Oracle of delphi
The oracle of Delphi, located in a large sacred enclosure consecrated to the god Apollo, was one of the main oracles of Ancient Greece. It was located in the Pleisto valley, next to Mount Parnassus, near the current town of Delphi, in Fócida (Greece), 700 m above sea level and 9.5 km away from the Gulf of Corinth.
From the rocks of the mountain gushed several springs that formed different sources. One of the best known and oldest fountains was the Castalia fountain, surrounded by a forest of laurel trees dedicated to this same god.
Legend and mythology say that on Mount Parnassus the muses, minor goddesses of song and poetry, met together with the nymphs of the fountains, called naiads. In these meetings, Apollo played the lyre and the divinities sang.
Originally it had the name Pita and achieved great notoriety in the Hellenic world from the middle of the VIII century a. c.
Etymology
Delphi
There are various proposals about the origin of the place name of Delphi. One of them proposes that it comes from Delfino (Δελφινης), which was the name of the mythological dragon that guarded the oracle before the arrival of Apollo. It has also been written that its origin stems from a myth according to which Apollo became a dolphin to attract a Cretan ship, whose people he wanted to use as priests; the Cretans landed and founded Crisa and were commissioned to be priests of the temple and to worship the god under the name 'Apollo Delphinius'; to commemorate his conversion into a dolphin, the temple of Apollo was also called Delfinion (Δελφίνιoν).
Whisper
The sanctuary was built in the place known in antiquity as Pito, a name that in Greek has two forms (both feminine): Πυθώ, -οῦς and Πυθών, -ῶνος (Homer. Iliad 2, 519 and 9, 405; Odyssey 8,80). This name (which has no accepted etymology) is related to that of the great serpent or dragon that, according to mythology, guarded the primitive oracle (see the next section). In Antiquity an attempt was made to give an etymology to the name of Pito that would relate it to the functions of the sanctuary. Its relationship with the verb "pythomai" (πύτωμαι) = "to rot", which would be related to the fact that Apollo would have left the serpent to rot after having killed it; or with the verb pynthanomai (πυνθάνομαι) = "inform oneself, learn" which would refer to the functions of the oracle itself.
From the term "Python" come from "pitia" (Πυθία) or "pitoness", name of the priestesses of the temple, who interpreted the answers.
See "Pythia or Pythoness"
Origins of the sanctuary
There are testimonies of human occupation near the site of the Delphi sanctuary from the archaic period since Neolithic times, specifically in a cave in the Parnassus massif. Already in Mycenaean times and on the same site of the sanctuary there was first (c. 1400 BC) a small village that was abandoned sometime between 1100 and 800 BC. C. The sanctuary itself appeared after this date with an altar, which was followed by a first temple.
A tradition recounted by Diodorus Siculus indicates that a shepherd observed how his goats behaved strangely when they approached a crack from which vapors arose. Later, the pastor approached that same place and began to prophesy. When the news spread, many other people came to the place to also perform prophecies, but often in their trance they would jump into the crack and disappear through it. For this reason it was decided to appoint a woman to prophesy for everyone, for whom they built a tripod so that she would be safe. Strabo also mentions the subterranean vapors that inspired the Pythia and the tripod on which she stood.
On the other hand, the name of Pito is related in mythology to that of a great snake or dragon Python, son of the goddess Gaia (the Earth) who watched over an oracle consecrated to his mother, or was shared by Poseidon and Gea. A tradition indicates that Gea gave her part to Themis and she gave it to Apollo. On the other hand, Poseidon exchanged his with Apollo for Calauria. However, the most widespread version says that, in order to establish his own oracle with which to guide men, Apollo killed Python with his bow and took possession of it. of the oracle. To establish the cult of the new sanctuary he diverted a ship of Cretan priests (cf. Homeric Hymn to Apollo ).
Functioning of the oracle in classical times
The truth is that no ancient author, not even Plutarch in his work Pythic Dialogues, has left any complete description of how a query was performed, which must also have changed throughout the ages. centuries, so the information about it consists of a compilation of sources from different eras that often contain divergences from each other.
Pythia or Pythoness
It is known that the choice of this character was made without any class distinction. The candidate was only asked that her life and her customs be blameless. The appointment was for life and she promised to live forever in the sanctuary. During the centuries when the oracle was at its peak, it was necessary to appoint up to three pythonesses in order to easily attend to the innumerable consultations that were made at that time. However, in the days of decline there was only one, enough for the few and far between oracles that were required.
According to Diodorus Siculus, originally the Pythia was a young virgin, but following the kidnapping and rape of one of them by a young man from Thessaly, it was decreed that from then on no one could be chosen under fifty years of age, although they should continue to wear like a maiden.
The clients had an interview with her a few days before the oracle. This fact is perfectly documented in the news given by the authors of Antiquity. The oracle was celebrated one day a month, on the 7th, which was considered the date of Apollo's birth. On the other hand, in winter there was no oracle, because it was believed that Apollo traveled to the country of the Hyperboreans at that time.
On consultation days, the Pythia purified herself in the Castalia spring. She then made offerings to Apollo. Afterwards, the priests would pour cold water on a goat. If she was shivering, it was a sign that Apollo was receptive to inquiries. Then the sacrifice of the goat was carried out on the altar of Apollo.
The consultants were of all kinds, from great kings to poor people. In the first place they were purified with water from the sources of Delphi and then an order of consultation was established. The preferential right enjoyed by some of them was called promanteia. Once the order was established, the corresponding fees were paid, then a sacrifice was offered on the altar in front of the temple and finally the consultant appeared before the Pythia and made his consultations orally, it is believed.
Very little is known about the rite that was followed at the oracle. It is known that the Pythia sat on a tripod that was in a space called "aditon", at the bottom of the temple of Apollo Pythius. Αδυτων means "bottom of the sanctuary" and τo αδυτoν means "sacred place with forbidden access".
Several late authors such as Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Plutarch, Pausanias, Lucan, Origen, and Saint John Chrysostom described, with some differences among themselves, the process by which the Pythia received inspiration. The dominant image conveyed by these descriptions is that the fortune teller's or Pythia's tripod stood on top of a very deep crack in the rock. Gases emanated from that crack that caused the woman to go into a trance and her body to shake. Some authors considered, instead, that the crack was the physical space into which the Pythia descended to prophesy. According to Pausanias, some believed that it was the water from the Casotis spring that made the Pythia prophesy. Luciano mentions that she also chewed bay leaves, which helped to achieve that psychosomatic state.
Once inspired, the pythia would give answers (the true oracle) and possibly —although the sources are not clear in this regard— a priest would interpret them and write them down in verse, which would later be delivered to the seeker.
It is estimated that this and other divination systems were considered by the ancient Greeks as valid and useful means of having a connection with their divinities, for which reason the oracle was respected for more than a thousand years.
The archaeological and geological work carried out in the XIX century by the first excavators in the area of the temple of Apollo did not find below the temple the deep crack mentioned in the legend but, after a review of the geology of the place at the end of the XX century, it has been found that just below the temple of Apollo two geological faults intersect and that gases such as ethane, methane and ethylene can leak through the fissures in the rocks located under the temple that could cause a person to enter into a trance-like state.
Oracles of Croesus
Traditionally two oracles given to King Croesus are known:
Cresus (560-546 BC) was the last king of Lydia. It is told (in Herodotus: History I, 53 and in Cicero: On Divination II, 115, 11) of him that on one occasion he sent a query to the oracle, for he was preparing to invade Persian territory and wanted to know if the time was right. The oracle was like this: ἤν στρατεύηται ἐπὶ πέρσας, μεγάλην ἀρχήν μιν καταλύσειν / croesus halyn penetrans magnam pervertet opum vim / " creso, if you cross the Halys river (which makes border between lidia and person;. The response was interpreted as favorable and assuming that the great empire was that of the Persians. But the "great empire" that was destroyed in that encounter was his, and Lydia passed into the hands of the Persians. This is an example of the ambiguity in the answers. Many of them were collected by classical authors. Actually, the oracle was not trying to guess the facts, but to give good advice, which was not too difficult, since the latest news and events in the known world were available in the sanctuary.
According to Xenophon, when asked by the king himself about how he could spend the rest of his life as happily as possible, he was answered: "If you know yourself, Croesus, you will make the journey happily". This maxim is based on the idea that to achieve happiness and self-esteem you have to know your own limits and accept them.
Sibyl
According to some traditions, the first pythia or pythoness to act in the oracle of Delphi was called Sibyl, and her name became general and continued to be used as a nominative for this profession. Neither Homer nor Hesiod speak of the sibyls; Her name appears for the first time in the VI century a. C. and the philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (544-484 BC) is the first informant of these characters. Sibyls were thought to have originated in Asia and to some extent replaced the ancient Pythias.
The enclosure of the sanctuary or fear us
The fairly exact description of what the sacred enclosure was like is known thanks to information from Pausanias in the II century and the confirmation of those writings made by archaeological excavations.
A sacred fence called a peribola surrounded the entire enclave of the sanctuary. In the southeast corner of the enclosure began the sacred way that went up the mountain, meandering and passing in front of small buildings called treasures and various monuments, until it reached the temple of the oracle, temple of Apollo and continuing to the stadium at the top. The pilgrim entered through the main door of this sacred way.
In the valley you can see hundreds of planted olive trees, whose extension reaches the Gulf of Corinth. It is said to be the largest olive grove in the world.
The so-called treasures (Gr. θεσαυρυς, pronounced "tesaurus") were small chapels where ex-votos and donations, which were often very large, were kept. rich and valuable, true jewels. It is known that all these chapels existed:
- Treasure of Syracuse
- Treasure of Cirene
- Treasure of Cnido
- Treasure of Sifnos
- Treasury of Sition
- Treasure of Thebes
- Treasure of Corinth
- Treasure of Etruscans
- Treasure of the Athenians (which is the only one restored).
On the terrace that stretched out in front of the temple of Apollo was the altar of sacrifices. A theater was also built (in the IV century BC) and a stadium, with 7,000 seats for spectators, for the Pythian Games (event started in 582 BC). There was also a hippodrome, which is yet to be located.
In the open air and scattered throughout the enclosure were marble or bronze statues, gifts from kings or cities, in gratitude for the services rendered by the oracle.
The divinities
- Apollo Pitio He was the main god of the sanctuary. But in the winter months the god Dioniso took the lead because Apollo was going to the northern paradise. For this reason a different ornament was made in the eardrums of the great temple. In the eastern eardrum the triad apoline (Apolo, Artemisa and Leto) and in the west the Tiasowhich was the meeting of the faithful who celebrated the worship of Dionysus.
- The Shrine of Athena Pronea it was on the terrace of Marmaria, towards the bottom. Pronea means "the one before the temple." On this terrace there were two doric temples, one in honor of Athena and another for Artemisa, there was also the wind treasure (called treasure of Masalia, present Marseille) and the doric treasure. There he was with these buildings. tholos or roundabout of columns of the centuryIVa. C., whose ruins are still standing.
- During the centuryVa. C. The cult of Asclepius was established (important pattern of medicine, son of Apollo).
The omphalus
The omphalos is the navel of the world. Legend has it that the god Zeus commanded two eagles to fly from two opposite points of the Universe. The eagles came to be found here, in Delphi, where a conical stone called an omphalos marks the place. The stone, in the shape of a half egg, was discovered during excavations near the temple of Apollo.
These stones that represent the navel of the world were a symbol of the center, of the place where the creation of the world would begin. By placing them in a certain space, he sacralized it and turned it into the religious center. In the case of the Delphi omphalos, this was the case and this sanctuary became the navel or religious center of all of Greece.
In some coins found in the enclosure you can see the image of the omphalos, schematized and represented by a dot in the center of a circle. The aforementioned stone is on display in the Delphi museum.
History of the sanctuary
From archeology and ancient writings it is known that in the 8th century B.C. C. there were sacred buildings in this place of Delphi. Pausanias, the 2nd century Greek historian II d. C., collects the tradition and among other things tells that the first three temples were built, one with laurel, another with beeswax mixed with feathers and the third with bronze.
Archaeology shows that at this time the name of Apollo was already famous not only in the place, but in distant lands. The ex-votos brought to light in the excavations are very significant: the fame of Pythian Apollo who was famous in remote places, horses from Thessaly, tripods from the Peloponnese, container supports from Crete, etc.
Over time the offerings increased, especially the bronze ex-votos. Cretan shields, Corinthian helmets, cauldrons with griffin heads from Samos and the Peloponnese, and various statuettes have been found.
Heyday
At the end of the VII century a. C. special temples are already built for Apollo and Athena; They are made of stone, with Doric columns. Their remains, over time, were used to build new temples.
At the beginning of the VI century a. C. Two events took place that greatly influenced the evolution of the Delphi sanctuary. One was the installation in Delphi of the amphictionia and the other, the reorganization of the Pythian Games.
The Amphictyony was a religious league that brought together 12 towns (not cities), almost all of them in central Greece. He had his meetings in the sanctuary of Demeter in Antela, near Thermopylae. As the oracle of Delphi already had a greater renown than that of Demeter, they transferred the headquarters of this confederation there, without abandoning the other sanctuary. This decision gave rise to the so-called sacred wars that were three.
The Pythic Games were originally held every 8 years. Later they shortened it to 4 and alternated with the Olympic Games. They consisted of athletic tests, horse riding and lyrical contests. In Delphi a theater and a hippodrome were built at this time for the celebration of these games, which were considered very important.
There was great enrichment after the first sacred war, in which some Greek cities competed for control and authority of the sanctuary, thus achieving recognition of supremacy and prestige over the others cities and some foreign kingdoms. The contributions were both from the Greeks and from the barbarian peoples. We must highlight the gift that Croesus (560-546 BC), the last king of Lydia, gave on this occasion: a gold lion on a base of gold ingots plus a gold bowl that weighed a quarter of a ton.
In the first half of the century VI a. C. about 12 treasure foundations were made around the temple of Apollo. This old temple burned down in 548 B.C. C. and after the fire its reconstruction was slow. Until the year 505 B.C. C. the new temple, larger than the previous one and whose construction was carried out thanks to a family called Alcmeónidas, from Athens, was not finished. According to Herodotus, this family managed the contribution of money throughout the Greek world.
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The contributions of ex-votos and offerings, plus the construction of treasures during this time, were large:
- Treasure of SifnosIn 525 BC, with cariátides as colossal as Gnido. Decoration and masterpieces of the archaic age with reliefs representing the Gigantomaquia. Sifnos is one of the Greek islands around the island of Delos, which was in the Antiquity a sacred island. It is said that this island had gold mines and that they were left under the sea after a cataclysm.
- Treasure of Athens or Atheniansoffered after the battle of Marathon; it became the most important. Athens then offered a porch to commemorate the triumph over the Persians in the Cape of Mica and in the year 460 a. C. offered a palm tree with golden dates after the victory of the military leader Cimon, the son of Miltiades against the Persians at the mouth of the Eurimedonte River. In this treasure you can see the epigraph on the text that refers to Pitaidawhich was a procession that the Athenians sent to Delfos to commemorate an event that occurred in a place of Mount Parnaso. They say that in that place lightning fell as a divine sign. The whole story is written in the stone as an hymn to Apollo, with musical annotations between the lines.
- In 480 B.C., the tyrant of Gela and Syracuse called Gelon defeated the Carthaginians in the city of Himera in Sicily. In gratitude he donated to the Oracle a tripod with a Niké (a victory) of gold.
- Policelo, a Sicilian prince, defeated a year in the Political Games and after this victory he offered to the sanctuary of Delfos the bronze sculpture of a foursome that must have been imposing, of which the famous auriga that was found in 1896 was preserved.
Catastrophes in the 4th century BC. C
During this century, a series of catastrophes occurred that did not benefit the sanctuary of Delphi at all:
- In 370 BC there was an earthquake that destroyed the temple built by the Alcmeonids.
- From 350 B.C. to 340 B.C. was the third sacred war and the consequence was irreparable destruction and damage. The Focids fought against the Thessalians, Beocios and Philip II of Macedonia, with the intention of obtaining supremacy over the Oracle of Delphi. The war cost them so much that they seized the best treasures of the sanctuary. They founded gold and silver and with that result they were able to pay their soldiers. But soon after Philip was made with the total authority of the sacred place and forced the fots to go re-establishing in donations everything stolen.
- In 330 B.C., the fourth sacred war occurred, when the people of the locusts faced Athens and the politician Esquines follower of Philip also faced the city of Anfisa. These events led to the battle of Queronea in 338, in which Athenians and Tebanos were defeated. The Macedonians had since the hegemony of Greece.
3rd century and 2nd century BC. c
During the Hellenistic period, beginning with the successors of Alexander the Great, a new theater and stadium were built.
The Aetolians (lords of Delphi) gave numerous offerings in the form of columns and statues. But the most generous donors of this time were the kings of Pergamum who on several occasions offered money and labor for the maintenance of the sanctuary. The king of Pergamum Attalus I gave away a monumental ensemble to celebrate his victory over the Galatians. The donation was of such quality that the Aetolians from Delphi together with the members of the amphictyony ordered the erection of statues of Attalus I and Eumenes II on pillars and placed them next to the temple façade. Perseus of Macedonia also gave away a statue with his effigy, but later the winner of him, the Roman general Lucio Emilio Paulo, ordered it removed to replace it with one that represented him.
The epigraphic inscriptions that covered the walls of the buildings and the polygonal wall are from this period. Texts on honorary rights and on the liberation of slaves can be read. Apollo was the one who guaranteed said release, after having been paid the corresponding sum. The epigraphy of the treasure of the Athenians is also from this time.
Decay
The decline began with the Roman occupation, during the I century BCE. C. and continued until the III century d. C. During this period the oracle, still respected, was nevertheless losing prestige and visitors. In the I century a. C. was when the carving of a cave fountain was made on the wall of the Castalia gorge, there where the sacred spring was located since ancient times.
Funds for the upkeep of the sanctuary, its monuments, and its treasuries dwindled rapidly; the grass grew wild between the buildings, the wood rotted and the dirt was beginning to show. There was also a fire in the temple of Apollo that the Emperor Domitian (81-96) had repaired. The Greek writer Plutarch (c. 46-125), who was also administrator of the amphictyony in the last years of his life, wrote his Pythic Dialogues at that time and in this book he comments on the impression of abandonment that the sanctuary of Delphi gave him.
Despite everything, the amphictyony continued to meet, organized the Pythic Games, erected some statues to the consuls and Roman emperors, and the oracle continued to be consulted. But the requests were already of a different style: they no longer asked him for advice on possible confrontations, reigns, rulers, etc., but on trips, marriages and other domestic matters. The oracle stopped influencing politics and the future of the peoples. Its last moment of some splendor occurred under the rule of the Antonines, in the II century AD. The emperors continued to maintain a regular correspondence with the oracle. This correspondence has reached our days engraved on the buttresses of the temple of Apollo.
The Roman Emperor Hadrian (c. 76-138) also visited Delphi. There he had a statue (which has been found in the excavations) erected in homage to his favorite Antinous, who had mysteriously drowned in the Nile River.
Herod Atticus (101-177), Greek politician and orator, sophist and protector of letters, in addition to possessing great wealth, donated part of it to Delphi to rebuild the stands of the stadium. He also had statues of his family erected.
But by the century II d. C. the sanctuary received visitors who were more curious than faithful. Travelers came there to browse and not to use the enclosure as a sacred place. Pausanias was one of these visitors who arrived as a cultured man and lover of antiquities and later recounted his impressions of him as a historian. Already in the year 87 a. C., Sulla had appropriated many sacred wealth and offerings made in precious metals, the same as Emperor Nero in the 1st century. . In the 4th century the Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great brought to Constantinople one of the few remaining large pieces: the a serpentine column that stood free and that no one considered of value after the Phocians carried off its golden tripod 700 years before. It is still preserved.
In the III century, the Heruli, Goths, and Bastarni swept through all of Central Greece, Attica, and the Peloponnese in intense campaigns, destroying and looting. At Delphi some of the remaining standing statues were destroyed and the rest fell down after the edict of Theodosius the Great, Roman Emperor (c. 346-395), which was intended to officially end all 'idols'. of paganism", thus definitively closing the oracle of Delphi, which ceased its activity in the year 390. The desolation was total after the years and of the hundreds of statues that once populated the enclosure, not one was left standing.
End of the cult
The Delphi precinct was never uninhabited. After the reason for its existence had been completely forgotten, its ruins were gradually covered over and a whole small city was built.
After the Roman occupation and the imposition of Christian monotheism, during the V century AD, the area of Delphi It was the seat of an archbishopric, and for this the oracle was dismantled, churches were built using the marble of the monuments as material; a basilica was built, and large religious buildings, thus virtually erasing all evidence of the great oracle at Delphi. In the 18th century scholars questioned the exact location of the famous sanctuary of Apollo. From the ancient texts one had an idea, but it was almost impossible to find any vestige until, thanks to a fortuitous discovery, systematic studies and excavations began.
The excavations
In 1676 Jacques Spon (French) and George Wheler (English) arrived at the site of the sanctuary, converted into a town called at that time Castri. During their visit to the place, they noticed some inscriptions in the church of a monastery that had been built right on the walls of the old gymnasium. In these inscriptions they read the word Delphi. The same thing happened to them in some houses in the town. In these years it did not go from being news to historians; there were no excavations.
Two centuries later, in 1840, a German archaeologist named Karl Otfried Müller worked in this area and discovered a part of the great polygonal wall of the sanctuary enclosure among the houses of the town. The discovery was a call to continue working. More French and German archaeologists arrived, who little by little discovered signs and vestiges of the archaeological jewel that was hidden in that place. But the task was very difficult because the presence of the town prevented serious excavations. Then began the deals and projects to move the entire settlement of Castri to another site, until in 1881 there was an agreement between the Greek government and the French government (very interested in the excavations) to expropriate, move and rebuild the new site, which is the current city called Delfi. After several years of negotiations, between 1892 and 1901 a great archaeological activity was carried out directed by the head of the French School of Athens, Théophile Homolle. Pieces were appearing, remains of chryselephantine statues (that is, statues that had the face, hands and feet of ivory and hair of gold), stones from buildings, broken columns, etc. In later years came the restorations carried out by the French School of Archeology plus a grant from the City of Athens and private contributions from Greek citizens. This is how they saw the restoration:
- The treasure of the Athenians that was reconstructed piece by piece
- The Temple of Apollo, of which only a few columns are preserved
- The stadium, which is the best preserved of Antiquity
- The tholos
- The Castalia Fountain
- The Roman Agora
- The altar of Cyrus
- Several columns
Many of the pieces were brought to the Delphi museum, among others the famous life-size bronze charioteer offered by Policelo, the Sphinx of Naxos, the twins of Argos and a Roman copy of the omphalos that it was the egg-shaped stone that marked the center or "navel of the world" in Delphi and that it was found during the excavations made at the temple of Apollo.
A rock slide caused serious damage to the archaeological site in 1935, so from 1936 archaeological excavations were carried out again in the place, which tried to go deeper than the previous ones. On the other hand, during World War II and the subsequent Greek civil war many archaeological objects were buried in repositories for preservation and were not unearthed until 1952.
In the 1970s, excavations were made in the Coricia cave, where thousands of figurines were found. Another campaign of excavations took place in the 1990s. It investigated the early days of Delphi and, among other finds, unearthed a lion bone from the VI a. C. Also on these dates a geological study of the place was carried out.
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