Inside the Oracle of Delphi

Perched on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, with views plunging down to the Gulf of Corinth, Delphi is one of the most spectacular places in Greece. For the ancient Greeks it was the centre of the world, quite literally: a carved stone known as the omphalos, or navel, marked the spot where two eagles released by Zeus from opposite ends of the earth had met.

The Pythia

The voice of Apollo at Delphi was a woman, the Pythia. She was chosen from among the local women, and in later times she was expected to be over fifty, although she dressed as a young girl in memory of earlier priestesses. On consultation days she purified herself in the Castalian spring, entered the inner chamber of the temple and sat on a bronze tripod, holding a sprig of laurel.

Ancient writers describe her falling into a trance, and some claimed that intoxicating vapours rose from a chasm beneath the temple. Modern geologists have found faults crossing under the site and suggested that gases may once have seeped through them, although the theory is still debated. Her words were then put into verse by the temple priests.

Famous prophecies

The oracle’s answers were famous for their ambiguity. King Croesus of Lydia was told that if he attacked Persia he would destroy a great empire. He did attack, and the empire he destroyed was his own. Before the Persian invasion of 480 BC, the Athenians were told to trust in their wooden walls, which Themistocles convinced them meant their fleet. And when Chaerephon asked whether anyone was wiser than his friend Socrates, the answer was no, sending the philosopher on a lifelong quest to understand what that meant.

A treasure house of the Greek world

Cities competed to show their gratitude and their wealth at Delphi. They built small temple-like treasuries along the Sacred Way and filled the sanctuary with statues and offerings. The Athenian Treasury, rebuilt in the early twentieth century from its original blocks, still stands beside the path. The famous bronze Charioteer, one of the finest surviving Greek bronzes, was dedicated after a chariot victory at the Pythian Games.

The sanctuary was also a place of wisdom. Maxims were inscribed at the temple, including “know thyself” and “nothing in excess”, short commands that summed up the Greek ideals of self-knowledge and moderation.

Visiting today

The oracle fell silent in the late fourth century AD, when the emperor Theodosius closed the pagan sanctuaries. Today Delphi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can walk the Sacred Way past the treasuries to the Temple of Apollo, climb to the theatre and the stadium above it, and see the Charioteer in the excellent site museum. Go early in the morning, before the tour buses arrive, and you may catch something of the awe that ancient pilgrims felt.