Oracles of Delphi

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Oracles of Delphi Page 33

by Marie Savage


  Tell the King:

  The fair wrought house has fallen.

  No shelter has Apollon,

  nor sacred laurel leaves;

  The fountains are now silent;

  the voice is stilled.

  It is finished.

  Although the Pythia of Gaia is a main character in the book, the Pythia of Apollon is a minor actor. Other than the conduit of the oracular prophecy, scholars are unsure about the role the Pythia of Apollon played in the day-to-day life of the temple and the Sacred Precinct in Delphi. Thanks to Plutarch and the historian Pausanias, they know a bit more about the role of the priests and, therefore, to highlight the tension between the female/male religious traditions, I have focused on the priests of Apollon rather than the Pythia.

  Second, a word about society, politics and culture: In 340 BCE, the philosophical, religious and political landscape of Ancient Greece was in the process of seismic change. The foundations of modern scientific thought were being laid, new philosophical ideas were gaining prominence and the power of the old gods of Mt. Olympos was fading. Additionally, wars for control of the Sacred Precinct of Delphi had been repeatedly waged and many of the treasuries had been stripped bare of their offerings. Gold and silver had been melted down and turned into coinage to pay for mercenaries. Beautiful trinkets were passed around to soldier’s wives and lovers and many in Ancient Greece were outraged by the sacrilege. It was at this point that Philip II of Makedonía, who had set his sights on conquering Athens and controlling its powerful navy, stepped into the role of protector of Delphi, which was considered the center of the earth and was the most important religious site outside of Olympia. With Philip gaining power, Athens’ days as an independent democracy were numbered, and her leading politicians spent much of their time arguing amongst themselves about how to confront Philip’s armies.

  Women in Ancient Greece, especially Athens, where the main character is from, had very few rights. Although we are taught about the rise of democracy in Athens, democracy was only for citizens and citizenship was only for men. Women were often married at 13 or 14 years old and their husbands were always chosen by their closest male relative. In fact, in order to keep wealth in the oikos, or family unit, their husbands often were close male relatives. If a girl was the only surviving child of an Athenian citizen, she could inherit both money and property, but it was controlled by her kyrios, her legal guardian who was, if she was married, also her husband. In the case of divorce, that inheritance reverted back to her and went back with her to her oikos where it was under the legal control of her nearest male relative. In other words, the money or property was “hers” but she could not legally control it.

  Slaves played a prominent part in the life of the Ancient Greek family, especially in Athens. In some cases, slaves were treated much like members of the family while in other cases, they were sent to toil away and die horrible deaths in the silver mines. It was not unheard of for slaves to accumulate wealth and to own slaves themselves or to run businesses on their own or on behalf of their masters. Often, beloved slaves were manumitted, or granted their freedom. Delphi was a popular place for dedicating newly manumitted slaves to Apollon. Today, visitors can still see the names of freed slaves inscribed in stone.

  Finally, a word about spelling and other things Greek: Instead of using the more familiar Latin spellings, most Greek words are spelled the way they would have been spelled or pronounced in Ancient Greece. For instance, the god Apollo is Apollon. The philosopher Socrates is Sokrates and Plato is Platon and the word stadium is stadion. I say, when in Greece.…

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Marie Savage is the pen name of Kristy Makansi.

 

 

 


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