The Oracle at Delphi

The Oracle at Delphi (Public Domain image courtesy of Pixabay)

The city of Delphi in Greece dates back to ancient Greece – at least the 8th century BC but possibly back to the Late Mycenaean period (1100-1000 BC) – but still exists today. It is located on the southwestern spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. The ancient Greeks considered it to be the center of the world or, as they referred to it, the navel of the world. (To the Greeks the planet was personified as the goddess Gaia, hence the equating of center and navel.)

According to a Greek legend, the god Apollo took the form of a dolphin and rescued some sailors on the Mediterranean Sea. He took them ashore where he took human form and killed the snake-goddess Python (from the Greek pythein meaning “to rot”). Then he built a temple built on the spot and appointed the sailors as priests. The temple was named Delphi from the Greek word for dolphin.

Starting in 586 BC athletes met every four years to participate in various contests in honor of Apollo. These contests were the precursors of the Olympics. The victors were presented with laurels cut from a tree by a young boy who re-enacted the slaying of Python.

Delphi is, however, best known for its oracle. A priestess, known as a pythia, was chosen from among the older women of the area to serve as Apollo’s spokesperson. The pythia had to have lived an exemplary life. She sat on a tripod seat placed over a hole in the ground which emitted fumes said to be the fumes arising from Python’s decomposing body. The fumes would cause her to go into a trance which allowed Apollo to take over and speak the prophecies. People from all over Greece and from all levels of society came to Delphi to have their questions answered. The “prophecies” were generally incoherent babbling which was then “interpreted” by a priest. They were vague enough that, whatever happened, it seemed that the prophecy had come true.

The trance was supposed to be triggered by breathing in intoxicating fumes containing ethylene, a gaseous chemical (C2H4) known to produce trances. Geologists have discovered intersecting geological faults at Delphi from which ethylene is still emitted.

The oracle was consulted before any major decision by people from all ranks of society. Kings would not go to war without hearing from the pythia. It was also visited by people from Egypt and Rome. Even Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (not too pretentious a name), the last king of Rome, sent his sons to consult with the oracle after seeing a snake near his palace.In 83 BC the temple was severely damaged by an earthquake and it was subsequently burned by barbarians. The population declined and it became very difficult to find women to serve as pythia. The temple fell into disrepair and lost much of its status. It didn’t help that people began to realize the “prophecies” were nonsense. In 66 AD the Emperor Nero took over 500 of the best statues from Delphi and had them brought to Rome. In 395 AD the temple and the oracle came to an end when the worship of Apollo was banned by Emperor Theodosius I.

While visiting the city of Philippi, Paul and Silas encountered a slave-girl prophetess who followed him and his team proclaiming that “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17, ESV). Despite the fact that she was speaking the truth, the two recognized that an evil spirit was at work. They commanded it to come out of her and it did. However, her owners were not pleased since it put an end to their being able to profit from her. They had Paul and Silas thrown into jail from which God freed them by an earthquake. It is possible that this slave-girl was somehow connected with the Oracle at Delphi. We don’t know for certain, however.

Sources

Wikipredia: Delphi

Wikipedia: Ethylene

Wikipedia: Pythia

© 2017 Gary J. Sibio. All rights reserved.