Tag: Delphi

The origins of Delphi are found in the mists of myth. Several myths are involved. One says that Zeus released a couple of eagles, one from the east and one from the west to see where they would meet. Pythos (later Delphi) was the spot. So it was declared the “belly button” or center of the world. The belly button stone can still be seen.

Another myth was that Apollo, while still a toddler, slayed a python (serpent or dragon) that served Gaia, the Earth Mother. He then took Pythos over, renamed it Delphi, and had a temple created there that he considered to be his main home. Whenever he wasn’t there (usually for a period of time in the winter), his pal Dionysius hung out in his place.

Ancient Delphi’s location is on one of the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The location is quite amazing and its rediscovery was equally amazing. When the Ottomans took over in the 1400s, Delphi had already been abandoned for roughly a thousand years, after having been shut down by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I in 381 during the persecution of the pagans. It was during the time of the Ottomans in the late 15^th or 16^th century, however, that Delphi was built over and became the village of Kastri.

In the 1700s, interest in Delphi began once folks realized that it had been a real place, not just a mythical location. But, in the early 1800s, when it became apparent that Kastri was built over the remains of Delphi and that the village would need to be removed to allow for any excavation, the villages decided they weren’t going anywhere. But, after a massive earthquake in the late 1800s, the villagers were offered new homes in another (but similar) area on Mount Parnassus, not far away. So the village was relocated and excavations began. Our tour group spent the night in a small hotel in the village, and then headed over to explore Delphi the following morning.

We entered through the Agora, which was the main gathering place. It didn’t take long before we found ourselves staring right at the belly button stone. It was an outie. Nearby were some bases where some of the statues had stood. The footprints of those statues could still be seen. Delphi had eventually taken over from Olympia as the main site of various athletic events that ultimately became the Olympics, so numerous athletic statues had originally lined the route up the mountain.

 The remains of several treasuries came next as we wound our way up towards the Temple of Apollo. These were built by various city-states to hold their offerings to the gods – mainly Apollo. The Athenian Treasury had been mostly restored by the time of our visit in 2014.

A few steps from this treasury was the Sybil Rock. This was where the oracle who existed prior to Apollo’s temple sat and gave her prophecies. Delphi had been a center for oracles and prophecies from the days of Gaia and the Python. The Sybil oracle would go into a trance to give her prophecies much as the later oracle.

Once Apollo took over, a special room in the temple held the oracle, who sat on a tripod and breathed fumes coming up through a crack in the rock floor beneath her. These fumes were said to be emitted from the decaying body of the python slain by Apollo. The temple remains were from the sixth one built on the site and was completed in 320 BC. It was destroyed by zealous Christians in 390 AD. But the original foundation wall remained.

The Temple of Apollo was roped off and there were security people around so that tourists could not go up onto the remains of the temple floor. There was a fair amount of it missing, so I’m sure it would be dangerous to anyone who wasn’t really careful about what they were doing. But, boy did I want to go up there and check it out.

Our guide and I worked out the location where the oracle would have been from a spot above the theatre where we had a pretty decent view of the temple. My video camera could zoom in pretty close, but my photo camera not so much. That part of the floor was still there and had a very distinctive crack in it. The theatre dated to the 4^th century BC.

Further up Mount Parnassus, near the top, was the stadium where the various athletic games took place. The Pythian Games and the later Panhellenic Games were held every four years. The track and field sports took place in the stadium. It was quite a hike. Fortunately the trail zigged and zagged its way up gradually. So, with my cane and an occasional stop to catch my breath, I could make it.

The museum, back down on more level ground, not far from the entrance to Delphi itself, contained lots of statues, pieces of friezes and other artifacts found on site. I loved seeing some Corinthian helmets much like the replica I have on a bookcase in my living room at home.

Then there was The Charioteer (478 BC). I had seen photos of this statue in books my entire life. It is considered to be one of the greatest ancient Greek statues ever created. There I was taking my own photos of it. It survived because it was buried during an earthquake. Nobody knew it was there until it was found during excavations. It was life-sized and made out of bronze.

After lunch, we visited a tholos (a round temple), which is about a half mile from the main part of Delphi. Although there were other ruins there, the Temple of Athena Pronoia (built 380 to 370 BC) was the main site to see. It was gorgeous as was its setting.

The following morning, we drove along the Gulf of Corinth to get from western mainland Greece to the part of Greece called the Peloponnese over a bridge called the Nakpaktos. Just the other side of the bridge was Patras. Our destination was Olympia.

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