Delphi - By Gia Recco </head> <body bgcolor=white> <center><h3><u>Delphi</u></h3><p> By Gia Recco</center> The small village of Delphi is most known for its oracle and the Temple of Apollo. Most of the time it is called the "navel" of the world because of an ancient myth that Zeus let go two golden eagles from each side of the earth and they both landed in Delphi. To mark the center or "navel" of the earth, Zeus threw a special stone to mark the village.</p> <center><a href="index_files/image001.jpg"><img src="index_files/image002.jpg"></a> <br>The Phedriades overlooking ancient Delphi</center> <p> <center> <h3><u>The Oracle of Delphi</u></h3></center> In early Mycenaean times, the earth goddess, Gaea was worshipped in Delphi and it is thought that the oracle was started then. Later in the Mycenaean age a number of gods and goddesses were worshiped there, but at the end it was Apollo who had taken the place of the other deities. Legend says that when Apollo was born as a god, he was angry with the great serpent python that guarded mother earth's oracle. He killed the serpent and thus, the oracle belonged to him. </p> <p>A great temple was built for Apollo where supposedly the Orcale or Pythia sat on a three-legged stool. It was said that when Apollo wanted to take questions he would possess the Pythia and give answers to the question through the PythiaÕs mouth. These "answers" were no more than ranting and muttering from the Pythia who had gone into something of a trance from a chasm in the temple that produced fumes which she breathed in. She also chewed on Laurel leaves, which helped the trance. An ordinary person probably couldn't make heads or tails of her answers, so with her, writing down the mutterings were a group of priests. After she gave the "answers" they would try to make sense out of them. </p> <p>At first the oracle would only answer queries once a year on Apollo's birthday. A huge amount of people would come and on that day the priests and Pythia would collect showers of money and riches. Pretty soon, the Pythia was making predictions every month and more and more money and treasure was coming. They even had to add two more Pythias! Fortunate Kings and the wealthy that had taken advice from the Pythia, gave many gifts and treasures. Each city that had given treasures to the Pythia and Apollo made a treasury to put all of the offerings. These were actually more of a way to show off that this city was rich and could afford to offer lavish gifts to the gods. Also, if a city was victorious in battle they would put a statue of one of the warriors of the battle to pose a threat to anybody who wanted to fight with them. Among these statues was a gift from the Athenians for their amazing victory at the battle of Marathon. The votive was comprised of thirteen statues. Among these were Apollo and Athena, General Miltiades, and the Eponymous conquerors of Athens. To bring shame upon the losing army they would even put their statue near a statue of somebody from the army that they had beaten. Also from the Persian war there was a statue of thanks from the war at Plataea. It consisted of a column formed from the bodies of three bronze snakes. On the heads there sat a gold tripod. </p> <p>The Pythia herself was a woman over fifty years old (although she dressed in a young girls' clothes) that had been chosen to be the seer.She was usually just chosen by a strange method. A goat would be ready to sacrifice to Apollo, and to see if this woman was worthy of being a seer they would sprinkle the goat with cold water. If the goat shivered then the woman would be chosen to be the Pythia and then they would sacrifice the goat. The Pythia didnÕt have to have any schooling or come from a wealthy family (she could in fact be a peasant). All she had to have was ApolloÕs sudden inspiration to come upon her. </p> <p>Every time before the Pythia would make predictions she would bathe in the Kastelian spring, named after the water nymph Kastalia. The priests who translated the predictions would also bathe and as well as the person who had asked the question. The Kastalian spring was part of the reason that any civilization was there because it supplied (and still supplies) fresh water to the village of Delphi. </p> <center><img src="index_files/image004.jpg"><br>The Temple of Apollo where the Pythia sat. </center> <p> <p> <center><h3><u>The site of Ancient Delphi</u></h3></center> <p >The sight of ancient Delphi has several well-restored buildings, including a number of treasuries, a temple to Apollo, a theater, and a stadium. The treasuries used to hold loads of treasure and statues that were given to Apollo and the Pythia. There were beautiful designs and carvings on the treasuries. On the main sections of the Athenian treasury there are reliefs describing the adventures of Theseus.<p>On the back side of the treasuries are the labors of Herakles (also called Hercules). Archaeologists were able to put this treasury together very easily because of the writing on it. </p> <p>Also from the Athenians was made a stoa after their victory after their success at the battle of Salamis to hold all of their treasure from the Persians. Furthermore </p> <p> <p>The Siphnian treasury was not very large, but it was built entirely out of Parian marble. This was the first structure to ever be entirely built out of this marble. In the front of the temple instead of columns to hold the roof up, two marble carved girls were used. There are many more treasuries but these are the two most preserved.</p> <p>The temple of Apollo is the most important building in the sanctuary. It was the middle of Apollo's religious group. Now it has a few standing Doric columns that look like they're stacked. The stone on the floor of the temple is uneven in some places, but it is still very striking. There was a golden statue of Apollo inside and a hearth that held an everlasting fire. On the top of the temple were writings of Greek philosophers such as "Know thy self," and "Nothing in excess."</p> <p>The theater is fairly small and horseshoe shaped. It used to be where every eight years plays would take place of Apollo slaying Python. </p> <center> <img src="index_files/image003.jpg"> <br>The theater at Delphi.</center> <p>The stadium at Delphi is also horseshoe shaped and is enclosed by a line of trees. The Pythian games were held in the stadium in honor of Apollo every four years as the central point of each Olympiad at Delphi. These games were especially famous for their contests of music playing and original music writings. There were also regular contests of running, jumping and throwing. </p> <center><a href="index_files/image005.jpg"><img src="index_files/image006.jpg"></a> <br>The stadium at Delphi</center> <p>A quite unusual thing on the site is what is called Sybil's Rock, which is a huge rock half covered in ivy leaves. It is said that the first Sybil came to Delphi and stood on it and pronounced an oracle for the first time. </p> <p>The modern village of Delphi used to be on top of Ancient Delphi, but was moved by the French around a hundred years ago because the town was built right on top of the ruins!</p> <center><h3><u>The Temple of Athena Pronaia (Marmaria)</u></h3></p> <p>The temple of Athena Pronaia has been built over three times. It is built under a rocky mountain and huge rocks have fallen from the mountains and have destroyed the temples. These rocks can still be seen today. Aside from the three temples that are in states of ruin, there is also a small Tholos Tomb and two Ionic treasuries. It is also as equally breathtaking as The Temple of Apollo. </p> <center><a href="index_files/image007.jpg"><img src="index_files/image008.jpg"></a> <br>The Tholos Tomb at the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia.</center> <p> <p>Also near this temple there is another stadium that has two running tracks. One where the athletes used to run when it was a nice day and one that was covered so they could run when it was raining. There was also a small swimming pool where the athletes would swim after a hard day's work of practicing. <p> <center><h3><b><u>The Location </u></b></h3> </center>The location of Ancient Delphi is truly special. It is probably one of the most beautiful places of our world, with lush mountains surrounding it. As many other ancient places, I think that the ancient Greeks chose this location for Delphi because of it's close connection with nature and the deities. </p> <center><a href="index_files/image009.jpg"><img src="index_files/image010.jpg"></a> <br>The view from the Temple of Athena. <p> <P> <a href="index_files/image011.jpg"><img src="index_files/image012.jpg"></a> <br> The view from the Temple of Apollo. </center> </body> </html>