The word sibyl comes (via Latin) from the Greek word sibylla,
meaning prophetess. The earliest oracular seeresses known as
the sibyls of antiquity, "who admittedly are known only
through legend"[1] prophesied at certain holy sites, under the
divine influence of a deity, originally- at Delphi and
Pessinos- one of the chthonic earth-goddesses. Later in
antiquity, sibyls wandered from place to place...
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（*Si/bulla) is the name by which several prophetic women
are designated who occur in various countries and at
different times in antiquity. The name is said to be formed
from Διὸς and βουλή, so that it would signify the counsel of
Zeus (Plut. Phaedr. p. 244; Serv. ad Aen. 3.445). The first
Sibyl, from whom all the rest are said to have derived their
name, is said to have been a daughter of Dardanus and Neso.
Some authors mention only four Sibyls, the Erythraean, the
Samian, the Egyptian and the Sardian (Aelian, Ael. VH
12.35); but it was more commonly believed that there were
ten, namely the Babylonian, the Libyan, the Delphian (an
elder Delphian, who was a daughter of Zeus and Lamia, and a
younger one, Paus. 10.12.1), the Cimmerian, the Erythraean
(here too we find an elder and a younger one, who is called
Herophile, Strab. xiv. p.645), the Samian, the Cumaean (who
is sometimes identified with the Erythraean, Aristot. Mir.
97), the Hellespontian or Trojan (comp. Tib. 2.5. 19), the
Phrygian and the Tiburtine (Paus. 10.12; Lactant. Instil.
1.6). The most celebrated of these Sibyls is the Cumaean,
who is mentioned under the names of Herophile, Demo,
Phemonoe, Deiphobe, Demophile, and Amalthea (Paus. l.c. ;
Serv. ad Aen. 3.445, 6.72; Tib. 2.5. 67; Suidas, s. v.). She
was consulted by Aeneas before he descended into the lower
world (Ov. Met. 14.104, &c., 15.712; Verg. A. 6.10). She is
said to have come to Italy from the East (Liv. 1.7), and she
is the one who, according to tradition, appeared before king
Tarquinius, offering him the Sibylline books for sale (Plin.
Nat. 13.28; Gel. 1.19). Pausanias also mentions a Hebrew
Sibyl of the name of Sabbe, who is called a daughter of
Berosus and Erymanthe. - A Dictionary of Greek and Roman
biography and mythology, William Smith, Ed.
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