Reaching for the Gods
Published in Follow the Reader, The Weekend Australian, February 2018
On the slopes of Mount Parnassus in southern Greece lies
Delphi, a site consecrated to the ancient god Apollo. I wander up the gently
sloping Sacred Way, and stroll out into a civilisation that once was. Sunlight floods
the hillsides dotted with dark green cypress and olive groves. Here are the
ruins, the stepping stones of a sanctuary that has existed since Mycenaean
times.
The Tholos, originally constructed as a circle of twenty
Doric columns stands proudly at the centre of this extinct community, along
with the restored marble Treasury built to commemorate the victory at the
Battle of Marathon in 490BC. And the few remaining columns of the Temple of
Apollo reveal the sixth incarnation of this structure over centuries, where the
mystical high priestess Pythia – the Oracle - inhaled ethylene and in a trance,
channelled the prophecies of Apollo to foretell the future.
I climb to the remains of the 4th Century theatre
where, on limestone rows up to 5,000 people watched plays and listened to poetry
readings and music. Aristotle believed ‘theatrical performance effects
purification of those present’, and attendees were thought to be participating in
the divine worship of their god.
Steeper now, the pathway leads me up a hillside to the stadium
where spectators watched male runners compete in the Pythian Athletic Games. As
well as chariot races, pankration - somewhere between wrestling and boxing - was
popular, along with musical contests that even women could enter. Held every
four years, the games commemorated Apollo’s slaying of the Python Dragon. Many
of the stone starting blocks still stand at the head of the 178 metre long running
track and a fountain fed from mountain streams, providing fresh water for spectators,
still remains.
From here, through mist as soft as silk, the distant Mediterranean
Sea sparkles. I reflect on its beauty before I head back down to the Museum,
where decades of archaeological excavation at the site have yielded artifacts
from the Mycenaean era through to Greco-Roman times. Bronze, clay and silver
statues, gold jewellery and carved marble friezes tell the story of those who
lived, worked and played in those ancient times.
Delphi is one of the most important archaeological sites in
Greece. But it isn’t just the history or the vista of this historic place that
captivates me. There is a stillness and a spirituality here, and I can feel the
presence of a people long past.
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