Delphi

del'fi, a city of ancient Greece. It stood in a grand amphitheater at the southern base of Mt. Parnassus, sacred to the Muses. The springs of Castalia still break forth here, and find their way to the sea eight miles distant. The city was famous as the seat of the Pythian games, the Delphic oracle, and the worship of Apollo. The various temples were adorned with innumerable statues. Nero carried away 500 bronze objects of art. Pliny says there were 3,000 status in Delphi in his day. As the temples were sacred the priests were entrusted with the care of treasure. None the less, the temples were plundered occasionally, as in time of war. The oracle was consulted in the following way. The priestess, at first a young women, later a woman not under fifty, was bathed in water from the fount of Castalia and crowned with the laurel wreath sacred to Apollo. The Pythia, as she was called, was then conducted to a cave in the interior of the temple, and seated on a holy tripod or threelegged stool over a fissure in the rock, from which intoxicating vapors rose. Under the divine influence of Apollo the priestess became seized with a fit of prophecy. Amid her writhings and contortions and shudderings and groans, half articulate words escaped. These the attendant priests, stimulated by rich presents, took down with care, and framed into hexameter utterances. These verses were delivered to the anxious inquirer as the message vouchsafed by Apollo in reply to his inquiry. Many celebrated responses are recorded. Croesus was told, "The war will destroy a great empire." He was left to find out later that the empire to be destroyed was his own, not that of Cyrus as he had supposed. Themistocles received a response to the effect that the safety of Athens lay in wooden walls. This he construed to be favorable to the building of a navy, etc. Like enough the thoughtful men of the day regarded the oracle as an imposture, but used it as a means of leading the people.