All this, scholars have argued, demonstrated not merely a routine diplomatic gesture to a foreign god, but an offer of generosity the likes of which had never been seen in the Greek world.42 It was all also a payment in advance for the answer to the key question Croesus had had in mind all along, the oracle’s answer to which became famous in antiquity. Croesus asked “whether he should make an expedition against the Persians and whether he should make any further host of men his friends?”43 Many ancient writers record the response “Croesus, having crossed the Halys, will destroy a great empire.” It is a reply that has become infamous for its ambiguity and misinterpretation, and subsequently for the danger inherent in consulting the Delphic oracle. Croesus of course did cross the river Halys, and he did destroy an empire: his own. Yet Croesus, interpreting it as meaning his enemy’s empire, was so pleased by the response that he sent further gifts to Delphi (two gold staters for every Delphic citizen), in return for which the Delphians gave him the right of promanteia (the right to skip the queue to consult the oracle), ateleia (the right to not pay the tax to consult the oracle), and prohedria (the right to front-row seats at the Pythian festival). Later, however, so upset was Croesus by what he saw as the oracle’s failure to warn him that he asked permission of his now master—the Persian king, Cyrus—to take the chains of his captivity to Delphi and challenge the oracle to justify its conduct. The oracle is portrayed (in the later sources) as responding that Croesus was bound by destiny to pay for Gyges’ actions, that he himself had misinterpreted the oracular response, and that, all in all, it was thanks to Apollo that he was even alive.44
Yet the oracle at Delphi was not only standing up to some of the most powerful men at the borders of the Mediterranean world at this time, it was also playing hardball with those closer to home. One Spartan, Glaucus, who had denied that his friend had previously entrusted him with his money, was asked to swear an oath to that effect. Glaucus, according to Herodotus, consulted Delphi about whether it was defensible in the eyes of the gods to perjure oneself under oath if material gain resulted. The oracle replied resolutely in the negative and mishap dogged Glaucus’s family for generations. The oracle could also play hardball with the Delphians themselves. One consultation story, reported in Herodotus and dating to c. 563–32 BC, tells how Aesop (of Aesop’s Fables fame), having insulted the Delphians for living off nothing except what Apollo gave them, was tricked by the Delphians into taking a sacred treasure away from the sanctuary.45 Having set him up, the Delphians “discovered” his theft, convicted him, and had him thrown off the Hyampeia cliff high above Delphi. As a result, Delphi was smitten with plague and famine (we might think back again to the Homeric Hymn to Apollo and Apollo’s warning to his priests not to abuse their position). Consulting the oracle, the Delphians were told that finding a relative of Aesop’s was key to their atonement, and they conducted such a search at every major Greek festival till they finally found a candidate.
Among these oracles responding to queries of plagues, famines, world domination, civic rebirth, perjury, and tortoise and lamb boiling in bronze pots, Delphi also continued to answer queries about ritual practice, including the establishment of new rituals to different Greek divinities in various Greek cities.46 Chief among these gods was Dionysus: in fact, there are more oracular responses recorded in the Delphic corpus relating to the worship of this god than any other. Dionysian cult practices may well already have been part of Delphic worship in this period—indeed it may always have been. But it is only epigraphically and archaeologically attested, for certain, beginning in the fourth century BC, whence it would grow into an essential part of Delphic mythology, indeed one that would remain when many other aspects of Delphic business had been forgotten.47
The oracle also continued, as in the previous century, to answer questions concerning the founding of new settlements. It was, after all, in the sixth century BC, that it became necessary to consult the oracle before a colonial adventure became a proverbial tale.48 In the first half of the sixth century, Delphi continued to be consulted, for example, on the foundation of Heracleia Pontice by the Megarians and the Boeotians in the 560s BC and, in the same period, on the Athenian expedition to the Chersonesus (see maps 1, 2).49 More importantly, foundations with which it had been involved (or, as discussed in the last chapter, with which it later became preferable to different parties to cast the oracle as being involved in) in the previous century, in turn, went back to the sanctuary. Syracuse, for example, is argued to have constructed a treasury at Delphi in this period (its presence known thanks to surviving roofing fragments in bright red Sicilian clay).50
In addition, the dedicatory record shows a swath of Western dedicators offering monumental structures at Delphi in this period, many of which do not seem to have had a direct connection to Delphi through a foundation oracle, but instead seem to represent the eagerness of these dedicators to ensure their presence at this increasingly important center of the ancient world. There are three treasury structures, for example, lined up opposite the western end of the new temple of Apollo, all leaning against the new perimeter wall of the sanctuary (structures C, D, and E in fig. 3.2). One of these (built c. 580 BC) has been associated with the Corcyrians because of its roofing style.51 And two other treasury-like structures were dedicated in the southern part of the Apollo sanctuary behind the early Athenian treasury (see plate 2), which, again because of their roofing styles, have been associated with southern Italian (and probably Sybarite) dedicators.52 All these structures seem to have taken advantage not only of the new perimeter wall, but also of new terracing walls within the sanctuary to claim positions of high visibility and dominate this new sanctuary space.
Also filling this new sanctuary space in the first half of the sixth century BC were a series of other treasury-like structures, whose function and dedicator we cannot claim with any certainty to know. One, perhaps two more structures, traditionally associated with the worship of Gaia but in reality uncertain, were constructed in this period. As well, a building, long labeled the Delphic city’s bouleuterion but now the subject of disputed identification, was constructed near the Athenian treasury. We can also identify another series of monumental, and less monumental but incredibly ornate, dedications that graced the sanctuary at this time. The most ornate treasury yet, constructed c. 550 BC, was dedicated by the Cnidians in Asia Minor (see plate 2). It was the first at Delphi to be built in marble and in the ionic style. No treasury-like structure has ever been found in their home city of Cnidos, but here at Delphi the Cnidians seem not only to have followed the trend for treasury dedication, but to have embellished it considerably. In contrast, the inhabitants of the island of Naxos in the Aegean chose to dedicate c. 570 BC one of the sanctuary’s most famous monuments, the Sphinx (see plate 2, fig. 4.1). This mythological creature with the body of a lion, the wings of a bird, and the face of a woman was something of a Naxian calling card in terms of artistic choice, as the Naxians had already dedicated a similar sculpture at the sanctuary of Apollo on Delos.53 But it was also perfectly tuned to its location at Delphi: the sphinx’s placement upon a tall column assured it was visible from all parts of the steep hillside.
In fact, we are only just scraping the surface of the ornate and expensive dedications that came from the eastern Mediterranean to Delphi in the first half of the sixth century BC. Herodotus tells us of the Egyptian courtesan Rhodopis who chose to dedicate a percentage of the wealth gained from her profession to Apollo at Delphi in the form of iron spits.54 And in the 1930s a whole host of dedications was discovered that date from the eighth to the fifth centuries BC, and had at some point been intentionally buried, it seems, underneath the central pathway through the sanctuary. Among them was the fabulous life-size silver bull (fig. 4.2) now on display in the Delphi museum, which had originally been the gift of an Ionian dedicator. In addition, there were two chryselephantine (ivory and gold) statues (see plate 5), as well as another ivory statue from an earlier date, all also of Ionian provenance
.55
Figure 4.1. The Naxian Sphinx, dedicated in the Apollo sanctuary at Delphi (Museum at Delphi).
Delphi, by the middle of the sixth century BC, had thus changed dramatically. In just fifty years, it had been the subject of major international conflict (the First Sacred War); had come under the auspices of the Amphictyony; had had its sacred space of Apollo officially articulated with perimeter walls, a temple of Apollo built, an increasing stream of monumental treasuries constructed within its new sanctuary, alongside a plethora of jaw-dropping gold and silver gifts from eastern rulers and a wealth of ornate dedications from around the eastern Mediterranean. Its oracle had been consulted by eastern kings and by the tyrants and reformers of mainland Greece; had laid down the law with oath-breakers and Delphian misbehavers; had helped guide the institution of rituals of divine worship; had continued to play a role in the ongoing processes of settlement foundation around the Mediterranean, and had enjoyed the fruits of the success of the developing communities it had been involved with founding in the previous century.
Delphi was, without a doubt, a major player in the ancient world by the mid-sixth century BC. But that should not be confused with its having been a sanctuary for everyone. It was available only to those with vested interests in the Amphictyony during the conflict over Delphi, and to those who dedicated richly afterward. Much of mainland Greece did not choose to have a permanent presence within the sanctuary, and of northern Greece, there is almost no trace either in relation to the oracle or in terms of dedication. In contrast, this absence is countered by the overwhelming presence of many individuals and cities from the eastern and western boundaries of the Greek world. Delphi was international for sure, but, again, not open to everyone. Moreover, with its newfound success and importance came the difficult task of trying to negotiate a fast-changing and often cutthroat Greek world. The silver bull and chryselephantine statues discovered buried in the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi all showed signs of heavy fire damage. Delphi was soon to be reborn—yet again—through fiery destruction.
Figure 4.2. The Silver Bull, dedicated in the Apollo sanctuary at Delphi and subsequently found buried in the sanctuary (© EFA [Guide de Musée fig. 11])
PART II
Some achieve greatness
The sun blows down from Parnassus
and unhinges the centre of the world.
—Salvatore Quasimodo, Delphi (translated by Richard Stoneman)
5
FIRE
In 548 BC—less than thirty years after the Amphictyony had taken control of Delphi; separated out sacred from secular space; built the sanctuary’s first boundary walls; and elaborated, if not built from scratch, its Apollo temple—fire broke out, once again, at Delphi. The new sanctuary, gleaming with its new ivory, limestone, gold and silver dedications, reveling in its busier-than-ever-oracle and brand new Pythian athletic and musical games that had become part of a recognized Panhellenic circuit, was consumed by the flames.1 The fire was so intense that it was said to have melted the solid gold lion dedicated by King Croesus of Lydia along with the half-gold brick base on which it stood: four and a half of the twelve talents of gold the monument contained melted away never to be seen again.2
When the flames finally died away and the smoke cleared, the sanctuary was in a poor state. The temple must have been near ruin. Many of the sanctuary’s most extravagant metal dedications, which had been placed around the temple, especially from rich eastern dedicators, were destroyed: only two of Croesus’s offerings, the silver and gold amphora mixing bowls that had stood in front of the temple’s entrance, had been removed in time to save them. A sanctuary, which had increasingly been basking in the full focus of the ancient Mediterranean world, lay in tatters.
We don’t know for sure how the fire started. Herodotus is insistent that it was pure accident. The Greek word he used almost gives the sense that the temple caught fire of its own free will.3 Given the presence of the continually burning sacred fire inside, and the regular use of the larger altar outside for burning sacrificial offerings, it’s easy to see how such a fire may have been an accident. And we do know how Delphi, and its new ruling Amphictyony, responded: by building bigger and better than ever before. Out of the ashes of destruction, they created a sanctuary worthy of its reputation as the center of the world.
The Amphictyony seems to have taken charge of the rebuilding process (we can only imagine the chagrin this must have caused the inhabitants of the city of Delphi as their sanctuary was now rebuilt by an international committee). The upside, however, was a rebuilding program beyond their wildest dreams. What the Amphictyony envisaged was a construction scheme on a par with, if not surpassing, any that had been seen in Greece. Building a new temple was just the beginning. It was to be a bigger temple, which, because of the steep and treacherous mountainside on which Delphi was perched, required also the creation of a new, monumental, supporting terrace that could provide a sufficiently large, stable, flat surface on which to build. At the same time, the opportunity was taken to expand the size of the sanctuary yet again, to push out its (only recently created) boundary walls on all sides, perhaps to the chagrin of the inhabitants of Delphi, as it meant encroaching on what had been residential areas (see plate 2). What is more, even though we have no evidence to suggest the sanctuary of Athena, sitting below the Apollo sanctuary on the same cleft of the Parnassian mountains, had been damaged in the fire, the Amphictyony seems to have decided to expand that sanctuary too and build a new temple there as well (see plate 3).4
This was no mere patch-up of fire damage: out of Delphi’s fiery destruction would come a rebirth of the Apollo and Athena sanctuaries on a scale of size and grandeur never seen before. We should not underestimate the enormity of the project that the Amphictyony conceived of at Delphi in the mid-sixth century BC. Temple building was the largest and most complex economic and management project the Greek world undertook at this time. This project not only sought to build a bigger temple, but to do it on incredibly unstable and difficult ground, requiring every ounce of engineering knowledge the Greeks had at their disposal. And at the same time, they sought to build a second temple in the Athena sanctuary, as well as enlarge both sanctuaries with new, monumental, boundary walls. Every block of stone, every piece of timber, every rope and pulley, every chisel had to be dragged and carried up to the sanctuaries. The stone had to come either from the local quarries in the Parnassian mountains or from farther afield, arriving by land through the mountains, or by sea to the Itean plain and then carted six hundred meters above sea level to Delphi (see fig. 0.1).5 Working areas for the final cutting and shaping of the stone had to be created within and around the sanctuary, and the sanctuary itself became a building site for years. People with the necessary skills had to be found throughout Greece and the Mediterranean world, hired, and brought to Delphi, where they had to be accommodated. And, of course, all this had to be paid for.
For certain, Delphi had seen nothing like it in its history, and the Amphictyony had, almost certainly, never, as a council, undertaken a project on such a scale. It is arguable that the Greek world itself had never been party to such an undertaking, and that the Delphic rebuilding was fundamental to forcing the development not only of new skills in the Delphic and Amphictyonic communities (project management skills and alphabetic literacy, for example), but also the development of legal arrangements for building contracts and account keeping in Greece as a whole.6 It also forced the Amphictyony to become good at raising money. The ancient sources tell us that the estimated total cost for this rebuilding was three hundred talents, which is the approximate equivalent of 3,600,000 days’-worth of wages for an Athenian juryman, or 1,800,000 days’-worth of wages for a skilled hoplite soldier. The Amphictyony took responsibility for raising among its members 225 talents, leaving 75 talents (still 450,000 days’-worth of hoplite wages) to be raised by the city of Delphi itself. This was a tall order for a small city whose main income came from the business of the oracle, and i
t would have to be done by appealing to the wider Greek world for support; as such, it would be a huge test of Delphi’s popularity in and importance to the ancient Mediterranean community. The response to Delphi’s call for funding is thus fascinating. We don’t have the full picture of where the money came from, but we do know that Amasis, the pharaoh of Egypt, felt it important enough to contribute one thousand talents’-worth of alum—an Egyptian product highly valued in Greece—which could then be sold and the proceeds put into the restoration fund. To get a sense of the magnitude of this gift, the total contribution from Greeks living in Egypt came to twenty minas, one third of a single talent, which was itself thought to be very respectable.7
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