Oracle of Delphi

The Oracle of Delphi is one of the most famous places of antiquity, and, after the Acropolis, contemporary Greece's most-visited site. From the earliest twilight of classical Greece, in the 7th and 8th centuries BCE, right on through Hellenistic times and into the Roman era, no important issue of city, state, or family, was decided without consulting the famous oracle, said to be the voice of Apollo, the one trustworthy god. Delphi, as archaeologists and geologists now think, was all about location, location, location. It is on a steep southern buttress of Mt. Parnassus, overlooking the Gulf of Corinth, in about as unlikely a place for a town or a shrine as one can imagine. But it is at the intersection of two faults, and at this intersection, methane, ethylene and other light gases were emitted. Inhaling them, it was discovered (initially through the odd behavior of a flock of goats), brought about trance-like and other unusual behaviors. In its earliest stages, Delphi was a shrine to the Mother Goddess, Ge, but, so the story goes, Apollo showed up (from Asia Minor; remember our post on Letoon, the shrine to his mom, Leto? Of course you do), and killed the snake, Pythes, who was assigned to guard the place. Since then it has been Apollo's place, blessed by the presence and wisdom of the Oracle. Over the many centuries, local women were placed in the depths, on a tripod chair, breathed the gases, and uttered strange and interesting things, which were then "interpreted" by the priests, in response to whomever had paid to get the advice. The advice was always vague/multiply ambiguous, something that could neither be verified nor falsified straightforwardly. We are talking about religion here. Also in hexameter, which added to the thrill. In any case, there were enough satisfied customers over the ages for Delphi to become the ancient world's #1 oracle. Minimum fee was a loaf of bread. Wealthier clients, like cities, when pleased, would leave vast monuments and treasures (e.g., Athens, which was told to trust in its "wooden walls," i.e., its fleet, in the 2nd Persian war). The Oracle operated well into the 4th century, but was closed, as were all other "pagan" sites, by the Christian emperor Theodosius. The remains of these monuments and treasures, after further centuries of Roman and Christian looting and plundering, earthquakes, landslides, etc., are in the museum at Delphi and other museums. Delphi was excavated largely by the French, in the 19th century.

A model of the upper, main, bits of the sanctuary, in its

hey-day

Along one of the stoa, en route to the temple, where you

could pick up last minute offerings, souvenirs

The polygonal wall, below the temple, along another stoa

On its stones were written, among other things, documents

freeing slaves...

On this pedestal once stood the serpentine column

celebrating the Greek vistory over the Persians at Plataea;

we saw it, or remains of it, a couple months ago in the

Hippodrome at Constantinople/Istanbul

On the way up to the temple, looking back to the Athenian

"treasury" and the one of the "omphalos" markers, just

to the left of the treasury building; Delphi was

considered the center of the earth, its navel, hence,

"omphalos" (it's a long story)



Columns of the temple of Apollo, where the oracle (sibyll)

did her thing

View of the temple; Vicki says the Oracle's station was to

the right, under the collapsed flooring

Theatre at Delphi, not huge, but Greek

The stadium at Delphi, home of the Pythian Games, second

only in importance to the Olympic Games ("Pythian"

because the snake Apollo killed was the Python (no relation

to Monty)); home of the Pything contests ("that's a myth";
"yeth?")[running gag]

The gymnasium, beneath the main sanctuary



And the Temple of Athena, one of the stations of the cross,

so to speak, for pilgrims to the Oracle

On to Parnassus

We decided that, before seeing much more of Greece, we had better consult with the Oracle of Delphi, or at least with the tourist information office there. This time of year, as it turns out, Delphi is more a necropolis than a town, and there was no tourist information office. But the scenery on the way from Thermopylae to Mount Parnassus, under which Delphi sits, was interesting.

Above Thermopylae, the Gulf of Malia at the far right; 2500

years ago, the gulf formed the narrow pass, with only the
room between it and the cliffs for one chariot to ride;

all the great plain in the photo is siltation...

The bits of eastern and northern Greece we have seen have

been surprisingly green and fertile, especially for December;

there have been huge green plains in addition to the hills

here



Yes, there are mountains, too, many mountains

No mosques nor minarets, but thousand of these little

roadside displays--Vicki calls them "shrines on a stick"--put

up both for close calls as well as for fatalities

Shrine on a stick interior

Hillside town in the Sea of Olives



From our campsite, at Camping Apollon in Delphi, looking

out over the Sea of Olives (another silted up plain) to the

Gulf of Corinth

Leonidas' Last Stand

The road took us near enough to Thermopylae, another sight one has to see. 300 Spartans and all that, said by some to be the most inspiring battle of all history. Free peoples vs. slaves and conscripts; the happy few vs. the multitude; sacrifice and certain death. The Oracle at Delphi had told the Spartans: "O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon! Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles." It's a good story, indeed, but, militarily was without much consequence. Xerxes was delayed a few days, and annoyed, but went on to conquer much of Greece, sack and raze Athens, etc. But it's a good story.

The main monument, from the grassy knoll, Kolonnus Hill

Who is it that always puts huge powerlines in the background? 
This is the great monument to Sparta's King Leonidas



And this, the relatively recent monument to the Thespians 
(Thebans) also killed defending Thermopylae; why is the 
private part so shiny, we wondered...

The grassy knoll to which the last of the Spartans retreated, with the body of 
Leonidas, and on which they died



The famous plaque: "Go tell the Spartans, thou who passeth by, that here, 
obedient to their laws, we lie"



My attempt to re-compose the scene; the lines ascribed to 
Leonidas on the monument are his reply to Xerxes' 
emissaries, who demanded the Spartans lay down their arms:

"Come and get them!"

Olympus

We crossed the border, into Greece and back into the EU, without much delay, and drove on, now coastline, now beautiful plains, occasional mountains, south, past Mt. Olympus, and then spent the night at a rest area north of Larissa.

So it said

It was a hazy cloudy day

But there it is, snow and all; I trust the gods travel south for

the winter

And a 13th century crusader castle to boot: Platamonas

Güle Güle, Turkey

Tonight finds us at an Otopark in Ipsala, on Turkey's border with Greece. The Aegean is a mile or two away, and the winds are buffeting us just as at Sultanahmet. But it is dry and pleasant, short-sleeve temperatures.

This is our 68th and final day in Turkey. We came here with a little apprehension and also high expectation. We have never met anyone who visited Turkey and did not absolutely love it. We can now join that group. Been there, loved that. It is one of the most varied and interesting places we have been, historically, culturally, geographically; exotic, but comfortably exotic; friendly and welcoming too. I am sure I will post some more about Turkey, and Vicki's "practical highlights" on Turkey will appear on our website soon.  We have some more of the world still to see, but we'd love to return to Turkey.

My "Crescent and Star" salad tribute, cucumbers and

tomatoes and yogurt with spearmint; onions and olives

added later; preceded by a final glass of wonderful Efes;
and, of course, followed by some final baklava from
Sultanahmet

Last Days in Istanbul

Thus were our last few days in Istanbul, favorite places, the Spice Market, a dinner at Develi, more shopping, another visit to the archaeological museum, more walking around, just appreciating the great city.

Develi restaurant in Samatya

At the archaeological museum--where we revisited Troy,

Hittites, Lycians, Lydeans, Phrygians, and other old

friends--we finally got to see the remnant of the iron chain

the Byzantines had stretched across the Golden Horn to

keep enemies out (it had been on loan in October)

A last look at the Blue Mosque

And the incredible Hagia Sophia

Mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent

One of the loose ends--it was still closed for renovations in October--was to see Istanbul's greatest mosque, that of Suleiman the Magnificent, the 16th century sultan who saw the empire reach its zenith in most every way. It was designed by Sinan the Architect, buried nearby, one of the 131 mosques he designed in his 97 years. Most interestingly, this mosque was the center of a huge social services center, soup kitchen for the poor, housing for travelers, baths, hospital, school, library, etc. I wonder if they had free wifi. Anyhow, I liked this mosque, far more than the blue one: there was a simplicity of design and decor here that added to the sense of height and massiveness.

Hemmed-in as it is, both by its own campus

and courtyard and then city buildings all

around, it is difficult to get a picture with
even most of the mosque in it



Interior

Great dome, 52m up there

Beautiful Islamic glass

More interior

One of the four minarets

Larger exterior view

Sultanahmet Again

After Gallipoli, we turned back east and drove to within 50 miles or so of Istanbul, stopping at a beach-side lay-by. We had decided to spend our last few days in Turkey back in Istanbul, a city we enjoyed so much when we arrived here, to attend to a last few loose ends in sight-seeing, shopping, and eating. We drove into the big city about 9AM and were settled at our old campground on Kennedy Caddesi in Sultanahmet by 10. We spent the rest of the day at the Grand Bazaar, again, and in the neighborhoods surrounding it. We buy very little, but find these Turkish bazaars endlessly interesting.

There were only a few RVs at the "campground," a few Germans, a few French; 
as you can see in the background, the wind and sea were really kicking up at 
this point



Really kicking up

We thought about seeing the latest Harry Poppins movie, but, 
alas, it was dubbed in Turkish

In the bookstalls adjacent to the Grand Bazaar, a cat surveys 
the literary crowd; what do cats think about?

Beyazit Square and the entrance to Istanbul University

In the Square, what we dubbed the "old mens' market"

For example



Next afternoon, one of many BBQs going on along the sea-wall and in the park 
near us; Turks will grill just about anything, anytime



This one got out of hand: the old rail station, across the Golden Horn; it was a 
gift of the Kaiser to the Sultan way back when...