GREECE PART III-THE NAVEL OF THE EARTH-DELPHI.

DELPHI

"Tomorrow" is the most fascinating time in everyone's life. It has been so since time immemorial. Who in this world has not wanted to know what is going to happen tomorrow?

Well, Delphi in ancient Greece was one such place where all the high and mighty people from all over the world came to know what lay in store for them in the morrow.

ANCIENT GLORY IN RUINS TODAY

Greece is ancient. It's civilization is the oldest. Greek alphabets, symbols, Gods, architecture, sports, theatre, warriors, thinkers, still survive in our day to day lives. Who has not heard of Archimedes or Plato or Socrates? Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Omega, Lambda, Sigma, Pi? Alexander the Great, Seleucus?

Olympics? The Oracle of Delphi? Sparta, Helen of Troy?

I am and will always remain fascinated with Greece, its History, it's theatre, its stadia, and its Gods.

 I was always very keen to see Delphi and know more about the Oracle! Did you notice that the addition of the alphabet "P" turns Delhi into Delphi? Never mind that bit of trivia! It has no significance in today's story.

Delphi is very ancient. It began as  a Mycenaean village as long ago as from 1500 to 1100 BC.

THE NAVEL OF THE EARTH

As one enters the Center of the earth as Delphi was supposed to be, one sees a stone which they say is the exact center of the earth. It is the navel of the earth. A little further up we come across a lot of squarish buildings. These were the treasuries which housed the treasures of neighboring cities. It was customary for every city state to  donate a tenth of their earnings to the Delphi temple of Apollo. As one goes further up one finds the ruins of the  Aghora or market place which is not as ancient as the rest of Delphi. 

THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO

Further up comes the fascinating place where once sat the Oracle of Delphi. It was  always a woman who was the oracle. She would go into a trance and predict the future. What she said was incoherent and incomprehensible to mere mortals. Therefore the Priest of the Temple who would always be a man would interpret it and make the prediction. These  predictions were therefore open to interpretation and often had dual and opposing meanings.  The Oracle spoke only one day in a month over a period of  9 months when it was thought that Apollo visited Delphi.

THE ORACLE SAT HERE

No war was begun without the prediction of the Oracle. No voyage was taken, in fact nothing was done without asking the Oracle. Great sums of money was paid by the affluent people to bypass the long line of pilgrims seeking a prophecy of their future.

GULF OF CORINTH FROM DELPHI

A seaport in the Gulf of Corinth is close by and everyone from far and near came via the sea route or land route to know the future. The sea is visible from the heights of Delphi. All that one can see stretching from Delphi to the sea is a huge land mass filled today with Olive trees. It is an amazing sight to see that vast carpet of olive trees.

The world calls him "Alexander the Great”, however I interpret his greatness  differently. I consider Alexander "great" because he was the one who wrote his own future. He did go to the Oracle as was the norm in those days, but instead of waiting for the Oracle to speak  he went to the chamber  where the Oracle sat and over powered her. He would not allow her to babble what she wanted to and instead was so strong in over powering her that as soon as the Oracle said, "You are unbeatable", he stopped her from speaking further and said I have heard enough. He then embarked upon his journey to conquer the world. A man who had destiny, the future, the predictions, and Oracle in his command,  was truly unbeatable! It was his pursuit and not the support of Gods and the prophecy that made him great.

A TREASURY

Delphi was a sacred precinct of Apollo. In 776 BC started the Pythian games which were held every 4 years at Delphi. The victors were presented with a  crown of Laurel leaves.There is a beautiful Stadium at the topmost point of Delphi. I was quite fascinated by the starting line of the race laid out in marble. Everything was so well defined and clear.

THE THEATRE

The theatre at Delphi is also amazing. The background of the stage were the hills and valley. The seating was in stone, semi circular, open to the skies and nature. It could accommodate 5000 people.

What amazing times! How far advanced were they in culture, sport, and theatre. Those were peaceful times and so art, theatre, sports, philosophy could develop and flourish.

THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA-THOLOS

The Tholos is a circular building which was created between 380 and 360 BC and was the sanctuary of Athena. There were 20 Doric columns in this temple. There were a lot of treasuries here too filled with offerings from the various rulers. One had to visit the Temple of Athena or the Tholos before visiting the Temple of Apollo.

THE MUSEUM

There is a nice museum at Delphi housing a number of statues, and artifacts of that time. One statue that stands out as different is the bronze statue of a charioteer. His size is life like, it is not gigantic. His eyes, features and dress look very real and the statue is beautiful. The Charioteer also holds the reins of the chariot in his hand. The statue of the winged Sphinx too is huge and beautiful.

THE WINGED SPHINX

The wealth of money, History, beauty, that this navel of the earth had is fascinating to behold. Today standing atop the hill and looking out at the sea I can visualize a whole lot of ships sailing in with their sails spread, an army of people walking across the land towards the hill from where they would go back with hope, after coming to know of what lay in store for them in the future.

I was overwhelmed with the mystery of the oracle, and fumes from the center of the earth which made a mere mortal become an Oracle. I was fascinated with the mastery of the priest in making so many people from all ranks believe that their future could be predicted and in turn becoming the master of so much wealth! It was all a game of interpretations, word play, and playing with the emotions of people who would be willing to part with money to see for themselves a better future with the help of a prophecy made by the Oracle.

So since ages some people have always been making money out of the naivety of the multitudes. Belief, trust, hope, aspirations of the common man as well as powerful rulers and kings were twisted so that someone could befool all the people all the time and become both powerful, rich and famous!! 

Time, future,prophecy...hopes for the future! Looking at tomorrow today....will this desire ever be over powered? Will we ever be content with what we have?

Delphi, Oh Delphi, Oracle will you speak up now and tell me, will it ever happen?