Delphi

Sammy0618

5.0/5

Outstanding

The "Pan-Hellenic Sanctuary" is a complex structure outside the city-state politics, providing all Greeks with the only way to know themselves in a religious sense. It is said that the entrance to the Temple of Apollo is engraved with the motto "Know yourself". During the period from the middle of the 8th century BC to the middle of the 7th century BC, the worship of Apollo gained a high reputation because he was the patron saint of the colonial cause that was in full swing at the time. In 373 BC, an earthquake severely damaged the buildings of the sanctuary, which played a decisive role in its fate. It was in the second half of the 4th century BC that, while it was undergoing arduous restoration, Greece experienced political turmoil, and the sanctuary gradually declined. Since the Roman rule in the 1st century AD, no new buildings have appeared in the sanctuary. In 392 AD, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I issued an edict prohibiting pagan beliefs. The oracle was worshiped in the 15th century, marking the end of the worship of Apollo. The site of the sanctuary was occupied by a village in the early AD and was rediscovered in the 15th century. The operation of the oracle has undergone many changes in history. According to one of the most authoritative witnesses, Plutarch, who was once a priest of the temple, in his time (1st century AD) there was only one prophetess in the temple, who was requested once a month; earlier, during the heyday of the ritual, three priestesses were required to take turns to cope with the long queue of requests. In another temple of Apollo, the oracle was transmitted to the prophet's spirit only through thoughts, which allowed him/her to play more freely. In the Christian era, John Chrysostom believed that Pythia was a woman possessed by the devil, which drilled into the prophetess from the depths of the earth under the tripod. Every year, when Apollo left, there was no oracle, which resulted in countless believers waiting for the oracle to reopen. Therefore, the temple priests had the right to arrange priority for participating in the ceremony (Προμαντεία / promanteia). Participants first presented appropriate gifts to the god, and then the priests poured some cold water on a goat. If it did not tremble, it was considered a bad omen and the ceremony would not proceed; if the worshiper was accepted, the goat would be offered, and he could enter the temple to ask the prophetess a question. Of course, whether the question was answered or not depended on the will of the god.