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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Delphi

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ABOUT DELPHI (THE NAVEL OF EARTH)

Over the Gulf of Corinth, at the foot of mount Parnassus, in the majestic landscape that is formed between two huge rocks, the Phaedriades, lays the dominant pan-hellenic sanctuary of Delphi, the most significant and most famous oracle of the ancient Greek world. The myth has it that Zeus sent two eagles from the ends of the world to meet in the centre of the earth. For countless years later, Delphi had been the cultural and religious centre of ancient Greece.

The grandeur and historical significance of Delphi is perfectly imprinted on countless references of the name of the oracle in Greek mythology, Greek history and literature. For many centuries on, Delphi was the leading force of ancient Greece. People from every social background, city leaders and representatives visited the oracle, seeking to learn about their destiny, to get consultation in order to make important decisions and expressed their gratitude with brilliant tributes and gifts. The religious and political influence of the oracle had therefore spread out in the wider area of the Mediterranean. Typical is the case of colonization, where the oracle played a very important role in the establishment of colonies.

All in all, the oracle’s influence in religion and politics was dominant, but the oracle of Delphi showed hints of its glorious influence in education, literature, art, trade and colonization. Tributes and precious gifts to the oracle of individuals as well as entire cities were of immense value. Prior to the disaster of Delphi, there were countless works of art found in the area, proving the significance of the oracle in the ancient world.

Delphi is therefore an area with strong tourist industry, attracting visitors from all over the world all year long. For this reason the district of Delphi is properly equipped with contemporary tourist resorts, restaurants, tourist shops, offering a taste of traditional Greek hospitality garnished with modern touches and means.

DELPHI: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE 

The archaeological site of Delphi includes two temples, one of course dedicated to the god Apollo and the other one to the goddess Athena Pronaia, requiring this name since her temple was the first one to come across if coming to Delphi from the west, namely Athens. In this temple one can marvel the famous dome, a wonderful architectural artefact of antiquity, which stands almost in the middle of the ancient sanctuary. There are also many altars dedicated to Athena and Zeus, as well as remnants of different buildings. Northwest of the wider area there is the gymnasium, cultural and educational center of antiquity as well as training place of the athletes. A little further up, one can visit the Castalian Spring, where the priestess Pythia and the priests of the temple would wash, and where visitors would drink water to quench their thirst from their long and tiring journey and also to purify themselves before entering the temple. In the centre of the archaeological site of Delphi was the shrine of Apollo, the most significant part of the oracle. From there the visitors would follow the Sacred Way to the temple of Apollo, where Pythia sat on a tripod and gave oracles, chewing laurel leaves. The sanctuary was surrounded by successive levels, gates and archways and among all this there were remnants of countless offers, tributes from city-states or individuals offering to Apollo in order to appease him. Thus, in the centre of the sanctuary, the temple of Apollo stood dominating, imperious and imposing. Above, more to the northwest lies the ancient theatre, where the drama and music events took place during the celebration of Pythia. Outside the precincts of the sanctuary, there is the stadium, where the athletic games were held every 4 years. In the area surrounding the oracle, there are scattered remnants of the village of Delphi, the development of which occurred in the classical and roman periods

Organization of the Delphic Force

The Delphic Amphictyony was the most important one of the ancient world. This powerful and prestigious federation was formed by twelve tribes originating from Central Greece and Thessaly. Its members would meet twice a year, once in spring at the sanctuary of Apollo, in Delphi, and once in autumn at the sanctuary of the goddess Demeter, in Athili, near Thermopylae. Each tribe would send two delegates to the congresses and was entitled to two votes.
The main concern of the Amphictyony was the supervision of the sanctuary of Apollo as well as its property management. The Amphictyony also was in charge of appointing priests and other officers at the sanctuary and was responsible for organizing the Pythian, which were held every 4 years and included drama events, music competitions, sacrifices and paeans to the god Apollo.
The Delphic Amphictyony drew its prestige and strength from the fact that all the tribes- members had equal rights and obligations, the same amount of power and value. To this extend, tribes with little power or prestige outside the Amphictyony could be involved in the federation and treated as equals. This fact combined with the already existing aura of the oracle, made the Amphictyony an important religious and political power.
The prophecy ceremony
The priestess of the oracle, Pythia, was the one who revealed the oracles, after a particular ritual being followed. The theotropoi, meaning the priestess and the priests of the oracle, cleaned their hands and bodies with water from the Castalian Spring, paid a fee, the pelanon and then offered sacrifice in the temple of Apollo. Pythia would burn laurel leaves and oats, and then would descend to the underground depths, under the centre of the temple, a spot called Antron. The visitors would call their questions out loud so that the priestess could hear them. Pythia, seated in the tripod, would chew the laurel leaves and inhale through the slot of the navel. She would immediately fall asleep and start talking; then, the priests wrote down and interpreted the ambiguous answers of the priestess. In the first years of the operation of the oracle, the priestess was expected to be a young pristine girl, but later it was decided that it should be a mature woman over 50 years of age.
 
In the small village that was beside the oracle of Delphi, the inhabitants were engaged in tasks which served to optimize the functioning of the sanctuary. So there were sellers of religious items, like knives for the sacrifices, engravers of inscriptions, different small hawkers who would benefit from the large volume of visitors in Delphi.

THE MUSEUM

The Archaeological Museum of Delphi, one of the most significant museums in the country, contains exclusively artifacts from the excavations of the sanctuary and the site surrounding it. The two-storey building dates from about 1902, and it is a donation of the Greek benefactor Andreas Syggros. It was built due to the housing needs of the findings of the so-called Great Excavation of the French, which began in 1892. Since its construction and up until today it has been renovated several times, mainly due to the fact that it has been attracting a great number of tourists all year long.
Apart from the 14 rooms of the museum’s permanent collection and storage, there is also a workshop of ceramic and metal objects maintenance as well as mosaic restoration workshop.
The unique and rich collection of the museum of Delphi includes architectural sculptures, statues, inscriptions and dedications to the sanctuary from all the periods of the existence of the oracle. The bronze statue of the Charioteer, the twin statues of Kouroi, the Sphinx of Naxioi, the treasures of the Atheneans and Sifneans, the navel of the earth, which is the symbol of the Delphic divination, are some of the most important exhibits of the museum. Those exhibits are ideally grouped in order to help the visitors understand the rich and long history of Delphi in the most quick and efficient way possible.

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