Day 50-51 Greece: Delphi

A very warm 26 degrees and a 3 ½ hour mountainous drive led us to the ancient ruins of Delphi ( a few hours north west of Athens). Delphi sits at the foot of Mount Parnassos and has amazing views all the way to the Corinthian Coast – though it was quite hazy whilst we were there. We were told this was due to the dust blowing over from Egypt. You can see how hazy it is in the photo of me near the flags. Delphi is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece. The ruins were a short walk from our hotel so we spent 4 hours walking around taking in the history, the grandeur of a past civilasation , admiring the sculptures, columns and picturing what once was....
Delphi is all based on The Oracle and the Temple of Apollo was the centre of the Oracle. Delphi was said to be the centre of the universe, and according to legend, “ Zeus released two golden eagles. One from the east and one from the west. The eagles landed in Delphi. To mark this spot Zeus threw a sacred stone on Delphi to mark the navel (centre of the universe). In the early Mecyneane times Gea the earth goddess was worshiped at Delphi. This is also the time that the oracle originated.
The Oracle: The Oracle belonged to the goddess Gea and was guarded by a large Python. Legend states that Apollo slayed the python that guarded the oracle and became the new owner of Apollo. The Oracle was a priestess, who was at least fifty years old. They called her Pythia. She sat on Apollo’s throne. People came from all over to have her answer their questions. She chewed Loral leaves and breathed in fumes and that made her babble. Before she sat on the throne a goat was sacrificed. First they would sprinkle the goat with cold water then kill it. If the goat shivered that meant that they would keep the Pythia, but if it didn't they'd get a new Pythia. At dawn on the day of the readings she visited the Kastalian spring to cleanse herself, then she burned Loral leaves and sat in the smoke. During the burning the priest would prepare a goat that was going to be sacrificed, and go to the spring and also wash themselves. Then the people going to ask their questions also washed themselves in the spring. When they were cleansed and ready they went to Apollo's Temple. Outside the temple costly bread was sold and offered to the oracle. The first person to ask a question usually lived in Delphi. The people who asked the questions asked the priests, and the Pythia would respond deep in her trance. Most of the time the answer that the priests gave were not very clear and had more than one meaning.”(http://www.johnrecco.com/ianna/delphi/index.htm)
So with this in mind we were able to see a lot of the important parts of the site. These included: The Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia with the Tholos, which was a circular building created between 380 and 360 BC. We spoke to "security" down at the temple (this was an old Greek man) who asked us if we were American. When we said no we were Australian he got excited, shook our hands and wanted to take our photo in front of the temple for us. We had a lengthy conversation...but did not understand a lot. At least he seemed pretty happy. When we drove out the next day we waved and he excitedly waved back. It was nice. At the main site we walked along many ruins up to the Temple of Apollo which was first built around the 7th c. B.C. It was destroyed in 373 B.C. by an earthquake and then rebuilt. The theatre was further up the hill (yes 100’s of steps to climb here) and was built in the 4th c. B.C. and could fit 5000 spectators in it. As you can see from the photo this was pretty impressive. Further up again, was the stadium, which could seat 6500 spectators, and was used during the Pythian and Panhellenic games for athletic events. Its track is 177.55 m long and 25.50 m wide. This was where the Olympic Games began....fantastic.
The Kastalia spring unfortunately was closed due to the many rock falls. However, we did manage a drink from a fountain with fresh, flowing mountain water. The following day we visited the archaeological museum near the ruins – all the pieces had been excavated from the site at Delphi – even large (twice our size) almost completely intact statues.
Delphi was a beautiful place and you can certainly see why its location was so significant.
(Side note: Greek drivers...one word...maybe two...NO IDEA. Speed signs??? Greeks must think they are random numbers in circles on the side of the road, as they pay ABSOLUTELY NO attention to them...even with speed cameras. What we know as emergency stopping lanes on freeways...No, No, No...that would be the 160+ km passing lane when you can’t get past a car doing a slow 130km and CAN’T WAIT 5 secs. Also, that white line down the sides and middle of the road...not what you think. That’s for decoration. You can drive anywhere...doesn’t matter...even if a car is coming AT YOU at CRAZY speeds. Lines...who needs them).