Delphi, Greece- Day 9

Today was the longest short day ever. We left our hotel at a quarter to 8 and drove 4 hours to the city of Delphi- famous for the Oracle, which dates back to 1400 BCE. The drive was almost as boring as the drive to Houston until we finally reached the mountains about two hours into the drive. The views were incredible, and they didn’t stop after we got to Delphi either.

We went to the museum and saw some incredible sculptures with some dating back to 500 BCE or later. We used what we learned in our Civilization and Society class to identify when sculptures and pottery were made.

After touring the museum we went to the ruins of Delphi. The remaining ruins are mainly from the 6^th century BCE, which was the peak of Delphi’s activity, but the city was settled as early as the 14^th century BCE. Excavations began in 1892 after an earthquake destroyed a city built on top of it. The center of the city contained the Temple of Apollo, which was apparently rebuilt 3 times- the first by Apollo himself in the second half of the 7^th century BCE, the second in 506 BCE, and the third in 330 BCE.

The Temple contained the main attraction of Delphi- the Oracle. The story of The Oracle of Delphi goes like this- Apollo killed a python and it fell into a crevice in the earth. Fumes arose from the crack and the people believed that Apollo could communicate through the fumes. They picked a young woman who was both beautiful and a virgin to inhale the fumes. She would deliver prophesies and people would go to and retreat from war at the her command, among other things.

For those of you who are curious, the location and intoxication of the Oracle was studied and it was determined that the young woman would get high off of a combination of sulfur, methane, and ethane.

Lastly the theater in Delphi was known not for its acoustics, but for its wonderful view.

Now we have a free night out in the beautiful town of Delphi, and then it’s on to Athens for the last two days of our first international trip. It’s hard to believe that our first trip is almost over, but it’s also exciting to get back to classroom learning.

“We’re only human.” -Penny