The Double Tongue

by William Golding

First published 1995

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3.5(28)

In first-century BCE Greece, the plain and unwanted Arieka is removed from an arranged marriage after a priest recognises qualities that may suit the service of Apollo. She is taken to Delphi, trained within the sanctuary and eventually becomes the Pythia, speaking prophecies that male priests must interpret for petitioners who still seek the authority of the ancient oracle.

Delphi is no longer at the centre of an independent Greek world. Roman power shapes the cities and sacred institutions around it, while Arieka questions whether her utterances come from Apollo, from her own divided mind or from the expectations of those who control the shrine. Her recollection examines religion, female authority and political decline through the life of a woman whose public voice belongs simultaneously to herself, the god and the men who translate it.