Herodotus, Histories 1.53.1 · 1.53.1

Croesus sends the same verb he used to test the oracles, epeirōtan, "to ask," but now he trusts the answer. The gifts go first, dedicated at every shrine still in the running, and only then comes the real question, carried to the chrēstēria in his own two clauses: will the war succeed, and who should fight beside him. Herodotus keeps the order of Croesus's priorities visible. Payment comes before the question, as if an answer can be bought along with the god's goodwill.

The second half of the question already assumes the first half is settled. By asking which allies to find, Croesus treats the war as decided before any oracle has spoken a word about it. A man still weighing a decision does not plan his alliances in the same breath. The oracle will only ever answer the question actually put to it, and that gap, between the question Croesus asks and the question he should have asked, is where the rest of the story turns.

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