The oracular temple at Didyma is perhaps the largest and most famous oracular temple.
The oracle was given much the same way as in Claros only it was given
in hexameters and it was inspired by a woman priestess. Visitors to the oracle would travel down the sacred way before they reached
the oracle. The temple was complete with a sacred grove and a
spring along with vast columns and a huge courtyard.
The prophetess
had to observe a rule of complete purity and prepare for the god
by fasting. The inner shrine, living quarters for the prophetess,
was unroofed. Just like at Claros, there was an inspiration ceremony.
The prophetess would hold a rod, which was believed to have been
handed down from the god. She sat on a rotating, cylindrical block
called an axon. The axon was set next to a small sacred spring
at the rear of the inner court. She would receive her inspiration
from the god by breathing vapor from the water in the spring.
The prophet would then turn the inspiration into verse and give
the oracle. The temple was famous by as early as 7th century BC.
Around the 5th and 6th centuries BC the temple's activities declined,
but by around 311 BC it was again famous and prospered for the
next 200 years (Perseus/Didyma).