Ancient Greek Temple at Delphi - Literature review Example

259674 8 pages 4 sources MLA Ancient Greek Temple at Delphi Introduction The ancient Greek temples and relics were sacked for hundreds of years by foreign nation-invaders, including Romans and Great Britain. Today, many historical relics from Greece’s past can be found in museums in England, and other places around the world. The relics and temple sites hold significant meaning in the history of Greek life. The creation of the particular site, like the Temple at Delphi, originated within the Greek cultural traditions, most of which centered on the concept of the earth (Ge or Gaia), mother of all, also of the feminine gender in the Greek language conveying the meaning of nurture and nourishment (Cole, Susan Guettel, 2004, 1). Homeland, patris, or patra, was the masculine version of Ge, and, accordingly, took on the ancient Greek images associated with masculinity, like strength, warrior, father, and the “inherited lineages” passed down from one generation to the next (Cole, 1). From these concepts the Greek created images and stories of Gods and Goddesses. When the Gods and Goddesses were pleased with the Greeks, then good fortune came from that. If they displeased the Gods, there was retribution, because just as the Greek Gods and Goddesses were musical, playfully poetic, and athletic, they were likewise vengeful. For these reasons, the Greeks built temples to their deities, honoring them with prayers, gifts, and devotion. This brief essay looks at one of the Greek’s many temples in depth to gain an understanding of its origins, and how the Greeks honored the particular God associated with the site. Also, what happened to the traditions of prayer, devotions, sacrifice, and loyalty as Christianity spread around the world? What impact, if any, did the Turkish authority over Greece have on its traditions and artifacts? These are questions that will be answered in this essay. The Oracle at Delphi It is perhaps easier for some people to understand ancient Greek religious oriented practices in terms of modern ones. Ancient Gods became such much in the same way that Catholic Saints became sainted; they were recognized for their deeds, and for what they were perceived by the Greeks as being capable of with powers that they had. Joseph Fontenrose (1974) researched the Oracle at Delphi, and found the earliest references to it were Homeric Hymn to Apollo (13). The poem describes Apollo doing combat with a dragon at Delphi, and, following that event, he chose as the site for his temple the Haliartos, where the spring called Telphusa flowed (13). He began to lay the foundation to his temple when the spring nymph Telphusa spoke to him, and convinced him to build his temple at Parnassos, “. . .and there on the site of Delphi he laid the foundations of his great temple, assisted by Trophonios and Agamedes, who set the stone threshold in place, and by the tribes of men, who erected the temple on the foundations. “. . . and there on the site of Delphi he laid the foundations of his great temple, assisted by Trophonios and Agamedes, who set the stone threshold in place, and by the tribes of men, who erected the temple on the foundations (Fontenrose, 13).” Another piece to the story, or a second story, of Apollo’s temple at Delphi is found in Euripides Iphigeneia in Tauris (1239- 1251) (Fontenrose, 16). This story tells us that Apollo was yet a babe when he slew the dragon, and that the dragon was the son and guardian of Ge’s oracle (Fontenrose, 16). Upon slaying the dragon, Apollo took possession of the temple as his own (Fontenrose, 16). And there is yet a third story to the Delphi Temple: This third version of the story is found in some later writers and several works of art. Upon a black-figured lekythos of white background, a work of the early fifth century, and therefore earlier than Euripides play, we see the infant Apollo shooting his arrows from Letos arms at a snake of many coils, who appears among rocks in a hollow ( fig. 1 ). Most representations of the Apollo-Python combat in art show this third version: out of Anthology seem to refer to this version when they say that Python attacked Leto and was killed by Apollo (Fontenrose, 16-18).” No matter the version one prefers, the story of Delphi continues that when Apollo killed the dragon, Python, he gave divine responses to those who came for consultation (Berve, Helmut, and Gottfried, Gruben, 1963, 28). “This took place through the casting of lots as well as through the utterances of his priestess. The second way of delivering oracles could hardly have been established by Dionysus, the god of ecstasy, who at an early date found a place at Delphi. To the Greeks, Dionysus was not an oracular god; the raptures that he provoked had nothing in common with the psychic condition of the woman who, in a trance, pronounced what Apollo dictated to her. Moreover, it is significant that in the winter months, when Apollo was known to be far away among the Hyperboreans and Dionysus was regarded as master of the sanctuary, the delivery of oracles ceased (Gruben, 28).” The first temple of the “Pythian” Apollo was a wooden one, described as having copper walls, which did not save it when, in 548, it caught fire and burned. It was replaced decades later by a stone structure with richly decorated pediments befitting the God Apollo, and Dionysus during the winter months (28). The new temple was designed to facilitate the oracle, in the new temple had a room and seat for her sit to receive Apollo’s messages while in her trance. The people who visited the oracle brought offerings and made dedications to the God Apollo. The gifts were riches, gold, and silver from the people who came from far and wide to receive the predictions of the oracle (28). Moreover, the visitors themselves traversed mountains and other dangerous travel to be received by the oracle (28). The oracle and temple, however, drew the attention of bandits and thieves (28). There is literary evidence to support the gifts and riches bestowed upon the Temple at Delphi (28). There is evidence, too, that shows that thieves were attracted to the temple. In 590, during the First Sacred War, in which Athens was one of the players, they destroyed Cirrha, which was the costal city by which travelers came to Delphi (28). “Delphi became a state on its own, outside the Phocian tribal league and led by members of local aristocratic families, which provided the priests and high religious officials as well. Thenceforth, these families together with the Phocians were supposed to watch over its autonomy, which was of great importance for the independent delivery of oracles (28).” To come to the oracle for words of the God Apollo was not something that one did very quickly. There was a protocol, which involved meeting the Temple priests, and becoming acquainted with them (28). There are some who might say that this process alone was sufficient enough for the priests to come to know the heart and mind of the person seeking the reading on behalf of their self, or someone else, such as an employer (28). Once the priests became acquainted, it was possible, it has been suggested, that they could then feed the information to the Pythian, who could then deliver the reader accordingly. We see this happen frequently in modern times with psychics and others who claim to be in contact with people on the other side, those people who have passed on. The way in which the oracle readings worked was: “Of the two ways in which it was delivered lots could be used in two instances. Firstly, when Apollo was asked to declare which of various proposals was the one that had divine approval--which, for example, of several rival chieftains should command a joint military action, or which among a number of mythical heroes under consideration should be honoured as the tribes progenitor; secondly, when a question was put requiring a decision between two possibilities (30).” The second category described above represents the most common type of queries that were performed by the pythia (30). The power of the oracle became widely known, and as the number of people seeking readings increased, so did the awareness of the riches housed in the temple at Delphi. There were a number of rituals associated with the readings of the pythia. First, the pythia entered the room designed especially for her, sometimes accompanied by a priest (31). The appearance of the spectacle was important, because the specialty of the visual presentation served to enhance the aura of mystery and power. Between two golden eagles, which must have looked incredibly impressive to people who first experienced the ceremony, sat the omphalos stone, or the navel of of Ge, and in the center there was the place where there stood a tripod upon which the Pythia sat (31). The vapors that rose from the earth helped to put the Pythia into a trance, but prior to that she chewed laurel leaves after she bathed in the stream that ran by the temple (31). Once done, the mystery is established, the Pythia put on the show of going into the trance and delivering the divined wisdom of Apollo, then it is no doubt that the individuals seeking the readings left having been well entertained. It was a dramatic affect when Apollo, the God of Wisdom, divined through the Pythia. The Pythia was general an older woman, unmarried, and from a wealthy family (31). The wealthy families looked after the temple, honored to do so (31). Berve and Gottfriend say that what the Pythian Apollo knew was the life patterns in a way that he could use them as the “God of Knowledge,” and successfully predict the future by being aware of past trends (32). It certainly did not hurt, either, that the temple priests spent a fair amount of time with people seeking the readings, and they could easily employ those trends with the specific needs of the individual or group seeking the reading. This would have created very successful personal level readings. As Christianity spread throughout the world, the Greek Gods and Goddesses went the way of myth (Nilsson, Martin, 1972, 138). Eventually, when the Romans conquered Greece, Domitian had the temple, which had been sacked and looted, though many of its treasures had been returned, and then stolen again (Berve and Gottfried, 331). Nero was also a looter, and carried off many of the temple’s more valuable treasures. The Roman Emperor Hadrain had a love for all art, and was responsible for great works of architecture and art in Roman society. In Greece, he attempted to restore the Temple at Delphi (331). “The last pagan on the imperial throne, Julian the Apostate, received the last oracle from the declining sun god: Tell the emperor that the place glorified by art lies in ruins, that Phoebus no longer has a home and a mantic laurel; no longer does the spring serve him, the murmuring water is hushed (Georgius Cedrenus p. 305a) (Berve and Gottfried, 331).” It is sad to think that with such a rich history the temple at Delphi fell to looters of antiquity after Hadrain. What the temple represented to the Greeks was not really so different than what people seek today when they consult fortune tellers or psychics. There was also the human factor that came into play at the Temple, because it did not always employ elderly Pythians. Early in its history it employed young, beautiful virgins, but there was a scandal when a Pythia ran away with a lover, leaving the temple empty. That was when the tradition of the elderly Pythias began, and there was, after the scandal, more than one. So we see that the Greeks went to great effort to build the myth around the notion of Apollo as the Wisdom. As we consider Greek art, architecture, and the way that the temples were looted as Christianity spread, then we must wonder what these artifacts mean to Greece today as a Christian Orthodox society. The conclusion must be that the Greek ancient history is one that belongs to the Greeks, even in their modernity. Theirs was a proud ancient civilization that sought to help their people and others make sense of their world around them. The Oracle at Delphi offered guidance, never advice specific to the individual. Often times the guidance offered was based on what was honorable among men, courageous, and in the best interest of the country. Today, the site of the temple at Delphi is visited by many tourists, many of whom actually have washed their feet in the same stream as the Pythias, chewed laurel, and waited for a trance to overcome them – and they wait. Works Cited Berve, Helmut, and Gottfried Gruben. Greek Temples, Theatres, and Shrines. London: Thames and Hudson, 1963. Questia. 5 Dec. 2008 . Cole, Susan Guettel. Landscapes, Gender, and Ritual Space: The Ancient Greek Experience. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004. Questia. 5 Dec. 2008 . Fontenrose, Joseph. Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins. New York: Biblo-Tannen, 1974. Questia. 5 Dec. 2008 . Nilsson, Martin P. Greek Folk Religion. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972. Questia. 5 Dec. 2008 . Read More