Sibyl, << SIHB uhl, >> was the name ancient Romans gave to any aged woman who could supposedly foretell the future. The best known was the Cumaean Sibyl. According to mythology, the god Apollo promised that she would live one year for each grain of sand she could hold in her hands. But Apollo did not give her eternal youth, and she continued to age. Sibyl guided Aeneas, the Trojan warrior, to the lower world to learn the future of Rome. Later, she offered to sell nine books of prophecy, called the Sibylline Books, for a high price to a king of Rome. When he refused, Sibyl burned six of the books. He finally paid the original price for only three. The Romans consulted these books in times of danger. The Sibylline Books were destroyed by fire in 83 B.C.
