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ORACLE AT DELPHI |
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Apparently, Posiedon & Apollo didn't always get along. After talking with him at Cape Sounio, he wanted us to travel to Delphi, & to insult Apollo at one of his places of power. We were reluctant at first but Posiedon reminded us both that we grew up on the coast (East & West) & that now we are currently living on islands & "with all the global warming talk, who knows what can happen to Ireland & England next week". So we really didn't have a choice.
Delphi is up in the Parnassos mountains, & the drive is very scenic. |
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The bus ride to the mountain village of Delphi is about 3hrs, but the bus does do a 10 minute stop 1 hour just outside of Delphi going and coming from there. For 13€ return each, this was a steal compared to what the tour buses were charging for their chartered rides, plus they didn't go down to visit Athena.
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There is a museum at Dephi that contains many of the archeological findings around the area. We decided to start here to get a good background before seeing the site.
This is considered one of the most important museums in Greece. The first was built here in 1904 and redone in 2004.
We weren’t allowed to pose with the statues inside but we could take the pictures. |
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ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT: (1) Daughters of King Cecrops or Dancers. (2) Headless armless man. (3) Statue of the athlete Hagias from the votive of Daochos. Marble copy of a bronze original by Lysippos 340 BCE. (4) Marble statue of Antinoos and "companion" of the Roman emperor Hadrian.
FAR TO NEAR LEFT: (1) 3 Daughters again with Moe. (2) Marble statues of the Kouroi. Represent the sons of Zeus, 6th century. (3) Sphinx of the Naxians 560 BCE. |
| RIGHT: Letter from Emperor Claudius to the proconsul of Achaia (52 AD). In the letter, Emperor Claudius demonstrates his interest in the city of Delphi (which had a storage of citizens at the time) by giving directions about how new inhabitants migt be attracted from other cities. The letter is also important on account of its reference to Lucius Junius Gallio, the brother of Seneca, who was proconsul of Achaia at the time of the Apostle Paul's stay in Corinth. |
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| Relief depicts the battle of the Greeks against the Trojans, 525 BCE. |
Relief of Treasury of the Siphnians has two scenes. TOP. Dispute between Herakles and Apollo for the oracular tripod. BOTTOM. The gods are debating over the fate of Troy. 525 BCE |
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Moe & Fred’s idea of the Oralce at Delphi was different than what they thought. Pictures of what is thought to be the Oralce is actually something else that we will see later. The Oracle at Delphi was surrounded by many other buildings & structures, which made up the largest religious centre of ancient Greece. |
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THE MYTH : The oracle was founded from a fissure in the earth. Vapors coming from the fissure allowed man to go into a trance and foretell the future. The first oracle was to Ge, goddess of the Earth along with Poseidon & Thermis. Finally, Apollo took over after a battle with the Python-dragon. Apollo is said to have brought new enlightenment to man. |
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Another important event that occurred here was the Pythian Games. Greece was broken up into city-states and it was important for them to come together and bond. The Pythian Games originally occurred every 8 years and then every 4. They were only second to the Olympics games. It started off as music and poetry competitions but eventually involved athletes.
LEFT: Scale model of what the Oracle site use to look like. Fred was surprised at the size of the place. The temple of Apollo (the biggest building in the model) is where the oracle was housed. |
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(1) Stoa (storage space). (2) Treasury of the Athenians: A completely restored treasury. The restoration was done between 1903-1906, the original pieces were mostly intact. There are hymns to Apollo & pictures of Herakles (Hercules) labours. (3) Apian Way. |
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(4) Sanctuary of Apollo where Oracle would have been located. (5) Amphitheatre of Delphi. (6) Stoa of the Athenians. Athenians put this in after victory in the naval battle of Salamis 479 BCE to hold the captured loot. The cross in the circle has writing at the bottom that explains this. |
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| Apollo's temple was pretty big, though not bigger than Zeus'. This is where all the magic happened. Obviously the Oracle was the religious center, but it also held politcal sway among the Greek city-states & was arbitraitor between them. Individuals wanting advice paid a fee or pelanos then had to sacrifice an animal, usually a goat. |
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| (5) The amphitheatre was built in the 3rd century BCE, & then continually fixed. It is in pretty good condition & we could see the whole site from this point. Apollo was God of Music so it was important to have this here. It held about 5,000 people. |
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(7) The stadium (located behind the amphitheatre) is in equally good condition as the theatre. The final version was done in 2nd century CE. The stadium held about 7,000 people & was used during the Pythian games between the Greek city-states. |
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| The second site in this area is the Sanctary of Athena Pronaia (before the temple). It is down the moutain from Apollo's Temple. The big open area to the left contained several altars to Athena of different sizes |
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| Fred turning into shadowman |
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Moe's collection |
Very old tree. |
| Most of the stuff here is badly ruined. There's the Archaic temple of Athens, the Doric treasury, and Massaliote treasury which are just foundations really. |
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The real treasure of the the Athena sancturay and all of Delphi is the THOLOS. The Tholos is often mistaken for the Oralce of Delphi because it has been photographed so much. |
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Built in the 4th century BCE as a circular building with columns all around. It was made entirely of marble. Three of the columns have been rebuilt. It isn't really known what it was used for, but is thought to have been consecrated to "the cult of chronic deities". It has the most unique style in Delphi, which also makes it stand out. |
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Our visit to Delphi was best completed with this most scrumptuous lunch of lamb in olive oil, oregano, & lemon juice (so tender, creamy, & tart), fried calamari, dolomite in lemon cream sauce, & of course, Greek salad with yummy olive oil & feta. |
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| back to athens |
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