Write a précis of the following and suggest a suitable title. ("The fear of human beings when faced with the mysteries of life and their weakness by comparison with the vastness of nature…")

The passage

The fear of human beings when faced with the mysteries of life and their weakness by comparison with the vastness of nature created in them a need to communicate with the divine, with the superior powers which they believed regulated the universe and determined their own fates. Knowledge of wishes of the gods was always a sure guide for human behavior. In ancient Greece, the precise nature of these wishes was ‘decoded’ by the art of giving oracles, practiced by soothsayers who had the gift of understanding the signs or signals sent by the gods.

The soothsayers uttered their oracles by interpreting flashes of lightening, rolls of thunder or the flights of certain birds of prey (omens); alternatively, they might observe the direction in which the fire burned when a sacrifice was made, examine the entrails of animals which had just been sacrificed, or base judgments on the sacrificial beast’s willingness to approach the altar. The interpretation of dreams was popular too, and so was palmistry. The most notable soothsayers of ancient Greece were Tiresias, Calchas, Helenus, Amphiaraus and Cassandra.

However, there were abundant instances in which the gods did not manifest themselves to the faithful in the forms of signs but spoke directly to an intermediate who for a short time was overcome by a ‘divine mania’ and transcended his own human essence. Here the prophet- or more usually the prophetess- entered a state of ecstasy in which he or she delivered the message from the gods to the suppliants.

These practices for foreseeing the future were the basis on which the ancient Greek oracles operated. Each oracle was located within a properly-organized sanctuary and was directly associated with one or other of the gods. Apollo was the archetypal soothsayer for the Greeks, the god who was responsible for conveying to mortals the decisions pronounced by Zeus. The most important of all the oracles, that at the Delphi, delivered the messages with the intervention of Apollo, while the oldest that of Dodona, functioned with the assistance of Zeus.

Title

The Oracles of Ancient Greece

Précis

Awed by life's mysteries and their own weakness before nature, people sought contact with the divine powers they believed governed the world and their destinies, since knowing the gods' will guided conduct. In ancient Greece, soothsayers interpreted that will by reading signs: lightning, thunder, the flight of birds, sacrificial fire and entrails, as well as dreams and palms. At other times the gods were thought to speak directly through a prophet, usually a woman, who delivered their message in a state of divine ecstasy. These methods formed the basis of the Greek oracles, each housed in an organized sanctuary and linked to a particular god. Apollo, who conveyed Zeus's decisions to mortals, was the chief god of prophecy: the greatest oracle, at Delphi, spoke through him, while the oldest, at Dodona, served Zeus.

(Word count: 133 words; the passage has 340.)

Why this works

The passage has four paragraphs, and the précis gives each its place in one continuous paragraph: the human need for divine guidance, reading signs, direct revelation, and the oracles themselves. The long list of methods is compressed into one sentence, the five soothsayers (Tiresias, Calchas, Helenus, Amphiaraus and Cassandra) are left out because they are examples, and Apollo, Delphi and Dodona are kept because the final paragraph is built on them.

Other suitable titles: "Seeking the Will of the Gods", "Prophecy in Ancient Greece" or "Soothsayers and Oracles". "Apollo" or "Delphi" alone would name only part of the passage.

Common mistakes to avoid

Listing every omen, naming all the soothsayers, writing four separate paragraphs, and adding outside knowledge such as the Pythia or the Oracle's famous pronouncements.