From Olympia to Delphi
Greetings from Delphi home of the Oracle!
Today we left Olympia and drove north. We cross a new bridge built for the 2004 Olympics which links the Peloponnesus with the mainland of Greece. After crossing we stop to eat in the coastal town of Galaxidi. We had a nice lunch. They gave everyone calamari to try. That is deep fried squid.
After lunch we drove up to Delphi and checked in at our hotel the Delphi Palace. The we walked to the museum near the site.
The museum has several amazing objects all found during the excavations at Delphi. Delphi was home to the Pythian Games which was one of the Panhellenic Games. These games took place every four years in honor of Apollo, the god of wisdom. The temple to Apollo was home to oracle of Delphi. A priestess of the temple functioned as the oracle. People would come and ask questions of the oracle on special days. She would sit in the temple on a tripod over a crack where vapors would rise up and have a hallucinogenic effect on her and she would speak in “tongues” and predict the future often in vague ways. Recently geologists and archaeologists have worked together and discovered that a fault line runs under the temple and that have hallucinogenic properties.
As one of the panhellenic games as well as a home to an oracle Delphi was the most important religious site on the mainland. Several treasuries and monuments were built as each city tried to out do the other. Many of these offerings to Apollo were lost on the site and have now been recovered by archaeologists.
In the museum some of the most important objects include a large Sphinx. As I look at it I was reminded of Oedipus and the riddle of the sphinx. The Siphinian Treasury which dates to 525BC is one of the oldest Ionic marble buildings on the mainland. The pediments of the building are well-preserved. One side with the Judgment of Paris and the other with the combat of combat before Troy with the assembly of the gods. This has the name of the artist on one of the shields.
The Treasure Room has amazing objects such as parts of the chryselephantine (made from ivory and gold) statues of Apollo and Artemis. Also the remains of a large statue of a bull made of silver.
One of the most famous items in the museum is the Charioteer which is an original bronze which sections of the horse and chariot. This was made to honor the victor of chariot 478 or 474 in Pythian games.
Also there is a famous marble statue of Antinoos. He was a famous companion of Emperor Hadrian who died by drowning in the Nile during a trip their with the emperor.
Also the museum has an inscription which has musical notation on it. This is one the earliest indications of musical notation in Ancient Greece it dates to the 3rd century BC.
My favorite item in the museum was the Gallio inscription. This is an inscription that I have been talking about for many years. It makes reference to Gallio who is mentioned in Acts 18. Gallio is proconsul of Acacia. The emperor Nero wrote a letter honoring him which is preserved in this inscription. Paul was taken before Gallio by the Jews of Corinth. Here Gallio determined not to get involved in what he called Jewish disputes. Since a proconsulship only lasted one year and since Paul was only in Corinth for eighteen months this inscription establishes a benchmark in the chronology in Paul’s life and missionary journeys. So this is an important piece of evidence for New Testament studies.
Tomorrow we explore the site itself and make our way up pass the temple to the stadium at Delphi where a race will take place.
John Wineland
Today we left Olympia and drove north. We cross a new bridge built for the 2004 Olympics which links the Peloponnesus with the mainland of Greece. After crossing we stop to eat in the coastal town of Galaxidi. We had a nice lunch. They gave everyone calamari to try. That is deep fried squid.
After lunch we drove up to Delphi and checked in at our hotel the Delphi Palace. The we walked to the museum near the site.
The museum has several amazing objects all found during the excavations at Delphi. Delphi was home to the Pythian Games which was one of the Panhellenic Games. These games took place every four years in honor of Apollo, the god of wisdom. The temple to Apollo was home to oracle of Delphi. A priestess of the temple functioned as the oracle. People would come and ask questions of the oracle on special days. She would sit in the temple on a tripod over a crack where vapors would rise up and have a hallucinogenic effect on her and she would speak in “tongues” and predict the future often in vague ways. Recently geologists and archaeologists have worked together and discovered that a fault line runs under the temple and that have hallucinogenic properties.
As one of the panhellenic games as well as a home to an oracle Delphi was the most important religious site on the mainland. Several treasuries and monuments were built as each city tried to out do the other. Many of these offerings to Apollo were lost on the site and have now been recovered by archaeologists.
In the museum some of the most important objects include a large Sphinx. As I look at it I was reminded of Oedipus and the riddle of the sphinx. The Siphinian Treasury which dates to 525BC is one of the oldest Ionic marble buildings on the mainland. The pediments of the building are well-preserved. One side with the Judgment of Paris and the other with the combat of combat before Troy with the assembly of the gods. This has the name of the artist on one of the shields.
The Treasure Room has amazing objects such as parts of the chryselephantine (made from ivory and gold) statues of Apollo and Artemis. Also the remains of a large statue of a bull made of silver.
One of the most famous items in the museum is the Charioteer which is an original bronze which sections of the horse and chariot. This was made to honor the victor of chariot 478 or 474 in Pythian games.
Also there is a famous marble statue of Antinoos. He was a famous companion of Emperor Hadrian who died by drowning in the Nile during a trip their with the emperor.
Also the museum has an inscription which has musical notation on it. This is one the earliest indications of musical notation in Ancient Greece it dates to the 3rd century BC.
My favorite item in the museum was the Gallio inscription. This is an inscription that I have been talking about for many years. It makes reference to Gallio who is mentioned in Acts 18. Gallio is proconsul of Acacia. The emperor Nero wrote a letter honoring him which is preserved in this inscription. Paul was taken before Gallio by the Jews of Corinth. Here Gallio determined not to get involved in what he called Jewish disputes. Since a proconsulship only lasted one year and since Paul was only in Corinth for eighteen months this inscription establishes a benchmark in the chronology in Paul’s life and missionary journeys. So this is an important piece of evidence for New Testament studies.
Tomorrow we explore the site itself and make our way up pass the temple to the stadium at Delphi where a race will take place.
John Wineland
posted by John Wineland at 1:59 PM
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