A Pythia was the priestess who held court at the Oracle at Delphi, a sanctuary to the god Greek Apollo. The Pythia was highly-regarded, for it was believed that she channeled prophecies from Apollo himself, while steeped in a dream-like trance. The Oracle was constructed and begun in the 8th century B.C., and the final prophecy given around A.D. 393, after the Roman Empeor Theodosius ordered the closure of all pagan sanctuaries.