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Temple of Apollo at Delphi

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi was the most important and prominent of Apollo's temples, the headquarters of his cult and a Panhellenic center for Apollo's domains of prophecy, music, and medicine.

Mythology

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi was Apollo's first. The first temples of Apollo to be located elsewhere were said to have also been constructed in Delphi using bees-wax and feathers and transported to its eventual location by Apollo himself.
Among the prominent pronouncements of the Pythia were that Oedipus was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Even with this information known, both to the parents and then to the son, it proved an impossible fate to avoid.

History

Ruins visible in Delphi today date from the 4th Century BCE destruction of a 6th Century BCE structure that was at least the fourth such temple built at the same location.
According to the 2nd Century CE travel writer Pausanias, the first temple was made of the wood of a laurel tree sacred to the god, with additional branches brought inside to decorate the interior. The second temple was said to have been made of bronze. The third, made of stone, burned down in 548 BCE and was reconstructed and back in use by 511 BCE.
The final temple was rebuilt after a 373 BCE earthquake in Doric in style with a six by fifteen column peristyle. The site was destroyed at the decree of Roman emperor Theodosius I in 390 CE to promote Christianity by removing all traces of paganism from Imperial lands.

Sayings

Inspirational inscriptions at the temple once urged visitors to "know themselves," take all things in moderation, avoid contractual entanglements, and contemplate The Letter E.

Oracle

The Pythia, said to be the most accurate seer in all of Hellas, operated out of this structure. As a consequence, many of Greek mythology's most famous predictions were made by the Pythia within these halls.
According to tradition, a sacred chasm under the temple emitted vapors that caused those exposed to enter a state of delirium in which cries and utterances were made. The Pythia, especially sensitive to this delirium, was deliberately exposed, day after day, while a set of priestly scribes wrote down everything she said.

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Mythology

Greek/Roman

History

Greece, Delphi

Type

Temple / Church

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Poetry! (Mythic Verse, Vol. 1)

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