MANTIKE

Form: sc. techne

is the name given by the Greeks to the gift or art of divination. The belief of the ancients, that it was possible to find out what was hidden or what was going to happen, sprang from the idea that the gods, when implored by prayer, or even when unimplored, graciously communicated revelations to men, by means of direct inspiration or through signs requiring interpretation. Hence the ancients distinguished between natural and artificial divination.