It was believed that before entering the Sacred area, everyone visiting Delphi for religious purposes, atheletes included, was required to purify themselves in the clear and icy waters of the Castalian Spring.  The process mainly involved the washing of ones hair.  The Oracle would also wash herself here before making her pronouncements.   Lord Byron apparently believed that the spring waters would enhance the poetic spirit and he took a dip in the spring.  When he returned to London in 1812, he said “If I am a poet it is the air of Greece which has made me one.”

Water from the Spring flowed down to the Gymnasium, providing cold baths for the atheletes.  The Romans added hot baths for the atheletes training for the Pythian games in the 2nd century.  The Gymnasium included an outdoor running track as well as a covered one in case of bad weather.  Apart from being a training venue, the gymnasium was also used by poets and philosophers who taught here.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Climb up the hill from the Temple of Apollo and you’ll enjoy the magnificent view of the Theatre of Delphi.  Built in the 4th century B.C. from local Parnassus limestone, the Delphi amphitheatre comprises 35 rows of seats, accommodating some 5,000 spectators.  The lower tiers of seats were built during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. 

From the hillside, the audience is presented with a spectacular view of the entire sanctuary below and the valley beyond.  Plays, poetry readings, and musical events during the various festivals took place here.  It must have been an amazing sight to see area filled with people and their colorful attire. 

Ancient Greek theatres were usually very large, open-air structures that took advantage of sloping hillsides for their terraced seating.   I was curious as to how sound was amplified and what the acoustics was like in the amphitheatre during those days where sound systems did not exist.  A quick search on Google reveals that researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology had done some work on this.  It appears that the rows of limestone seats act as an acoustic filter and cuts out low frequency background noise from the crowd and at the same time helps reflect the high pitched voices of the performers to the back rows of the theatre.  Fascinating huh!

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Delphi Stadium is one of the best preserved stadiums from the ancient Greece period. The Pythian Games were held here every four years and after the Olympic Games, these were the most important sporting event in the Greek calendar. The Pythian Games developed out of a musical festival that was held in the theatre every eight years to celebrate Apollo’s mythical slaying of the serpent Python.  Although musical recitals and poetry were the main activities of the festival, atheletic events were added in the Stadium from 582 BC onwards and the event then became known as the Pythian Games. Winners of the games were presented with the traditional laurel wreath as well as the right to have his statue in the statuary.

The stadium is located high up the hill, beyond the Sacred Way and the Theatre. It was originally built in the 5th century BC but was altered in later centuries. The last major remodelling took place in the 2nd century AD under the patronage of Herodus Atticus when the stone seating was built and an arched entrance. It could seat 6500 spectators and its track is 177.55 m long and 25.50 m wide.

It was a hot day and there was very limited time to get up there and back so many of us did not make the climb, not knowing how long it would take.  Tony, laiden with his camera bag, made the climb and from his photos, it appears that the effort was well worthwhile.  Seeing how beautiful the track is, I regret not having made the climb myself.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

The archaeological site of Delphi includes two sanctuaries, dedicated to Apollo and Athena, and other buildings, mainly intended for sports. The Temple of Apollo is the most important building in the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.  This is where the statues and other offerings to the god were kept, and where the cult rituals, including that of divination, took place.  The Temple of Apollo as we see today dates from the 4th century BC.  It is an imposing temple of Doric style, however it went through numerous incarnations before settling in its current form.

This temple was destroyed in 373 B.C. by an earthquake and was rebuilt for the third time in 330 B.C. The temple’s foundations survive today along with several Doric columns made of porous stone and limestone which is fairly soft material, and have allowed for the temple’s advanced decaying. Very little is known about the temple’s interior arrangement.

The cella was divided into three naves by two colonnades of eight Ionic columns each. The divination ceremony took place in the adyton, or inner shrine, an underground chamber where only the priests interpreting Pythia’s words had access.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Delphi is one of the most important archaeological sites of Greece. The magnitude of the Delphi contributions to the entire ancient civilization cannot be overstated. Many political decisions were taken after consultation of the Oracle.  As the functions of the Oracle of Delphi grew over the centuries to include athletic games and cultural events and Delphic festivals, so did the size of the settlement.

Some of the most prominent edifices on the sacred slopes of Delphi are the Temple of Apollo, the Ancient Theater, the Stadium where the Pythian Games were held, the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia with the Tholos, the Castalian Spring, and the various treasuries that adorn the sacred way.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

The Delphi Museum is a modern building that holds a huge and very important collection of sculptures and artifacts from ancient times. There are 13 rooms of treasures but we only had time to view the more notable ones.  There were so many interesting statues and exhibits, and each one had a story to tell.  It’s impossible to try and document them all in this blog, however, just to provide a flavour of the key exhibits, I’ve included some interesting ones below.

The first exhibit we came across was the Omphalos or navel stone.  According to legend, the Omphalos marked the centre of the earth and it was here that Delphi was established.

Standing in the middle of the next room is the imposing sculpture of Kleovis and Biton. These two boys, we were told, heroically pulled their mother on her chariot for a distance of 8 km to the sanctuary where she was to worship.  The mother apparently prayed to Hera to give her sons the best gift ever. Ironically, Hera gave them the gift of death and they died the same night peacefully in their sleep.  This must have been really tragic for the mother!  It goes to show too that we have to be very careful about what we wish for!  Note the statues’ left feet forward to provide balance.

The large Sphinx of Naxos, which sits on an 10m tall Ionic column in the next room, was impressive.  Originally coloured in gold and silver, it was sent to Delphi around 560 BC.  Side view of this statue is best.

Then comes the most famous of the museum’s exhibits, which is the life-sized bronze statue of the Charioteer.  This statue was commissioned by a Sicilian tyrant to commemorate the chariot victory in the Pythian games of 478 BC.  On the wall you can see a sketch of the position of the chariot and where the charioteer stands in relation to the horses.

The statue of a bull is made from three silver sheets connected by bands of silver-plated copper, held in place by silver or bronze nails.  There are traces of a wooden core, which do not occupy the entire inner cavity:  the sheets – forged from behind – had to be placed against some flexible material such as clay, wax or gypsum.  The horns, ears, forehead, hooves and other body parts were gilded.  Although hundreds of fragments of the metal sheets have been restored, it was not possible to render either the original plasticity or the volume of the statue.  Moreover, the statue size itself has been distorted with respect to its original length, which was about 2.30 metre  This was the largest extant example of the so-called forged technique, which was later replaced by casting.  A very precious offering, made by a Greek artist Ionia in the 6th century BC.

The Melancholy Roman - Many art historians identify this work as the head of the Roman general and consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus.  In 197 BC, following his victory of Philip V of Macedonia, Flamininus proclaimed at Corinth the ‘autonomy’ of the Greek states.  At Delphi he was honored not only as a guarantor of Greek independence from Macedonian rule, but also because he made valuable offerings to the sanctuary. 

The identification by historians is mainly based on comparisons of the portrait with coins depicting Flamininus.  This has been disputed and other persons and dates have been suggested.  Whoever the young man with the melancholy face is – Greek or Roman, philosopher or state official – the artist has left us an exceptional work, which stands out in the history of Greek portraiture.

Antinoos is a youth of extraordinary beauty from Bithynia.  More importantly, he is also the beloved companion of Emperor Hadrian.  Antinoos had barely reached adulthood when he drowned in the Nile.  It was believed that he had taken his own life so that years could be added to the Emperor’s life.  He was thereafter proclaimed a hero and worshipped as a demigod in many parts of the Eastern Empire by order of the emperor.

  One of the most beautiful statues of Antinoos was erected in the Santuary at Delphi. When found during excavations, it was very well preserved and still shiny, due to the special oils used in the ancient times to polish the ‘skin’ of marble cult statues.  Holes are still visible in the profuse hair, which were used to attach to bronze wreath of laurel leaves onto the head.  The work is representative of classisism at the time of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD).  With its heroic divine nudity, the statue follows the stylistic traditions of the great 5th and 4th century BC artists, but lacks the vitality of the archetypes.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Today’s drive takes us to Delphi, the centre of classical Greek civilisation with its ancient ruins and intricate mythology.  The high point of Greek civilization was during the Classical period.  This was the time of great writing, creative thinking and also the height of philosophical thinking through the likes of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

One of the important sacred objects you’ll come across is the Omphalos or navel stone.  As the legend goes, when Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the world, their paths crossed in the sky above Delphi, thus establishing the position as the centre of the earth. The navel stone was believed to have marked this crossing point.

Delphi was renowned as the dwelling place of Apollo as well as being famous for the Oracle of Delphi.  Greeks during ancient times would come to Delphi to consult the Oracle about the future and what course of action to take on any personal or public matter.

Through the Oracle, worshippers could receive the guidance of the God Apollo which is delivered through a priestess or Pythia.  Two important pieces of advice to human kind were ‘Know Thyself’ and ‘Nothing to Excess’.  Although you can interpret these words in any which way you choose, they are really quite relevant in everyday living today.

So, our search for knowledge and advice begins at the Delphi Museum…

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog