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Cuma: The Cave of the Prophetess

Who was the Sibyl, the mysterious woman who uttered her oracles? Why was Cuma chosen as a sacred place? What were the powers of the Cave of Cuma?

Cuma: The Cave of the Prophetess
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The ruins of Cuma, the oldest Greek colony on the Italian mainland, are located about twenty kilometers from Naples. Protected by the natural defenses of the local topography, Cuma came to dominate one of the most fertile areas of the Campanian plain. When the Greek colonists arrived in Italy in the 8th century BC, they chose this enchanting spot to establish their settlement. Situated at the northwestern edge of the Gulf of Naples, in a location offering sweeping panoramic views, this volcanic, rocky terrain seemed ideal for them to build their acropolis, which would be defended on all sides by the sea, lakes, forests, and mountains.

The remains of the city walls are still visible at the summit, where the Temple of Jupiter once stood, a landmark for sailors in ancient times. The surviving ruins date back to the 5th century BC, rebuilt under Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) and later transformed into a Christian church in the 6th century AD.

Who was the Cumaean Sibyl?

The Cumaean Sibyl was the most famous oracle of the ancient world, though she wasn’t the only one with that title. There were also the Libyan Sibyl and the Delphic Sibyl. Those who sought her prophecies were led through a shadowy gallery of alternating light and darkness, which led to the vestibule in front of the oracle’s inner chamber. Carved into the hill of Cuma, the gallery was illuminated by a series of skylights opening into the hillside.

The eerie sight of a priestess figure, flickering in and out of the shadows, must have been unsettling, even for the bravest of visitors. The Cumaean Sibyl’s oracles were collected in nine books of prophecies, which she offered to Tarquin the Proud, the last of Rome's seven kings, in exchange for a massive sum. When he refused, the prophetess burned three of the books and returned with the remaining six, demanding the same price. Again, the king rejected the offer, and the Sibyl destroyed another three. When she came back with the last few books, Tarquin finally relented and purchased them. The famous Sibylline Books were kept in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill in Rome and consulted by the Senate during times of crisis. Unfortunately, they were lost in the fire that destroyed the Temple in 83 BC.

Cuma: The Cave of the Prophetess
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The Oracles of the Ancient World

The wise woman capable of predicting the future appears in the traditions of many countries, but none was more celebrated in antiquity than the Cumaean Sibyl. As early as ancient times, some populations of Western Asia passed down the prophetic responses of women known as Sibyls in the form of verses. The meaning of the word “Sibyl” is unknown, although legend tells that it was the name of a seer from Marpessus, near Troy, who was famous for expressing her oracles in riddles written on leaves of plants.

It is certain, however, that the tradition of the Sibyls spread to the Greeks and then to the Romans, becoming deeply rooted in various locations. "Sibyl" became a generic term applied to a large number of prophetesses scattered throughout the ancient world, particularly in Cuma.

It is not known if a person actually lived at Cuma who was officially known as the “Sibyl,” although, during the Roman Empire, her tomb was shown to visitors at the Temple of Apollo. In Greek tradition, the Sibyls were associated with Apollo, the god of prophecy: the Oracle of Delphi in Greece, known as the “Pythia,” was a priestess of the local temple dedicated to the god. To enter a prophetic trance, the Pythia chewed bay leaves—the sacred tree of Apollo—or sat on her tripod near a fissure in the earth, inhaling the intoxicating volcanic fumes that came from it.

In either case, it was believed that the Pythia received her inspiration directly from the god, who spoke through her to deliver his famous, ambiguous oracles. Like Delphi, Cuma is located in an area of volcanic activity, the Phlegraean Fields, to the west of Naples. This area was favored by the Roman elite, who built their villas there to enjoy the thermal waters of Baiae. Just like the Oracle of Delphi, the Cumaean Sibyl was also linked to the cult of Apollo.

Roman poets recounted the story of the prophetess, originally from the East, to whom the god offered to fulfill any of her wishes in exchange for becoming his lover. The Sibyl asked for the number of years she would live to be equal to the number of grains in a handful of dust, which turned out to be a thousand. However, she forgot to ask for eternal youth, and as time passed, she became so old and shriveled that she could be kept in a bottle, which was hung in Cuma. When children asked her what she desired, she simply replied: "I want to die."

The Entrance to the Underworld

The cult of Apollo was both necromantic and chthonic, meaning it was concerned with the dead and the underworld. It is in this role as guide to the Underworld that the Cumaean Sibyl appears in the sixth book of the Aeneid. The Trojan hero Aeneas goes to consult her in her temple, a “vast cave” beneath the Temple of Apollo. Before leading him and his men to the entrance of Lake Avernus, the prophetess orders him to obtain the miraculous Golden Branch as a pass to enter the Underworld.

The mysterious lake, located just 4 km from Pozzuoli, still retains its original name. Surrounded in ancient times by dark, looming forests, and famously depicted by the English painter Turner, it has greatly changed in appearance due to volcanic eruptions and urban development. Yet, it remains a place of great mystique. With its deep, sulfurous waters, it fills the crater of an ancient volcano, whose deadly fumes, as the tradition goes, kept birds away. This would explain its name, which is believed to derive from the Greek aornos, meaning “without birds.”

Where was the Sibyl's Cave?

Cumaean Sibyl by Michelangelo
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Cumaean Sibyl by Michelangelo

On the Acropolis of Cuma stood a cave traditionally known as the Cave of the Sibyl. When excavations were carried out in the 1920s, the cave turned out to be much larger than expected—183 meters long, with skylights and water cisterns. The gallery ran straight through the hill and was soon identified as a military structure built by the Roman general Agrippa. In 1932, a second cave was discovered, which archaeologists believed to be the Sibyl’s cave. It is accessed through a 107-meter-long gallery with 12 short side passages opening into the hillside, through which light filters in.

The main gallery ends in a vestibule containing a couple of rock-hewn seats, and beyond them is a vaulted chamber. Perhaps the visitors to the Sibyl would sit here, waiting for their consultation, while the prophetess, hidden by the door that originally separated the vestibule from the inner temple, would deliver her prophecies. They were probably in a heightened state of anticipation, as the alternating beams of light and shadow created by the skylights along the gallery would make anyone entering from inside to lead the newcomers to the temple appear and disappear.

The light openings may have also served to intimidate the visitors in another way. Like the slits found in other oracular chambers, such as in Malta, the holes in the rock might have created the calculated “special effect” described by Virgil: “The vast side of the Euboean cliff opens into a cave: / it is reached by a hundred wide passages, a hundred doors; / from there break forth as many voices, the responses of the Sibyl.”

In 1932, scholars concluded that the cave described by Virgil had been rediscovered, and it continues to be shown to visitors as the Sibyl’s cave. But is it truly so? The Temple of the Cumaean Sibyl was venerated throughout the Greek world from the 6th or 5th century BC, but most of the remains visible today belong to a later period.

No artifacts have been uncovered that would definitively confirm or disprove the religious use of the cave, and some archaeologists believe further research is necessary. Still, standing at the entrance to the cave, it is easy to imagine Virgil’s hero, Aeneas, and his Trojan warriors—battle-worn and frozen in terror—while "from the shrine, the Cumaean Sibyl / utters dreadful riddles and moans from the cave, wrapping the truth in darkness..."

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