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Plutarch · On the Cessation of Oracles (De Defectu)
The Oracles' Silence
Demetrios of Tarsus, his report from the islands beyond Britain, and the daemon argument that explains why the oracles have fallen quiet.
The spine of it
Oracles were run not by the gods directly but by daemons — intermediate beings, long-lived but mortal. When a daemon dies or migrates, its oracle falls silent. Demetrios's storm off Britain is the eyewitness proof.
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