In the ancient period, Delphi offered highly sought-after oracular services, hosted quadrennial sporting games, and was a nexus for culture and information sharing. Dr Michael Scott, Professor of Classics and Ancient History, Warwick University, joins the show to discuss Delphi in the ancient period.
Some topics explored
- Delphi coming into the records as a religious sanctuary in the 8th BCE
- Popular originating traditions about Delphi, including Apollo’s relationship to it and a tradition by the Greek travel writer Strabo
- The Homeric Hymn to Apollo
- Tradition that Apollo being in residence in Delphi for nine months of the year
- A woman who provided oracular services at Delphi: Known as the Oracle, Pythia, or Priestess of Delphi
- The multitude of ways that ancient Greeks consulted the deities
- Delphi’s oracular services
- Delphi as a Greek polis
- How the oracular services worked including services being available for one day per year for nine months of the year
- The queuing system that determined who could see the oracle and in what order
- A known fee charged to consult the oracle
- Examples of oracular predictions
- How the oracular predictions were structured to insulate the Pythia from being categorically wrong in her predictions
- Support personnel for the oracle
- The Delphi sporting games which occurred quadrennial (i.e., once every four years)
- Delphi as a cultural & information sharing hub
- When the oracular consultation services ended (4th century CE) and tradition that providing final oracular services to the Roman Emperor Julien
- Delphi embracing Christianity when it became popular in Rome
- When the sporting games ended (5th century CE) and why
Listen to the episode
The episode can be streamed below and is also available on major podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Show Notes
- Professor Scott is author of the monograph Delphi: A History of the Center of the Ancient World (Princeton University Press, 2014)
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