A Visit to the Oracle, Efkharistó (Thank You) Sophocles

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On my second day in Athens, I got up early to take the three-hour bus to Delphi with Charly and Prem. Those two didn't get along so well, which I mostly just found amusing, but we all had a great time anyways. It was phenomenal to see the ancient Greek "centre of the universe", and I realized that I find sculpture so much more beautiful and inspiring when it's in the place it was originally designed for. Maybe that's the contemporary art student in me, or maybe there really is something to the idea that art has a purpose, and that purpose is in the location. Hm.

Delphi is situated on the side of a huge mountain which overlooks a very deep valley and an isthmus on the coast. The hills surrounding it are quite rocky with minimal plants other than olive trees. I was really looking forward to seeing where the Oracle dispensed her wisdom, but here's the story: the Oracle sat on a tripod over top of a chasm, which emitted fumes. So essentially, the oracle got really high on fumes and said crazy things which a priest "interpreted" as prophecy. Because Delphi has loads of earthquakes, historians believe that an earthquake closed up the chasm so we can never be 100% certain where the oracle spoke. Earthquakes are legendary in Delphi. As the Persians were getting ready to attack Delphi (it became a pretty corrupt centre of power by the end of its popularity, so it was worth controlling), an earthquake rumbled through the area and literally swallowed up the army at the base of the mountain. After that, nobody else tried to attack it!

Unfortunately by the end of the day I was suffering from heat exhaustion. I hadn't had enough water, it was over 30 celsius, and although I was wearing a hat and loads of sunscreen we were still in the sun all day. Charly suggested I drink a bottle of Sprite, because apparently it has exactly the right amount of salts and electrolytes to re-balance your system after dehydration. She learned this on a trek through Thailand, and the guides carried a huge cooler full of Sprite to rehydrate people. Who knew pop could be good for you? So after that, I carried around a 1.5 litre bottle of water, and have at least two of those a day, as well as one Sprite. Super Hydration, yea!

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Photos

In the Stadium
Ancient Greek stadium architecture informs all modern stadiums, including Athens´ Olympic stadium!

Me in the Temple of Athena Pronaia
This building isn´t connected to Delphi but somehow it´s ruins have become the classic postcard image for the site.