Delphi: What is hidden under the Oracle?



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The Delphic oracle was the most famous oracle in Ancient Greece and in the known world at the time. Located in Delphi. It is considered the navel of the world, because, according to tradition, when Zeus left two eagles, one to the East and one to the West, they met at Delphi.

Was dedicated to the god Apollo. Pythia was the medium through which the god communicated and gave the oracles, which were recorded.

The Pythian Games were held every four years, in honor of Apollo, and that Angelos Sikelianos tried to revive.

Visitors who asked for an oracle from Pythia were called theopropes, and during the oracle ritual, they first had to purify themselves with water from the Castalia spring, paying a certain tax, the so-called pelon, which was not the same for everyone, while they had to offer and sacrifice in the temple of Apollo, usually a goat. The animal must not have any flaws, while a necessary omen for Pythia to be able to give amulets was that the animal would begin to tremble, after having first been soaked in cold water.

Among the theopropos, there was a hierarchy, as to who preceded the ordination. The first to be entitled to an oracle were the inhabitants of Delphi. They were followed by those who had been honored from Delphi with the privilege of divination and then the rest. Within the last two teams, the series was resolved by lottery.

THE NEW weekend in collaboration with Ekdotiki Athinon presents an exciting journey to the cultural monuments of Greece!

This week: Delphi signed by Manolis Andronikos. The history, the myth, the legendary oracle and the oracles of Pythia.

Spells in ancient times were known for their ambiguous meaning. There were many occasions when the Oracle did not take an impartial stance, but openly sided with a faction, as in the Peloponnesian War, which sided with the Lacedaemonians. However, their services were provided to everyone, regardless of the political situation in their areas.

In 1892, French archaeologists began excavations in the area of ​​the Delphi sanctuary in order to find something that would prove that there really was a gap that allowed gases to emerge and create the channel of “communication” between Pythia and Apollo.

But they couldn’t find anything to prove it, so the legend remained in the realm of myth. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that a team of archaeologist, toxicologist, chemist, and geologist argued otherwise. According to his theory, the navel rock, on which Pythia sat and among the fumes spoke with her oracles, was just above a space created by the slippage of the underground slabs, leaving a passage for the fumes of gases such as ethane. . + methane, to rise to the surface and be inhaled by Pythia.

Pliny adds that the evaporation was one of the first of its kind, creating a state of divinatory inspiration. Of particular importance is the testimony of Plutarch, who was also a priest at Delphi for more than 20 years. In two of his facts about the evacuees and On the Non-current Pythian, he talks about the problems of Delphi. Space and the resulting air are mentioned many times. But he never said that the breach was in the temple sanctuary.

He also claims that the fumes were not constant, but were sometimes weak and sometimes severe. He also cites witnesses that the spirit that emanates is sometimes full of fragrance. Characteristically, it confirms that with this fragrance, the house was filled with those who were waiting for the oracles and came from the sanctuary.

He also considered it possible that Anemotrypa was a branch of the Delphic gap or even a completely independent gap. The fact is, however, that near the sanctuary there is this phenomenon, of which antiquity has spoken, and it covers the various ways in which “spirit” is described.

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