Posts Tagged With: Omphalos

The Tholos at Delphi -Matt Barrett greecetravel.com

Here’s a Burger Bite of 5 things that made Delphi such a mysterious and hypnotic place that cast an undeniable spell on Western Civilization over 1,000 years:

1. At Delphi, the oracle was called the Pythia — named for the Python, a serpent whose rotting carcass was considered the source of a mind-altering vapor emitted there after being slain by the god Apollo.
2. The Pythia sat and delivered her cryptic oracles on a tripod seat over the crack in the rock where the toxic mist – called pneuma – leaked out.
3. The oracle only dispensed prophecies on the seventh day of each of the nine warm months of the year, when Apollo was believed to dwell there.
4. Because of its mystical features, Delphi was designated the “omphalos” (navel of the world) and influenced Western civilization for over 1,000 years.
5. Before recorded history and the reign of the Pythia, a legendary prophetess called the Sibyl is said to have dispensed oracles from a rock at the site of the omphalos after the fabled Trojan War.

Chris Everheart is author of the YA thriller

Related articles

• Delphi: Goats to Gods (chriseverheart.com)