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For other uses, see Pythia (disambiguation).
Aegeus, a mythical king of Athens, consults the Pythia, who sits on a tripod. An inscription on the cup identifies the Pythia as Themis. Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, by the Kodros painter, ca. 440-430 BC, now in the Berlin Museum (Berlin Mus. 2538). This is the only contemporary image of the Pythia.
Aegeus, a mythical king of Athens, consults the Pythia, who sits on a tripod. For the Spartan hero Aegeus see Aegeus (hero. In Greek mythology, Aegeus (Αἰγεύς also Aigeus, Aegeas Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's An inscription on the cup identifies the Pythia as Themis. For other uses see Themis (disambiguation. In Greek mythology, Hesiod mentions Themis (Θέμις among the six sons and six daughters of Gaia Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, by the Kodros painter, ca. A tondo (plural "tondi" is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art either a painting or a sculpture Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. 440-430 BC, now in the Berlin Museum (Berlin Mus. 2538). This is the only contemporary image of the Pythia.

The Pythia (Gr. Πυθία) was the priestess presiding over the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature Delphi ( Greek,) ( pronounce and dialectal forms) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western Mythology Mount Parnassus is named after Parnassos the son of the Nymph Kleodora and the man Kleopompus. The Pythia was widely credited with giving prophecies inspired by Apollo, giving her a prominence unusual for a woman in male-dominated ancient Greece. Prophecy, generally describes the disclosing of Information that is not known to the Prophet by any ordinary means The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The Delphic oracle was established in the 8th century BC. Delphi ( Greek,) ( pronounce and dialectal forms) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western The 8th century BC started the first day of 800 BC and ended the last day of 701 BC. [1] Its last recorded response was given in 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I ordered pagan temples to cease operation. Flavius Theodosius (January 11 347 – January 17 395 also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great ( Greek: Θεοδόσιος Α΄ During this period the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle in the Greek world.

The oracle is one of the best-documented religious institutions of the classical Greek world. Writers who mention the oracle include Herodotus, Thucydides, Euripides, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Pindar, Aeschylus, Xenophon, Diodorus, Strabo, Pausanias, Plutarch, Livy, Justin, Ovid, Lucan and Julian. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek Euripides ( Ancient Greek:) (ca 480 BC–406 BC was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Pindar (ˈpɪndɚ (or Pindarus, Greek:) (probably born 522 BC in Cynoscephalae a village in Boeotia; died 443 BC in Argos) was an Ancient Aeschylus (ˈɛskɨləs or /ˈiːskɨləs/ Greek: Ασχύλος, Aischylos, 525 BC/524 BC 456 BC/455 BC was an ancient Greek Playwright Xenophon (Ancient Greek, Modern Greek "Ξενοφών" "Ξενοφώντας" ca Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. Pausanias ( Greek:) was a Greek traveller and Geographer of the 2nd century CE, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c Titus Livius (traditionally 59 BC &ndash AD 17 known as Livy in English, was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome Justin may refer to Justin (name, a common given name Justin Martyr, early Christian apologist Justin (historian Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD was a Roman poet known to the English -speaking world as Ovid who wrote on many topics including Marcus Annaeus Lucanus ( November 3, 39 AD – April 30, 65 AD better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate (331 or 332 to 26 June 363) was Roman Emperor (Caesar

The name 'Pythia' derived from Pytho, which in myth was the original name of Delphi. The Greeks derived this place-name from the verb pythein (πύθειν, "to rot"), used of the decomposition of the body of the monstrous serpent Python after she was slain by Apollo. In Greek mythology Python, serpent, was the earth-dragon of Delphi, always represented in sculpture and vase-paintings as a serpent. [2]

It is often said that the Pythia delivered oracles in a frenzied state induced by vapors rising from the ground, and that she spoke gibberish which priests reshaped into the enigmatic prophecies preserved in Greek literature. [3] This picture has been challenged by scholars such as Joseph Fontenrose and Lisa Maurizio, who show that the ancient sources uniformly represent the Pythia speaking intelligibly, and giving prophecies in her own voice. Joseph Eddy Fontenrose (1903-1986 was an American classical scholar [4] Recent geological investigations have shown that real gas emission from a geologic chasm in the earth could have started the myth of the Delphic Oracle. Some authors suggested the possibility that ethylene gas caused the Pythia's state of inspiration. Other authors, inferred instead that methane might have been the gas emitted from the chasm, or CO2 and H2S arguing that the chasm itself might have been a seismic ground rupture. [5][6]

Contents

Origins of the Oracle

There are many stories of the origins of the Delphic Oracle. One late explanation, which is first related by the 1st century BC writer, Diodorus Siculus, tells of a goat herder called Kouretas, who noticed one day that one of his goats, who fell into a crack in the earth, was behaving strangely. On entering the chasm, he found himself filled with a divine presence and could see outside of the present into the past and the future. Excited by his discovery he shared it with nearby villagers. Many started visiting the site, until one of them was killed by the experience. From then, only young girls were allowed to approach the chasm and then in conditions regulated by a guild of priests and priestesses. [7]

According to earlier myths, the office of the oracle was initially held by the goddesses Themis and Phoebe, and that the site was sacred first to Gaia. For other uses see Themis (disambiguation. In Greek mythology, Hesiod mentions Themis (Θέμις among the six sons and six daughters of Gaia Gaia (ˈgeɪə or /ˈgaɪə/ (" land " or " Earth " from the Ancient Greek Γαîα also Gæa or Gea Subsequently it was held sacred to Poseidon, the "Earth-shaker" god of earthquakes, a later offspring of Gaia. In Greek mythology, Poseidon ( Greek:; Latin: Neptūnus) was the god of the Sea and as "Earth-Shaker" During the Greek Dark Age, from the 11th to the 9th century BC, the arrival of a new god of prophecy saw the temple being seized by Apollo who expelled the twin guardian serpents of Gaia. Later myths stated that Phoebe or Themis had "given" the site to Apollo, rationalizing its seizure by priests of the new god, but presumably, having to retain the priestesses of the original oracle because of the long tradition. Apparently Poseidon was mollified by the gift of a new site in Troizen. Troezen (ˈtriːzən Τροιζήν modern Troizina or Trizina, Turkish: Damala is a small town (pop

Diodorus also explained how initially, the Pythia was a young virgin, but one consultant notes,

“Echecrates the Thessalian, having arrived at the shrine and beheld the virgin who uttered the oracle, became enamoured of her because of her beauty, carried her away and violated her; and the Delphians because of this deplorable occurrence passed a law that in the future a virgin could no longer prophesy, but that an elderly woman . Thessalia redirects here For the Butterfly Genus, see Thessalia (butterfly. . . would declare the oracles and she would be dressed in the costume of a virgin as a sort of reminder of the prophetess of olden times. ”

The scholar Martin Litchfield West writes that the Pythia shows many traits of shamanistic practices, likely inherited or influenced from Central Asian practices, although there is no evidence of any Central Asian connection at this time. Martin Litchfield West (born 23 September 1937, London, England) is an internationally recognised scholar in Classics, Classical

He cites the Pythia sitting in a cauldron on a tripod, whilst making her prophecies, her being in an ecstatic trance state, like shamans, and her unintelligible utterings. [8]

Organization of the Oracle

Personnel

The Pythia was probably selected, at the death of her predecessor, from amongst a guild of priestesses of the temple, and was required to be a woman of good character. Although some were married, upon assuming their role as the Pythia, the priestesses ceased all family responsibilities, and individual identity. In the heyday of the oracle, the Pythia may have been a woman chosen from a prominent family, well educated in geography, politics, history, philosophy, and the arts. In later periods, however, uneducated peasant women were chosen for the role, which may explain why the poetic pentameter or hexameter prophecies of the early period, later were made only in prose. In Poetry, a pentameter is a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet. Hexameter is a literary and poetic form consisting of six metrical feet per line as in the Iliad. For the Wikipedia guideline regarding editing articles see WikipediaManual of Style. The archaeologist John Hale reports:

“the Pythia was (on occasion) a noble [woman] of aristocratic family, sometimes a peasant, sometimes rich, sometimes poor, sometimes old, sometimes young, sometimes a very lettered and educated woman to whom somebody like the high priest and the philosopher Plutarch would dedicate essays, other times [one] who could not write her own name. So it seems to have been aptitude rather than any ascribed status that made these women eligible to be Pythias and speak for the God. [9]”

During the height of the oracle's popularity, as many as three women served as Pythia, another vestige of the triad, with two taking turns in giving prophecy and another kept in reserve. [10]

Several other officials served the oracle in addition to the Pythia. [11] After 200 BC at any given time there were two priests of Apollo, who were in charge of the entire sanctuary; Plutarch, who served as a priest in the late first century and early second century AD, gives us the most information about the organization of the oracle at that time. Before 200 BC, while the temple was dedicated to Apollo, there was probably only one priest of Apollo. Priests were chosen from among the leading citizens of Delphi, and were appointed for life. In addition to overseeing the oracle, priests would also conduct sacrifices at other festivals of Apollo, and had charge of the Pythian games. Earlier arrangements, before the temple became dedicated to Apollo, are not documented.

The other officials associated with the oracle are less well understood. These are the hosioi ("holy ones") and the prophētai (singular prophētēs). Prophētēs is the origin of the English word "prophet", but a better translation of the Greek word might be "one who speaks on behalf of another person. "The prophetai are referred to in literary sources, but their function is unclear; it has been suggested that they interpreted the Pythia's prophecies, or even reshaped her utterances into verse, but it has also been argued that the term prophētēs is a generic reference to any cult officials at the sanctuary, including the Pythia. [12] There were five hosioi, whose responsibilities are unclear, but may have been involved in some way with the operation of the oracle.

Oracular procedure

In the traditions associated with Apollo, the oracle gave prophecies only between spring and autumn. In the winter months, Apollo was said to have deserted his temple, his place being taken by his divine half-brother Dionysus, whose tomb was within the temple. In Classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos (in Greek, Διόνυσος or Διώνυσος; associated with Roman It is not known whether the Oracle participated in the Dionysian rites of the Maenads or Thyades in the Korykion cave on Mount Parnassos, although Plutarch informs us that his friend Clea, was both a Priestess to Apollo and to the secret rites of Dionysus. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c The male priests seem to have had their own ceremonies to the dying and resurrecting God. Apollo was said to return at the beginning of Spring, on the 7th day of the month of Bysios, his birthday. This also would reiterate the absences of the great goddess Demeter in winter also, which would have been a part of the earliest traditions. Demeter (dɨˈmiːtɚ Greek:, possibly "distribution-mother" from the noun of the Indo-European mother-earth * dheghom * mater

Once a month thereafter the oracle would undergo special rites, including fasting, to prepare Pythia for the event, on the seventh day of the month, sacred to Apollo. Washing in the Castalian Spring, she then received inspiration by drinking of the waters of the Kassotis from the naiad said to be living in the stream that ran beneath the adyton (a Greek word meaning "do not enter") of the temple where she sat. The Castalian Spring, in the Ravine between the Phaedriades at Delphi, is where all visitors to Delphi &mdash the contestants in the Pythian Games In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades (Ναϊάδες from the Greek νάειν "to flow" and νἃμα "running water" The adyton (Άδυτον or adytum ( Latin) was a restricted area within the Cella of a Greek or Roman temple.

Descending into her chamber, she mounted her tripod seat, holding laurel leaves and a cauldron of the Kassotis water into which she gazed. Nearby was the omphalos, the navel of Earth, flanked by the two golden eagles of Zeus, and the cleft from which emerged the sacred pneuma. An omphalos is an ancient religious stone artifact, or Baetylus. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology

Consultants, carrying laurel branches sacred to Apollo approached the temple along the winding upward course of the Sacred Way, bringing a black ram for sacrifice in the forecourt of the temple, and a gift of money for the oracle. Petitioners drew lots to determine the order of admission, but big donations to Apollo could secure them a higher place in line. The ram was first showered with water and observed to ensure that it shivered from the hooves upward, an auspicious sign that the oracular reading could proceed. Upon sacrifice, the animal's organs, particularly its liver, were examined to ensure the signs were favourable.

Between 535 and 615 of the Oracles of Delphi are known to have survived since classical times, of which over half are said to be historically accurate (see the article Famous Oracular Statements from Delphi for some examples).

At times when the Pythia was not operating, consultants obtained information from the future in other ways at the site, through the casting of lots, using a simple questioning "yes/no" device, or by seeking counsel from dreams.

The experience of supplicants

It would appear that the supplicant to the oracle would undergo a four stage process, typical of shamanic journeys.

Science and the Pythia

There have been many occasional attempts to find a scientific explanation for the Pythia's inspiration. However, most commonly, these refer to Plutarch's observation that her oracular powers appeared to be linked to vapors from the Castalian Spring that surrounded her, together with the observation that sessions of prophecy would either take place in, or be preceded by, a visit to an enclosed chamber at the base of the temple. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c The Castalian Spring, in the Ravine between the Phaedriades at Delphi, is where all visitors to Delphi &mdash the contestants in the Pythian Games For a long period, Plutarch had presided over the Delphic Oracle as a priest at the site. It has often been suggested that these vapors may have been hallucinogenic gases.

The first excavation of Delphi conducted by a French team led by Theophile Homolle of the College de France from 1892 to 1894 and reported by Adolphe Paul Oppé in 1904, stated that there were no fissures and no possible means for the production of fumes. The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment ( Grand établissement) located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement Oppé flatly stated that the French excavations had found no evidence for a chasm underneath the temple.

Following this definitive statement, such scholars as Frederick Poulson, E. R. Dodds and Joseph Fontenrose, all stated that there were no vapours and no chasm.

Another good interpretation, by the author Merlin Stone, suggests the use of venom instead. As she describes in "When God was a woman", when people are bitten after they have been immunized , especially by krait, cobra or other elapids, the subject experiences an emotional and mental state that has been compared to the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. For instance, William Haast of the Florida Serpentarium (USA) described his reactions to a krait bite, which were later recalled by his wife in the book "Cobras in the Garden", where she says "It was as if he was under the influence of a strange narcotic. . . He could see things. There were visions in front of him".

A recent re-examination of the French excavations, however, has shown the possibility that this consensus is mistaken. Broad (2006) demonstrates that a French photo of the south west corner of the temple, taken at the time where the team had excavated down to the bedrock, not only clearly demonstrated the presence of a water filled pit beneath the temple, but also demonstrated numerous fissures, suggesting numerous pathways by which any intoxicating vapours present could enter the base of the temple. [13]

In 2001 evidence of the presence of ethylene, a potential hallucinogen, was found in the temple's local geology and nearby springs by an interdisciplinary team of geologist Jelle Zeilinga de Boer,[14] archaeologist John R. Structure This Hydrocarbon has four Hydrogen Atoms bound to a pair of Carbon atoms that are connected by a Double bond. Hale,[15] forensic chemist Jeffrey P. Chanton,[16] and toxicologist Henry R. Spiller. [17] Ethylene in the highest concentrations was found in the waters of the Kerna spring, immediately above the temple. Although in small quantities, currently the waters of the Kerma spring are diverted from the site for use by the nearby modern town of Delphi. Currently, it is unknown the degree to which ethylene or other gases would be produced at the temple should these waters be allowed to run free, as they did in the ancient world. [18]

It also has been shown recently that the temple of Delphi lies exactly on the intersection of two major fault lines, the north-south, Kerna fault and another east-west Delphic fault paralleling the shore of the Corinthian Gulf, and overlies a local geology of limestone with about 20% of its volume comprised of layers of bituminous tars rich in hydrocarbons. The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Bitumen is a mixture of organic Liquids that are highly Viscous, black sticky entirely soluble in Carbon disulfide, and composed primarily Tar is a viscous black Liquid derived from the Destructive distillation of organic matter In Organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an Organic compound consisting entirely of Hydrogen and Carbon. The Rift of the Gulf of Corinth is one of the most geologically active sites on Earth. In Geology, a rift is a place where the Earth 's crust and Lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of Extensional tectonics Earth movements there impose immense strains on the earth at accompanying fault lines, heating the rocks and leading to the expulsion of the lighter gasses. It has been disputed as to how the adyton was organized, but it appears clear that this temple was unlike any other in Ancient Greece, in that the supplicant descended a short flight of stairs below the general floor of the temple to enter the Sanctuary of the Oracle. It would appear that a natural cleft or chasm at the intersection of fault lines was enlarged to create the adyton off the centre of the temple, and the flowing waters of the underground springs, would accumulate the gas, concentrating it in the enclosed space. The adyton (Άδυτον or adytum ( Latin) was a restricted area within the Cella of a Greek or Roman temple. [19] Plutarch reports that the temple was filled with a sweet smell when the deity was present:

“Not often nor regularly, but occasionally and fortuitously, the room in which the seat the god's consulatants is filled with a fragrance and breeze, as if the adyton were sending forth the essences of the sweetest and most expensive perfumes from a spring (Plutarch Moralia 437c). Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c ”

Only ethylene of all of the hydrocarbons has such an odor.

Inhalation of ethylene in an enclosed space in which the Pythia was separated from the supplicant by a screen or curtain of some kind, it was argued, exposed the Pythia to sufficiently high concentrations of the narcotic gas to induce a mildly euphoric or trance-like state. Frequent earthquakes, produced by the fact that Greece lies at the intersection of three separate tectonic plates, seem to have been responsible for the observed cracking of the limestone, and the opening up of new channels by which hydrocarbons enter the flowing waters of the Kassotis. This would cause the amounts of ethylene emitted to fluctuate, increasing or decreasing the potency of the drug released, over time. It has been suggested that the decline in the importance of the Oracle after Hadrian was in part due to the fact that there had not been an earthquake in the area for a significant length of time.

In the early twentieth century, an anaesthesiologist named Isabella Herb found that a dose of 20% ethylene gas administered to a subject was a clear threshold. An anaesthetist ( English) or anesthesiologist ( US English) also "anaesthesiologist" is a medical doctor trained to administer A dosage higher than 20% caused unconsciousness. With less than 20% a trance was induced where the subject could sit up, hear questions and answer them logically, although the tone of their voice might be altered, their speech pattern could be changed, and they may have lost some awareness of their hands and feet, (with some it was possible to have poked a pin or pricked them with a knife and they would not feel it). [20] When patients were removed from the area where the gas accumulated they had no recollection of what had happened, or what they had said. With a dosage of more than 20% the patient lost control over the movement of their limbs and may thrash wildly, groaning in strange voices, losing balance and frequently repeatedly falling. In such cases, studies show that shortly thereafter the person dies. According to Plutarch, who witnessed many prophecies, all of these symptoms match the experience of the Pythia in action.

Plutarch said that the Pythia's life was shortened through the service of Apollo. The sessions were said to be exhausting. At the end of each period the Pythia would be like a runner after a race or a dancer after an ecstatic dance. It clearly had a physical effect on the health of the Pythia.

Dr. Henry A. Spiller, the toxicologist of the team, who directs the Kentucky Regional Poison Center, says "In the first stages, it (the ethylene found) produces disembodied euphoria, an altered mental status and a pleasant sensation. It's what 'street' people would call getting high. The greater the dose, the deeper you go. "[21]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Morgan 1990, p. 148.
  2. ^ Homeric Hymn to Apollo 363-369.
  3. ^ For an example, see Farnell 1907, p. 189.
  4. ^ Fontenrose 1978, pp. 196-227; Maurizio 2001, pp. 38-54.
  5. ^ Piccardi, 2000; Spiller et al. , 2000; de Boer, et al. , 2001; Hale et al. 2003; Etiope et al. , 2006; Piccardi et al. , 2008.
  6. ^ Mason, Betsy. The Prophet of Gases in ScienceNow Daily News 2 October 2006. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved 11 October 2006. Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
  7. ^ Diodorus Siculus 16. 26. 1-4.
  8. ^ Martin Litchfield West, The Orphic Poems, p. Martin Litchfield West (born 23 September 1937, London, England) is an internationally recognised scholar in Classics, Classical 147. "The Pythia resembles a shamaness at least to the extent that she communicates with her [deity] while in a state of trance, and conveys as much to those present by uttering unintelligible words. [cf. Spirit Language, Mircea Eliade]. It is particularly striking that she sits on a cauldron supported by a tripod, reiterating the triad of the great goddess. This eccentric perch can hardly be explained except as a symbolic boiling, and, as such, it looks very much like a reminiscence of the initiatory boiling of the shaman translated from hallucinatory experience into concrete visual terms. It was in this same cauldron, probably, that the Titans boiled Dionysus in the version of the story known to Callimachus and Euphorion, and his remains were interred close by".
  9. ^ quoted in an interview on the radio program "The Ark", transcript available.
  10. ^ Plutarch Moralia 414b.
  11. ^ On the temple personnel, see Roux 1976, pp. 54-63.
  12. ^ Bowden 2005, pp. 15-16; see also Herodotus 8. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 36, Euripides Ion 413-416. Euripides ( Ancient Greek:) (ca 480 BC–406 BC was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus
  13. ^ Broad, pp. 146-7: "[A] French photo of the temple's interior showed not only a spring-like pool but fissures. . . in the bedrock, suggesting a specific pathway by which intoxicating gases could have risen into the oracle's sanctum. . . What delighted de Boer so much was not the verification of the spring-like pool at the heart of the chasm, as the revelation of the bedrock's composition. . . there right above the waterline, the photograph clearly showed vertical fissures running through the bedrock. No denial could hide that fact, no scholarly disclaimer could deny the reality. . . . [The] cracks . . . [showed] evidence of tectonic jolts and protracted flows of mineralised water. "
  14. ^ Jelle Zeilinga de Boerretrieved on 2006-10-01
  15. ^ John R. Haleretrieved on 2006-10-01
  16. ^ Jeffrey P. Chantonretrieved on 2006-10-01
  17. ^ Henry R. Spillerretrieved on 2006-10-01
  18. ^ "the Kerna Spring, once alive but now vanished since Greek engineers had re-routed its waters to supply the town of Delphi" Tests from a number of nearby sites showed the concentration of Ethylene at Kerna was ten times that of other nearby springs. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. In an interview reported in Broad (2006, p. 152), de Boer stated that "the Kerna sample, because of the spring's rerouting, had to be drawn from a city's holding tank . . . letting some of the gas escape as it sat. . . and lessened the water concentrations. If so the actual levels of the methane, ethane and ethylene that came out of the ground would have been higher".
  19. ^ In the French excavation report on the temple, Fernand Courby shows that the adyton was unlike adyta found in other temples as it was not central, but on the south western side, interrupting the normal symmetry of the Doric temple. It was divided into two areas, one small area 9 by 16 feet for the oracle, one for the supplicant. Modern research reported by Broad (p. 37) suggests that both the supplicant and the Pythia descended a flight of five steps into a small room within the temple with its own low ceiling. Walter Miller has argued that the stone block 3. 5-4 feet, that Courby described as being part of the floor, was in fact the site where the oracle sat. It showed a square 6 inch hole, that windened to 9 inches, immediately under the triangular grouves for the tripod. Strange channels, possibly to carry water from the spring, surrounded the tripodal grouves. That these had in fact carried waters for long periods was confirmed by the layers of travertine that encrusted it. Nothing like this has been found at any other Greek temple. Holland (1933) argues that these channels and the hollow nature of the omphalos found by the French were to channel the vapours of intoxicant gases.
  20. ^ John R. Haleretrieved on 2006-04-20
  21. ^ Quote taken from an nytimes.com articleby William J. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. Broad - Fumes and Visions Were Not a Myth for Oracle at Delphi, March 19, 2002.

References

Ancient sources

Modern sources

External links

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