Welcome back to another Mythology Sunday tiktakers, where we'll be talking
about the Delphic Oracle.
First of all, do you know what an "oracle" is?
On one hand, this word refers to the answers the
Pythonesses would give in the name of the gods.
And on the other hand, it was also the sacred place where people
would go ask questions to the Pythonesses.
The Delphic Oracle was one of the main oracles in ancient Greece, and was
even considered the "navel of the world".
It was located in the Pleistos valley, next to Mount Parnassus near Delphos.
The legend says that muses and nymphs would gather in that mount, and that
Apollo would also gather with them to play the lyre.
The exact origin of this oracle is difficult to determine.
Some sources say that the Delphos sanctuary was originally dedicated
to Gaia, goddess of the Earth, and her daughter Themis.
Then, the god Apollo was tricked into visiting the
sanctuary, without anybody warning him about a dangerous snake living there.
The deity ended up slaying the python of the sanctuary, thus establishing the
cult of Apollo.
He was also considered the god of prophecies, so he soon
started to recruit the first priests and priestesses who would give answers to all
the questions people would ask them there.
From that point on the Delphic Oracle became more and more important,
becoming the religious center of Greek civilization.
And the predictions made in that place had a lot of influence in the
big decisions made by the Greek governors.
Just so you get an idea tiktakers, this is basically how it worked: The
Pythonesses, also called the Pythias, were the high priestesses who would
commit to living in the sanctuary to answer people's questions.
It is believed that underneath the temple was an underground
chamber that only the Pythias could access, and that only the Pythias could
talk in the name of the gods.
It is also believed that in the aforementioned underground
chamber were gasses that could induce some sort of trance in people,
and some even believed that the Pythias came directly from the python slain
by Apollo.
If anyone wanted to ask a question to the Pythias, they first needed to fulfill a
number of requirements.
First, the person would have to go through a
purification process at a nearby fountain.
Then, they had to offer a sacrifice to the gods, which was usually a lamb or a bird.
However, as more people came to the oracle over time, many different kinds
of offerings started being accepted.
In regards to formulating the question itself, there are different versions on how
to do it: Some say that you would ask the priestesses directly, while others say
that you had to write the question down, and the lower priests at the temple
would bring it to the Pythias.
It is believed that sometimes the answers were
difficult to interpret, but that the lower priests at the temple could interpret
them for the one who made the question.
For many years, the oracle had a huge influence on the people turning to it.
At first people could only go on the 7th day
of each month, but due to the high demand of people wanting to ask their questions,
this changed over time.
This huge influence also gave a lot of power to
the priests and Pythias working there.
At the oracle, decisions were made ranging from small personal matters,
to huge wars.
Reaching the oracle wasn't easy at all: Conflicts between towns and other
issues made the way there pretty treacherous, making it difficult for outsiders
to reach the temple.
And after many years of glory, the oracle ended up in the
middle of many disputes.
It also suffered form plunder and all kinds of material
losses, and once the Greek considered that the oracle was no longer politically
neutral, its decadence started.
Also, the Roman conquest didn't help the oracle's situation, as Christianity
relegated it to a mere folkloric curiosity, considering it just pagan superstition
with no kind of value.
Emperor Theodosius closed the oracle permanently by
the end of the 4th century.
On the ruins of the oracle was built a village named Castri, and the entire place
was forgotten... until the 19th century, when the Greek government decided to
expropriate the entire zone.
All of Castri's inhabitants had to abandon their
homes as studies and excavations started to take place in the former village.
And thanks to that, the ruins of Apollo's Temple were rescued, as well as other
ancient constructions that were in that zone.
Were you familiar with this piece of Greek history, tiktakers?