Sarah Gibbard Cook
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Delphi: What’s in an Oracle?

12/4/2017

2 Comments

 
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High in the remote mountains northwest of Athens, the remains of a temple of Apollo overlook a magnificent panorama down to the Gulf of Corinth. Before any major decision, ancient leaders made the arduous journey here to consult the Delphic Oracle. Apollo spoke through the words of his priestess, the Pythia, as interpreted by a priest.

Ancient writers attributed the Pythia’s altered state to inhaling fumes from a chasm in the rock. The notion of real fumes was debunked in the 1950s but later revived after the discovery of hydrocarbon deposits and a fault line. The Pythia’s symptoms—usually a benign trance, but occasionally fatal delirium—are said to resemble effects of sniffing glue.

Before Apollo arrived in the shape of a dolphin and killed the monster python guarding the site, the same site featured worship and oracles of the earth mother goddess Gaia. Relief carvings on a remnant of Apollo’s temple show his forces defeating Gaia’s giants. Mythology, like history, is written by the winners.

Visiting Delphi last month, I heard Gaia’s voice more loudly than Apollo’s. The ancient temple is in ruins, the statues and treasure houses plundered centuries ago. Emperor Nero alone took 500 statues away to Rome. With little left of the elaborate structures built by people, the breathtaking natural setting still conjures up a sense of the divine.
2 Comments
Rhonda Peterson
12/4/2017 08:05:01 pm

Thanks, Sarah. I don't think I ever knew that Apollo had arrived in the shape of a dolphin. It would be interesting to know what dolphins represented to the ancient Greeks -- intelligence? freedom of movement?

I do remember from my readings years ago about goddesses and feminine spirituality that the serpent/snake/dragon was associated with the goddess and female power. Hence the importance of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland, and all the knights going out to slay dragons -- establishing male domination -- plus, of course, the connection of the snake with Eve in the Garden of Eden. I don't recall, though, why the snake was associated with Gaia/feminine power. Do you know?

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Sarah link
12/4/2017 09:17:49 pm

According to our guide in Crete, home of Minoan civilization and figurine goddesses holding snakes, the Minoans associated divinity with the depths of the earth, source of crops and all life, rather than the sky as in later patriarchal traditions. Snakes came from underground. One Minoan image shows a female figure with snake, lion, and eagle, for underground, surface, and sky respectively. Athena's later association with snakes was probably inherited from Gaia.

Some writers talk about the snake shedding its skin, symbolic of new life or resurrection, but I don't know if ancient sources support that interpretation.

Part of the Delphi myth is that the python decomposed slowly underground, after Apollo killed it, and the fumes that intoxicated the Pythia came from its decomposing body. Of course that doesn't mesh chronologically with Gaia giving oracles before Apollo showed up, but mythology turns out not to be as left-brain linear as I want it to be.

Dolphins show up a lot in Greek mythology and traditions. They were benevolent messengers of Poseidon. They're pictured on many coins, sometimes with a human riding them. Sailors who saw a dolphin following their ship thought it good luck. There have been reports in modern times of dolphins rescuing swimmers in trouble, so perhaps they really were good luck on occasion.

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    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

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