Zeus, the Divine Lottery, and the Equality of Chance

In ancient Greek society, drawing lots was used for a variety of purposes, notably distribution (e.g., of booty), selection (e.g., of magistrates), and procedure (e.g., establishing turns). However, unlike the unequal outcomes often expected in games of chance (e.g., dice gambling) ancient Greeks often aspired to equality of outcomes as well, e.g., in “partible inheritance by lot”. Did Greeks expect the gods to determine the results of drawing lots? In other words, was drawing lots regarded as a kind of divination? The discussion of myths of drawing lots among Greek gods, especially in Homer and in Hesiod, points to the reverse conclusion: when, for example, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon divided up among themselves their provinces or “honors” (the Sea, the Underworld, the Sky), both as brothers “inheriting” and as victors splitting up the spoils, they were certainly not turning to yet another god to determine the answer. The drawing of lots depends on the sovereignty of the group to decide to conduct a drawing of lots, it defines the very contours of what constitutes a legitimate “group” of potential sharers, i.e., those who have access, stresses the equality of chance for all participants, and attempts at equality and fairness of outcomes. Mostly, except for explicit lot-oracles, the drawing lots among ancient Greeks was a human affair.