Apollo's Beliefs

1037 Words5 Pages
In ancient Greece, there is a place of great fortune and incredible prophecy. Delphi is a pagan sanctuary in honor of Apollo. According to mythology, Hera created the Python of Delphi to chase Leto, who was pregnant with Zues’ child. She birthed Apollo and he chose to kill the python out of revenge. Apollo shot an arrow into the python’s forehead and killed it. Apollo buried the creature under Mt. Parnassus and built Delphi on top (Apollo’s Fight). This mythology and all the followers have impacted society by using worship, prophecies, and enlightenment. The Oracle, or Pythia, is a priestess who has the ability to “channel” the spirit of Apollo. The Pythia must be a woman and any woman could become an oracle at the start. Age, wealth, intelligence,…show more content…
Then, the process of “calling” a prophecy consisted of many steps. First, the oracle must perform acts of purification. Second, an animal, often a goat, must be sacrificed. Then, the one who wanted a prophecy would provide a pelanos (pie) before entering the temple (Cartwright). While in the temple, the Pythia would breathe in volcanic fumes. She would then speak for Apollo in a different voice and then would announce the prophecy (“Sanctuary”). Often her prophecies were ironic and “her answers could be direct, conditional on some particular thing, or entirely ambiguous” (Nevins). Originally, the Pythia could only channel a prophecy once a year. However, they were so popular that the amount of priestesses increased to 3. The readings also increased to once a month. It is believed the Pythia enters her trance-like state by breathing in the volcanic fumes from the floor of the Castalian Spring. Delphi lies on 2 fault lines and the spring contains ethylene, but there is no proof whether the Pythia’s trances came from exposure of were self-induced…show more content…
Gaia, Themes, Demeter, and Poseidon were also worshiped at Delphi. Apollo replaced these deities by the end of the Mycenaean Period (Barrett). The Pythia sat on a brass tripod when she gave prophecies. Each leg of the tripod represented a different goddess. The front-most leg of the tripod represented Hera, the right leg represents Pasiphae, and the left leg represented Ino (Aset). Apollo still shared the temple with Dionysus. Every year, when winter started, Apollo would spend three months with the Hyperboreans up north. He left Dionysus “in charge” of Delphi. During this time, the Maenades took over and would work a frenzy of wine and dance (Odyssey). The Delphic Temple has 3 phrases carved into it. The sayings are “Know Thyself”, “Nothing in excess”, and “Make a pledge and mischief is nigh”. These are often connected to a group of philosophers called “The Seven Sages of Greece”
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