Pythia

PYTHIA is a computer simulation program for particle collisions at very high energies (see event (particle physics)) in particle accelerators.
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The Pythia (Gr. Πυθία) was the priestess presiding over the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The Pythia was widely credited with giving prophecies inspired by Apollo, giving her a prominence unusual for a woman in male-dominated ancient Greece. The Delphic oracle was established in the 8th century BC. Its last recorded response was given in 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I ordered pagan temples to cease operation. During this period the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle in the Greek world.
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Noun
1. (Greek mythology) the priestess of Apollo at Delphi who transmitted the oracles
(synonym) Pythoness
(hypernym) Greek deity
(classification) Greek mythology

[Greek] The Pythia was the priestess at Apollo's oracle in Delphi. The name comes from Python, the dragon that was slain by Apollo. The Pythia operated as a vehicle for Apollo's will to be known to those on earth. A believer would make a sacrifice and present a question to a male priest. The male priest would then present the question to the Pythia. The Pythia sat on a bronze tripod in the adytum, or inner chamber of Apollo's temple. In this sacred chamber the spirit of Apollo overcame the Pythia and inspired the prophecy. Some mythic traditions say the Pythia's trance was induced by vapors from a chasm below the temple or from chewing laurel leaves. Continuing his role of a middleman, the priest would interpret the Pythia's response for the questioner. (Powell 172) The Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo is an excellent source for the story of Apollo founding his temple at Delphi and his intention to "welcome the tribes of mankind / who gather here, and tell them / most important of all, / what [...
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Pythia or Pythoness (Greek) Pytho was an older name for Delphi, and from it was formed the adjective Pythius, in the feminine Pythia. This was applied to the priestess or seeress who gave the oracles of Apollo at Delphi. "On the authority of Iamblichus, Plutarch and others, a Pythia was a priestess chosen among the sensitive of the poorer classes, and placed in a temple where oracular powers were exercised. There she had a room secluded from all but the chief Hierophant and Seer, and once admitted, was, like a nun, lost to the world. Sitting on a tripod of brass placed over a fissure in the ground, through which arose intoxicating vapours, these subterranean exhalations, penetrating her whole system, produced the prophetic mania, in which abnormal state she delivered oracles. Aristophanes in 'Vaestas' [Vespae] I., reg. 28, calls the Pythia ventriloqua vates or the 'ventriloquial prophetess,' on account of her stomach-voice. The ancients placed the soul of man (the lower Manas) or his personal self-consciousness, in the pit of his stomach. . . . The navel was regarded in antiquity as 'the circle of the sun,' the seat of divine internal light. Therefore was the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, the city of Delphus, the womb or abdomen -- while the seat of the temple was called the omphalos, navel" (TG 266-7).
Pythia also refers to the Pythian Games, celebrated every four years at Pytho (Delphi) in honor of the Pythian Apollo.

PITIA. PIZIA. PITONESSA