Omphalos Of Delphi

Delphi was known as the naval of the world. It is the ancient sanctuary where the Oracle or Pythia gave her prophecies. The oracle sat on a tripod and breathed in the vapors that came from deep within the Earth. She would then go into a trance and answer questions from kings to peasants. We started the tour at the Delphi museum. We saw many of the artifacts that were found during excavations. They were brought into the museums to prevent further damage and to protect them. There are two main omphalos of Delphi. One is inside the museum and the other one is at the archeological site. The omphalos is the stone that Rhea, the mother of the Olympians, gave to her husband wrapped in a blanket. She did this to trick Cronus, her husband, into …show more content…
As we walked up the old winding main street we saw many buildings and monuments. The first was the treasury of Athens built for their victory at the Battle of Marathon. These buildings and monuments were donated by Greek City-States to commemorate their victories and to thank the oracle for her prophecies. Next we went to the temple of Apollo. The temple of Apollo has been destroyed and rebuilt several times since the fourth century BC. It was built in the Doric style and is a hexastyle building with 6 by 15 columns. In the temple there was a restricted area known as the adyton. The adyton contained the seat of the Pythia where the oracle sat. From here the oracle would go into a trance and give her prophecies. It was then interpreted by a priest and an answer was given. They were usually vague and could be interpreted in different ways therefore she was never wrong. On the temple the statement “know thyself” was carved and was one of Apollos maxims. We then went up to the theatre and from here we had a view of the entire sanctuary and valley below. The theatre had seven tiers and could fit 4,500 attendants. Vocal and musical contests were held there