Delphi

An important sanctuary site in central Greece, where the Delphic oracle was located. Situated at the foot of Mount Parnassus, Delphi was thought (by the Greeks) to lie at the center of the earth. The setting has a striking backdrop of cliff-face, rock fissures, and springs. The sanctuary of Apollo held the oracle, which was frequently consulted by all Greek city-states at the start of a new enterprise. In addition to answering consultations by states and individuals (the answers were often couched in obscure hexameter verses which had to be figured out by the questioner), Delphi was a religious and festival center for the different Greek city-states belonging to the Amphictyonic League. The Pythian Games, held at Delphi, became a great national festival. Along a Sacred Way were placed some 20 temple-like treasuries (thesauroi), erected by member states to house valuable offerings. Above, on a terrace supported by a wall of unusual polygonal masonry, stood the great Temple of Apollo, containing in a holy of holies (adyton) a navel-shaped stone (omphalos) marking the center of the earth, and a rock fissure from which emanations were supposed to inspire the Pythian priestess. The virgin priestess would fall into a trance to five (inarticulate) answers to male priests (women were not admitted). The temple was reconstructed after earthquake damage in c 350 BC, and a theater and stadium were added. After c 300 BC the oracle began a slow decline in authority, and Roman rule brought further deterioration and then plundering. The oracle was finally closed by emperor Theodosius in 390 AD as anti-Christian.

A dramatic site on the steep slopes of Mount Parnassus, central Greece, famous in classical antiquity as the home of the Delphic oracle. It is likely that there was pre-Hellenic use as an earth deity shrine, and the setting, with its striking backdrop of cliff-face, rock fissures and springs, was no doubt deliberately chosen. In addition to answering consultations by states and individuals (the answers were often couched in obscure hexameter verses which left the enquirer none the wiser) Delphi seems to have acted as a religious and festival centre for the different Greek city states who organized themselves into the so-called Amphictyonic League. The Pythian Games, held at Delphi, became a great national festival, and over the years an elaborate complex of religious and ceremonial buildings grew up. Along a Sacred Way were placed some 20 temple-like treasuries, erected by member states to house valuable offerings. Above, on a terrace supported by a wall of unusual polygonal masonry, stood the great Temple of Apollo, containing in a holy of holies (adyton) a navel-shaped stone {omphalos) marking the centre of the earth, and a rock fissure from which emanations were supposed to inspire the Pythian priestess. The virgin priestess would fall into a trance to give (inarticulate) answers to male priests (women were not admitted). The temple was reconstructed after earthquake damage in c350 BC, and a theatre and stadium were added. After c300 bc the oracle began a slow decline in authority, and Roman rule, sceptical of its value, brought further deteroriation, with some prominent Romans plundering the site for its art treasures — the emperor Nero, in a fit of pique at the oracle’s comments on his murder of his mother, is said to have carried off five hundred statues. The oracle was finally closed by the Emperor Theodosius in 390 ad as anti-Christian.