The oracle at Delphi

Delphi lies on the slopes of Mount Parnassus in Greece. The town, once called Kastri, used to lie above the ruins of the sacred compound. It was relocated in the 1890s, when serious archaeological excavation began at the ruins.

About 1500 BCE, Mycenaeans settled here and continued the maintenance of the shrine to Gaea, Mother Earth. The Delphic sibyls had already gained fame by that time.

Many scholars offer evidence to support the idea that the Pythia was an office originating in the cult of Gaia. Dempsey states that the office of the Pythia was always held by a female (originally a virgin, but later at least fifty years old and married) and he points out the connection between the Pythia's gender and the cult of Mother Earth.

Dempsey also points out that the ecstatic nature of the Pythia's prophecy was an abundant characteristic in the cult of Gaia . A detailed account of the frenzy or mania of the Pythia is presented when Appius Claudius Pulcher visits the oracle at Delphi in Lucan's Civil War Additionally, many scholars believe that the Python's death at the hand of Apollo symbolized the change in oracles at Delphi.

Greek legend recounts how Apollo chose Delphi as one of his chief places of worship, along with Delos. Greek mythology tells of a time when the gods of the sky overcame those of earth. Then the infant Apollo took control of Parnassus by killing Python, the dragon snake that had possessed it. Apollo took the form of a dolphin and swam out to sea to capture a group of sailors, whom he appointed the first priests of his cult. Apollo claimed the shrine for himself, fired Gaea's sibyls, and installed his own oracles.

According to Greek myth, Zeus charged two eagles with finding the center of the earth. He released one to the east and one to the west. They met at Delphi, thus pointing out the center of the earth. A cone-shaped, decorated stone, the omphalos, once stood in front of the Temple as a marker for the "navel" of the earth, or axis mundi.

Delphi was revered throughout the Greek world as the site of the omphalos stone, the centre of the earth and the universe. In the inner hestia ("hearth") of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. After the battle of Plataea, the Greek cities extinguished their fires and brought new fire from the hearth of Greece, at Delphi; in the foundation stories of several Greek colonies, the founding colonists were first dedicated at Delphi.

Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the famous prehistoric oracle. Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger and seen by Pausanias. Supposedly carved into the temple were the phrase (gnothi seauton = "know thyself") and (meden agan = "nothing in excess"), as well as a large letter E.

Apollo spoke through his oracle, who had to be an older woman of blameless life chosen from among the peasants of the area. The sybyl or prophetess took the name Pythia and sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth. When Apollo slew Python, its body fell into this fissure, according to legend, and fumes arose from its decomposing body.

Intoxicated by the vapors, the sibyl would fall into trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. In this state she prophesied. She spoke in riddles, which were interpreted by the priests of the temple, and people consulted her on everything from important matters of public policy to personal affairs.

On the morning of a day when the Oracle was scheduled to prophesy, a goat would be sacrificed at an altar just outside of the great Temple of Apollo, and its entrails would be examined. If results were favorable, the Oracle would operate that day. She would then complete the prescribed rituals: purification in the Castalian waters, dressing in full ceremonial robes, sometimes chewing a few laurel leaves, seating herself on the tripod and inhaling the foul-smelling vapors.

The Pythia was knowledgeable in many areas: history, religion, geography, politics, mathematics, philosophy, etc. She uttered advice on where and how to build cities, which laws to incorporate, and which prayers to utter. Her predictions were often very shrewdly phrased, which caused many supplicants to misinterpret the advice. The most famous instance of this comes down to us through a Delphic prediction given to Croesus, king of Lydia. In 550 BCE,

Croesus was preparing to invade the Persian Empire when he consulted the Oracle about his chances for victory. After sacrificing 300 head of cattle to Apollo, he had gold and silver melted down into 117 bricks, which were sent to Delphi, along with jewels, statues, and a gold bowl weighing a quarter of a ton. With these gifts, Croesus sent his question of whether he should attack Persia.

The Pythia answered that, if he crossed a river, "Croesus will destroy a great empire." Encouraged by this response, he invaded Persia, only to suffer a decisive defeat. The Persians invaded and then conquered Lydia and captured Croesus, who thereafter bitterly denounced the Oracle. He sent his iron chains to Delphi with the question, "Why did you lie to me?" The Pythia correctly answered that her prophecy had been fulfilled. Croesus had destroyed a great empire -- his own.