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The Temple of Apollo appears regularly in Homeric literature. Most likely they were popular proverbs, which tended later to be attributed to certain Greek thinkers. The actual authorship of the three maxims set up on the Delphi temple may always be a point of conjecture. Carved into the temple were three phrases: γνῶθι σεαυτόν (gnōthi seautón, or “Know thyself”) μηδὲν ἄγαν (mēdén ágan, or “Nothing in excess”), and Ἑγγύα πάρα δ’ἄτη (engýa pára d’atē, or “Make a pledge and mischief is nigh”). Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger and seen by Pausanias. Credit: Skyring / CC BY-SA 4.0 Great Religious Significance of Delphiĭelphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the Oracle. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi, overlooking the Phocis Valley. She also was respected by the Greek-influenced countries around the periphery of the Greek world, such as Lydia, Caria, and even Egypt.
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The Delphic oracle exerted considerable influence throughout the Greek world, and she was consulted before all major undertakings including wars and the founding of colonies. It has been speculated that the ancient writers, including Plutarch - who had worked as a priest at Delphi - were correct in attributing the oracular effects to the sweet-smelling pneuma, or vapor, escaping from the chasm in the rock. While in a trance, the Pythia “raved” – most likely a form of ecstatic speech – and her ravings were “translated” by the priests of the temple into elegant hexameters. Dionysus would inhabit the temple during his absence. The oracle could not be consulted during the winter months, for this was traditionally the time when Apollo would live among the Hyperboreans. Intoxicated by the vapors, the sibyl would fall into a trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. Alone in an enclosed inner sanctum (Ancient Greek adyton – “do not enter”) the Oracle sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth (the “chasm”).Īccording to legend, when Apollo slew Python, its body fell into this fissure and fumes arose from its decomposing body. She had to be an older woman of blameless life chosen from among the peasants of the area. Believing this principle to be true, many of the best historians of the time spent a great deal of time trying to interpret oracular myths as actual realities.
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It was then up to the inquiring party as to how to interpret them.Īs the prophecy was regarded as the true word of divinity, the actual meaning, if it could be known, must be absolute truth. When asked a question, the Oracle - perhaps quite cunningly - never gave a direct answer, but spoke in allegories with “hidden meanings” and “ambiguities,” according to Plutarch, who was himself a priest of Apollo and a great historian. The god himself was believed to speak through this oracle. The Oracle of Delphi, the Pythia, who was also referred to as the sibyl, was a priestess who would prophesy from the tripod in the sunken adyton of the Temple of Apollo. The stone monument known as the omphalos (navel) of Mother Earth - incredibly still exists there today. Credit: Filippos Marinakis / CC BY-SA 4.0 The Oracle of DelphiĪccording to Greek legend, Delphi was previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), a sacred place which served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. It has been part of Parnassos National Park since 1938. Located on the southwestern slopes of Mount Parnassus, Delphi is one of Greece’s most enormous and important archaeological sites. Human occupation of the site at Delphi can be traced back to the Neolithic period, from 6,800 to 3,200 BC, with extensive occupation and use beginning in the Mycenaean period, from 1,600–1,100 BC. He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities of the earth, and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi, where the omphalos, or navel of Gaia, was found. Zeus was said to have determined the site of Delphi after he sought to find the center of his “Grandmother Earth” (Gaia). Credit: Facebook/Delphi Archaeological Museum Krisa itself is Middle Helladic, from 1,900 to 1,550 BC.Īccording to the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus, in the prologue of the “Eumenides,” the oracle had its origins in prehistoric times and the worship of the earth goddess, Gaia. Both Amphissa and Krisa are mentioned in the Iliad’s “Catalogue of Ships.” It was a Mycenaean stronghold.
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On the north side of the valley junction a spur of Parnassus looming over the valley made narrower by it is the site of ancient Krisa, which once was the ruling power of the entire valley.