Vacation from vacation--Delphi

Time for a break from our vacation. Monday we packed up and headed out of town for a trip to Delphi. We headed out from Nea Makri and drove through Athens and on, along the Gulf of Korinth, and finally arrived at Delphi.

The village of Delphi sits on a very steep slope and has 3 one-way streets which cut across the face of the cliff. Even midweek in the off season the town was busy and crowded with tour buses and cars. Trexie navigated us right to our hotel and Don, the parking god, got a spot right in front.

We checked into the nice, family run hotel, Pitho Rooms, and our very friendly and gregarious host, George, welcomed us and showed us to our nice room on the top floor. The room is spacious and has a nice little balcony with table and chairs, which overlooks a pretty garden and decorated wall. George remarked on our luck to get such a good parking spot, and admonished us not to move it. Don explained his parking godliness, but I think George thought this was a bit exaggerated. We settled in and took a walk around the town and down to the ruins of Athena's temple and the gymnasium, since it was almost closing time for the main site. We decided to return tho the main site the following day.

A little Delphi history for those of you who are rusty on your ancient history and Greek myths: Delphi is a sacred place where fumes waft up from a cleft in the rock. This site has been a place of worship for all of recorded history. The myth about Delphi is that Zeus released two eagles in opposite directions and they flew around the world and met in Delphi, which was then named the center of the earth. This momentous event was commemorated by a carving, called the Omphalos, (the tummy button of the world), a replica of which is in the museum. The famous Oracle of Delphi, from ancient Greek times, sat here in Apollo's temple, getting high on fumes from the fumerole and other burning weeds, and issuing vague prophesies to pilgrims. The priests who interpreted her responses to questions also collected the tributes and offerings, and probably enjoyed them very much.


Some anecdotes about the Oracle and her prophesies are amusing and interesting. Once Alexander the Great made a visit and asked if he would conquer the world. The Oracle knew she was dealing with a powerful man and had to be very careful about phrasing an answer that wouldn't get her into trouble. She hemmed and hawed and finally Alex got so impatient and frustrated that he grabbed her by the throat and shook her and demanded that she answer his question. At this point, with her life in jeopardy, she answered "You are unstoppable!" Alex dropped her and said, "OK, I have my answer." And, he went on to conquer much of the world.

Another story is about when Nero came to get advice about whether he should go to war or not. The Oracle said, "If you go to war you will destroy a powerful nation." And, she was right. Sadly for Nero the nation he destroyed was his own.As we strolled through the ruins at Delphi I imagined what it would be like to travel hundreds of miles by foot or horseback to consult the Oracle. Upon arrival the penitent would bathe at the Kastalian Spring at the foot of the cliff, and don his richest clothing, then he would pray and begin the long walk up the mountainside along the Sacred Way. Offerings would be made along the way at several conveniently placed depositories. According to Rick Steves the least acceptable cover charge was a loaf of bread, but of course the more elaborate and precious the offerings, the better the prophesy. Goats, precious gems, statuettes, gold, silver and brass items were common offerings. Many wealthier pilgrims built monuments and had statues carved and arranged permanent placements at the site. Finally the pilgrim would arrive at Apollo's huge temple where the air was scented with burning laurel leaves and the Oracle sat waiting. One more offering for good measure and then you were allowed to pose your question and wait while the Oracle pondered. Eventually an answer would come down and you were left to puzzle over what the heck it meant.Today we tourists still walk up that same Sacred Way and admire the massive temple to Apollo, the grand theater, and the various treasuries and fancy permanent offerings made by the city-states of Athens and Thebes and Sparta. The pillars of mighty Apollo's temple still stand, as does much of the huge theater.
After visiting the site we went to the museum which has wonderful ancient artifacts on display. Many of the items are in pretty good shape because they were buried in the disastrous eathquake of 373AD, and thus protected from looting by the Romans and Turks. Noteworthy displays include the enormous Sphinx of Naxos, 570BC, two huge statues of the twins of Argos, (quite handsome guys), 600BC, a frieze depicting the Trojan War and the various gods watching the battle and rooting for sides, the silver plates which covered a life-sized wooden bull, another frieze depicting the epic battle between the Greek gods and the older race of giants lead by Gaia. The displays are very good, presented well and really made the visit much richer.

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