Dodona is asteroid #382 and also known as 1894 AT. Dodona’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 3.12 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.18, a period of revolution of 2 010 days, and an inclination of 7.4 degrees. Dodona is of the type M. Dodona was discovered by the French astronomer Auguste Honoré Pierre Charlois at the Nice Observatory (Observatoire de Nice) in southeastern France near the border with Italy.

Dodona is named after the oracle of Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα). It is the oldest of all Greek oracles and was in importance second to only the oracle of Delphi. The oracle of Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα) is so old that it seemingly alienated Homér, who described the priests of the oracle and their strange habits. He described that these priests always slept on the naked soil and never washed their feet. He furthermore described that these priests were highly specialized, for example one of them only putting up wreaths. These priests lived in a grove of oak trees and the oracles were taken from the swoosh of the oak leaves and the cooing of the pigeons living in the grove. Zeús Naios was the god, who was in charge of the oracle of Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα), but according to legend, a goddess was previously venerated there and the cult of Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα) shall have been founded by an abducted priestess from Egypt. The names Greeks and Hellenes shall be derived from the original population living in Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα). Homér called the priests Selloi. This name shall later have turned into Helloi and then into Hellenes. The goddess, who was venerated at Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα), is speculated to have been Dione, but this is very unlikely because then her cult would have disappeared for several centuries and then reappeared. The oracle of Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα) changed over time. Instead of the pigeons’ cooing had their flight been watched and from the fifth pre-christian century on had tablets of lead with oracle verses on them been drawn. These perhaps had first only served to document the oracle verdicts. From the fourth pre-christian century on had buildings been erected at Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα), first a temple of Dione, later profane buildings, where the priests lived and from where the area was governed, and other temples. At the same time, priestesses of Dione began to serve at Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα), performing more complex rituals than their male colleagues and taking over the oracle. The holy site was at the end of the fourth christian century destroyed by christian zealots.

An oak of the holy grove of Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα) was according to Greek mythology used to build the front of the famous ship Argo, so that the ship would always find the right way. Odysseus shall during his odyssey have visited the oracle of Dōdṓnā (Δωδώνα), too. Several oracles have celestial representatives. But asteroid #382 is, due to the historical and mythological importance of the represented oracle, the best representation of oracles and the different ways of forecasting as such.