Delphi

Athenian Treasury

Delphi was considered to be the center of the world in classic times. Apollo released two eagles who flew around the world in opposite directions, meeting at Delphi. Here they built the temple of Apollo home of the most famous Greek oracle, Pythia. The prophesies were logical, but often ambiguous such as  "You will go you will return never in war will you perish". This gives the recipient liberty to place a comma before or after the word "never", thus covering both possible outcomes. Behind these prophesies were the fact that gases escaped the earth here and probably caused the oracle to hallucinate. The most important structure here was the Temple of Apollo. Surrounding the temple were 27 treasuries where the gifts to the gods were kept, and below that a marketplace. One of the treasuries, the Treasury of the Athenians has been reconstructed since they found over 80% of the original material lying on the ground. It held a prominent position right next to the Temple. Above the temple are a 5000 seat theatre and an 7000 seat stadium for athletic games.

Sphinx

The museum is beautiful, modern, with well done displays of the artifacts found during the excavation of Delphi. Most impressive were a 6th century BC sphinx, a combination of a lion's body, female head, and eagle wings which stood on a 36 foot column in front of the Temple, as well as a 5th century BC bronze charioteer. The complete body of the charioteer was intact (one of only 4 in the world) including the eyes made of inlaid stone. The museum is known for it's large collection of 6th century BC items, including quite a few friezes from the 6th century BC depicting the battle of Troy, as well as the battle against the Giants.

 

Charioteer