ἥξεις ποτ' ἐς ἆθλα,
ἥξεις καὶ σώσει σε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη,
βουλὴ δ' ἔσται σοι καταθύμιος, ἣν ἐπιβάλλῃ.
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witnesses K,O,S · preservation attestedtranscribedΜοιρῶν
πρᾶξιν μὴ πράξῃς, ἣν πράσσεις, οὐ γὰρ ἄμεινον·
ἀμφὶ δὲ κάμνοντος χαλεπὸν καὶ ἀμήχανον ἔσται·
δεῖ δὲ ἀπόδημον ἱκέσθαι νῦν, χρόνῳ οὐ κακὸν ἔσται.
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witnesses K,O,S · preservation attestedtranscribedἈετοῦ Διός
ἀετὸς ὑψιπέτης ἐπὶ δεξιὰ χειρὸς ὁδείτῃ
δώσει μαντείαν ἀγαθήν, σὺν Ζηνὶ μεγίστῳ
τεύξῃ ἐφ' ἣν ὁρμᾷς πρᾶξιν μηδὲν δὲ φοβηθῇς.
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witnesses O,K · preservation attestedtranscribedΔαίμονος Μεγίστου
δαίμονι ἥντιν' ἔχεις εὐχὴν ἀποδόντι σοι ἔσται
βέλτειον, εἰ μέλλεις πράσσειν κατὰ νοῦν ἃ μεριμνᾷς.
Δημήτηρ γάρ σοι καὶ Ζεὺς σωτῆρες ἔσονται.
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witnesses O,K · preservation attestedtranscribedΤύχης Εὐδαίμονος
τὴν πρᾶξιν σύ γε μὴ πράξῃς, ἣν νῦν ἐπιβάλλῃ,
νῦν τ' ἐν νούσῳ ἐόντα θεοὶ κατέχουσι σεαυτόν
τόν τε πόνον λύσουσίν σοι καὶ οὐθὲν κακὸν ἔσται.
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witnesses O · preservation attestedtranscribedORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldΝείκης
ORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
witnesses O · preservation partialwithheldORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
witnesses Y · preservation partialwithheldμήτε σὺ φρικτὰ νόει μήτ' ἀντία δαίμονος ἔρχου
δεινὰ φρονῶν. οὐθὲν γὰρ ὀνήσιμόν ἐστιν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ,
οὐδ' ὁδὸν ἣν στείχεις, κέρδος τί σοι ἔστιν ἀπ' αὐτῆς.
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witnesses Y,S,K,O · preservation attestedtranscribedἈγαθοῦ Δαίμονος
ἡγεμονεύσει σοι δαίμων ὁδόν, ἣν ἐπιβάλλῃ,
πέμψει δ' εἰς ἀγαθὸν σε φιλομμειδὴς Ἀφροδείτη,
πολλοῖς σὺν καρποῖς στείξεις καὶ ἀπήμονι μοίρᾳ.
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witnesses O,S · preservation attestedtranscribedλακτίζεις πρὸς κέντρα, πρὸς ἀντία κύματα μοχθεῖς,
ἰχθὺν ἐν πελάγει ζητεῖς· μὴ σπεῦδ' ἐπὶ πρᾶξιν.
οὔ σοι χρησίμόν ἐστι θεοὺς βιάσασθαι ἀκαίρως.
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witnesses K,Y,S · preservation attestedtranscribedΔιὸς Ἄμμωνος
ἣν φρεσὶν ὁρμαίνεις ὁδόν, εἰς ταύτην ἴθι θαρρῶν·
πᾶν δὲ θεὸς δώσει· πράξεις δ' ὅσα θυμὸς ἀνώγει
πάντα, Ζεὺς δ' ὑψιβρεμέτης σωτήρ σοι ἐπέσται.
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witnesses O · preservation attestedtranscribedΔιὸς Ξενίου
πρᾶξιν ἐφ' ἣν μέλλεις, μὴ σπεῦδ', οὔπω γὰρ ὁ καιρός,
καὶ ἐν νούσῳ σέ γ' ἐόντα θεοὶ σῴζουσιν ἑτοίμως,
καὶ τὸν ἐν ἄλλῃ χώρᾳ ὁδοῦ λήξειν θεὸς αὐδᾷ.
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witnesses O · preservation attestedtranscribedΔιὸς Σωτῆρος
ἣν ἐπιβάλλῃ νῦν πρᾶξιν, θαρρῶν ἴθι, πρᾶσσε.
ἐνχείρει, καλὰ γὰρ μαντεῖα θεοὶ τάδ' ἔφηναν,
μηδὲ πονεῖν ἀξίου· οὐθὲν γάρ σοι κακὸν ἔσται.
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witnesses O,S · preservation attestedtranscribedΤύχης Ἀγαθῆς
ἥ τε τεκοῦσα βρέφος ξηροὺς μαστοὺς ἔχει ἄμφω,
ἀλλὰ πάλιν βλάστησε καὶ ἄφθονον ἔσχε γάλακτος,
καί ποτε πάντα καλῶς ἕξεις περὶ ὧν μ' ἐπερωτᾷς.
Foerster's reconstruction 'nur ganz fragweise', printed by Heinevetter — HEAVY SUPPLEMENT
witnesses O · preservation partialtranscribedORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
witnesses O · preservation partialwithheldἩρακλέους
οὔπω καιρός, ἄγαν σπεύδεις δὲ σύ, μὴ κενὰ πράξῃς
μηδ' ὥς τίς τε λέων τυφλὴν ἐκύησε λοχείην.
ἥσυχα βουλεύου καί σοι θεὸς ἡγεμονεύσει.
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witnesses O · preservation attestedtranscribedORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldνῦν σοι πάντα τελεῖ δαίμων καὶ ἐς ὀρθὸν ὁδηγεῖ·
πράξεις πᾶν κατὰ νοῦν· τῷ μηκέτι τρῦχε σεαυτόν·
πάντων ἐντεύξῃ σύ γ' ἀμέμπτως ὧν ἐπιθυμεῖς.
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witnesses Y,T · preservation attestedtranscribedORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldἈδραστείας
εὖ πρᾶξιν ταύτην πράξεις καὶ ἐπέσται ὁ Καιρός
ἐν γενέσει σῴζων καὶ ὁ κίνδυνος παράκειται
καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων μαντειῶν ἐστι καλῶς σοι.
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witnesses O,T · preservation attestedtranscribedΔιὸς Κεραυνίου
οὐκ ἔστιν πράξοντα κατὰ γνώμην ἃ μεριμνᾷς·
οὔτε γὰρ ἐκδήμῳ ἰέναι σοι σύνφορόν ἐστιν,
οὔτ' ὠνούμενος αἰσθήσῃ ὃ ὀνήσιμον ἔσται.
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witnesses O,T · preservation attestedtranscribedἈγαθοῦ Χρόνου
μὴ σπεύσῃς· δαίμων γὰρ ἐνίσταται, ἀλλ' ἀνάμεινον,
μηδ' ὥς τίς τε λέων τυφλὴν ἐκύησε λοχείην.
ἥσυχα βουλεύου, καί σοι χαρίεντα τελεῖται.
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witnesses O,T · preservation attestedtranscribedΔαίμονος Ἱκεσίου
οὔ σοι ὁρῶ βουλὴν τήνδε ἀσφαλῆ, ἀλλ' ἀνάμεινον.
εὖ πράξεις, ἔσται σε τυχεῖν μετὰ ταῦτα· τὸ νῦν δὲ
ἥσυχος ἧσο, θεοῖς πείθου καὶ ἐπ' ἐλπίδος ἴσθι.
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witnesses O,T · preservation attestedtranscribedἘλπίδος Ἀγαθῆς
εὔοδά σοι πάντ' ἐστὶ καὶ ἀσφαλῆ ὧν μ' ἐπερωτᾷς,
μηδὲ φοβοῦ· δαίμων γὰρ ὁδηγήσει πρὸς ἅπαντα,
παύσει ἄφαρ λύπης χαλεπῆς, λύσει δ' ὑπόνοιαν.
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witnesses O,T · preservation attestedtranscribedΔιὸς Κτησίου
θαρσῶν ἔνχειρει καὶ ἐπ' ἐλπίδος ἐστὶν ὁ χρησμός,
ὃς καταμανύει καὶ τὸν νοσέοντα σεσῶσθαι.
εἰ δέ τι μαντεύῃ χρέος, ὃ χρῄζεις ἀπολήμψῃ.
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witnesses O,T · preservation attestedtranscribedΝείκης
ORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
witnesses O,T · preservation partialwithheldἙρμοῦ Κερδεμπόρου
Ἑρμῆς βουλὴν σαῖσι φρεσίν γε καλῶς ἐπιδώσει
ὠφελίμων ἕνεκ', ἔσται πάντα, ἐπιτεύξῃ ἃ βούλει,
εὑρήσεις δ' ὅσα μαντεύῃ καὶ οὐθὲν κακὸν ἔσται.
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witnesses O,T · preservation attestedtranscribedORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
preservation lost_traditionwithheldΝεμέσεως
ORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
witnesses T · preservation partialwithheldΔιὸς νεκρῶν κηδεμόνος
οὐκ ἔστιν σπεύδοντα τυχεῖν ὅσα καιρὸς ἀνώγει·
κέρδος ἔχεις· πάσης λύσει θεὸς ἐκ κακότητος.
εὔκολος ἡ πρᾶξις, μοχθηρὰ δὲ πάντα φύλαξαι.
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witnesses T · preservation attestedtranscribedΜοιρῶν
ORACLE WITHHELD — Not transcribed..
witnesses T · preservation partialwithheldΔήμητρος
εὔοδά σοι πάντ' ἐστὶ καὶ ἀσφαλῆ ὧν μ' ἐπερωτᾷς·
μηδὲ φοβοῦ· δαίμων γὰρ ὁδηγήσει πρὸς ἅπαντα·
παύσει γὰρ λύπης χαλεπῆς, λύσει δ' ὑπόνοιαν.
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witnesses T · preservation attestedtranscribedΤύχης ἐπ' ἄλλα προβιβαζούσης
εἰσὶ καλαὶ πράξεις· σπεύδειν δέ σε χρησμὸς ὅδ' αὐδᾷ·
ἐκφεύξῃ νούσου χαλεπῆς πάντων τε κρατήσεις
καὶ τὸν ἀλώμενον ἐν ξενίᾳ ἥξειν θεὸς αὐδᾷ.
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witnesses T,E,Y · preservation attestedtranscribedἩλίου Φωσφόρου
ὅσσα θέλεις πράξεις, εὑρήσεις ὅσσα μεριμνᾷς.
ἐνχείρει, ξένε, θαρσήσας· πάντ' ἐστὶν ἑτοῖμα.
τἀφανὲς εὑρήσεις, σωτήριον ἦμαρ ἅπαντα.
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witnesses T,Y · preservation attestedtranscribedΜοιρῶν Ἐπιφανῶν
εἰς στόμα μὴ δῷς χεῖρα λύκῳ, μή σοί τι γένηται·
δυσχερές ἐστιν πρᾶγμ' ὑπὲρ οὗ πεύθῃ καὶ ἄπιστον,
ἀλλὰ μέν' ἡσύχιος λήξας ὁδοῦ ἠδ' ἀγορασμοῦ.
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witnesses T,E,A · preservation attestedtranscribedἌρεως Θουρίου
μὴ βαῖν' ἣν βαίνειν μέλλεις, ξένε, τήνδε γάρ, αὐδῶ,
αἴθων ἐσχώρησε λέων μέγας, ὃν πεφύλαξο,
δεινός· ἄπρακτος ὁ χρησμός, ἐν ἡσυχίῃ δ' ἀνάμεινον.
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witnesses A,E,T · preservation attestedtranscribedΠοσειδῶνος
εἰς πέλαγος μὴ σπέρμα βαλεῖν καὶ γράμματα γράψαι,
ἀμφότερον μόχθος τε κενὸς καὶ πρᾶξις ἄπρακτος,
μηδὲ βιάζου θνητὸς ἐὼν θεόν, ὅ σέ τι βλάψει.
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witnesses T,E,A · preservation attestedtranscribedἈθηνᾶς
Παλλάδ' Ἀθηναίην τείμα, καὶ πάντα σοι ἔσται,
ὅσσα θέλεις, καί σοι τὰ δεδογμένα πάντα τελεῖται·
λύσει δ' ἐκ δεσμῶν καὶ τὸν νοσέοντ' ἀνασώσει.
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witnesses T,E,A · preservation attestedtranscribedΕὐφροσύνης
στέλλε', ὅπου θυμός, σπεύδων, πάλι γὰρ δόμον ἥξεις
εὑρὼν καὶ πράξας κατὰ νοῦν πάντων τε κρατήσεις.
εὐφροσύνη γὰρ ἅπαντ' ἔσται, σὺ δὲ μήτι φοβηθῇς.
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witnesses T,E,A · preservation attestedtranscribedἈπόλλωνος Πυθίου
μεῖνον, μὴ πράξῃς, Φοίβου χρησμοῖσι δὲ πείθου.
ἐν χρόνῳ εὖ καιρὸν τήρει· νῦν δ' ἥσυχος ἴσθι.
μεικρὸν ἐπισχὼν γὰρ τελέσεις πάνθ' ὅσσα μεριμνᾷς.
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witnesses T,E,A · preservation attestedtranscribedΚρόνου Τεκνοφάγου
μίμνε δόμων ἐπὶ σῶν ἀτρέμας, μηδ' ἄλλοθι βαῖνε,
μή σοι θὴρ ὀλοὸς καὶ ἀλάστωρ ἐνγύθεν ἔλθῃ·
οὐ γὰρ ὁρῶ πρᾶξιν τήνδ' ἀσφαλῆ οὐδὲ βέβαιον.
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witnesses T,E,A · preservation attestedtranscribedΜητρὸς Θεῶν
ὡς ἄρνας κατέχουσι λύκοι κρατεροί τε λέοντες
βοῦς ἕλικας, πάντων οὕτως ἔτι καὶ σὺ κρατήσεις,
καὶ πάντ' ἔσται σοι ὅσ' ἐρωτᾷς σὺν Διὸς Ἑρμῇ.
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witnesses T,E,A · preservation attestedtranscribedΜηνὸς Φωσφόρου
θάρσει, καιρὸν ἔχεις, πράξεις δ' ἃ θέλεις, ἐπιτεύξῃ
εἰς ὁδὸν ὁρμηθῆναι· ἔχει καρπόν τιν' ὁ μόχθος·
ἔργον δ' ἐνχειρεῖν ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἀγῶνα δίκην τε.
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witnesses T,E,A · preservation attestedtranscribedΔιὸς Καταχθονίου
ἡ πρᾶξις κωλύματ' ἔχει, μὴ σπεῦδ', ἀνάμεινον.
λυπηρά τις ὁδὸς καὶ ἀμήχανος οὐδὲ προσικτή·
ὠνεῖσθαι χαλεπὸν καὶ πωλεῖν τι βλάβος ἔσται.
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witnesses T,E · preservation attestedtranscribedἈφροδίτης Οὐρανίας
οὐρανόπαις Ἀφροδείτη, Ἐρώτων πότνι' ἄνασσα
πέμψει μαντείαν ἀγαθήν, δώσει δὲ ὁδόν σοι
ἔκφευξίν τε νόσου καὶ φροντίδος ἀλγεσιθύμου.
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witnesses T,E · preservation attestedtranscribedΒλάβης
οὐκ ἔστιν πρᾶξις· τί μάτην σπεύδεις; ἀνάμεινον,
μή σοι σπεύδοντι βλάβος ἐξ αὐτῆς τι γένηται·
οὔτε γὰρ εἰς ὁδὸν ὁρμᾶσθαι καλὸν οὔτ' ἀγοράζειν.
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witnesses T,E,Y,K,O · preservation attestedtranscribedἙρμοῦ Τετραγώνου
μὴ βαῖν' ἣν μέλλεις, μείναντί σοι ἔσται ἄμεινον.
αἰσχρὸν γάρ σοι κῆδος ὁρῶ περὶ ὧν μ' ἐπερωτᾷς·
ἀλλὰ μέν' ἡσύχιος λήξας ὁδοῦ ἠδ' ἀγορασμοῦ.
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witnesses T,E,K,Y,O · preservation attestedtranscribed