Ancient Greece - Delphic Oracle - Archaeological museum of Delphi

Archeological Museum of Delphi

After the almost 3 hour trip from Athens to Delphi, we are finally there. We reach the place millions of tourists visit, all tourist guides highly recommend, the place which every archeologists hopes to work at… we reach the mysterious Delphi hanging for many centuries from slopes of Mount Parnassus.

The first thing we visit is the Archeological Museum of Delphi. I have to mention that the Museum has been recently renovated and looks nothing like I have expected –I admit that the idea I have formed, before coming to Greece, about its museums had nothing to do with the reality. Apart from the brand-new building that houses the museum, the 13 rooms of it are light also by natural sunlight, which makes the visit very relaxing. Moreover next to all exhibits there are information placards written in Greek, English and French, while in every room there are maps, reconstructions, photos and historical information in these three languages.


		As we enter the museum we stop in front of a map of the Archaeological Site of Delphi. The museum, I would say, is an integral part of the sanctuary, with exhibits from the site of Delphi. Our tour in the museum begins… The Archeological Museum of Delphi is not a big one (it cannot be compared to the Archeological Museum of Athens for instance), but contains mostly offerings and architectural parts of great value.
		One can admire from shields and helmets of ancient warriors to safety pins (yes, ancient Greeks used safety pins for their clothes, since they had not buttons!!), statues, columns, friezes and metopes from the buildings and temples that are nowadays unfortunately destroyed. In this photo one can notice an iron shield literally untouched by time…
		...but to tell you the truth, shields cannot impress me a lot, while I am in the museum of Delphi... Just inside the entrance there is an exhibit gives me quite a thrill; the Omphalos, or "navel" stone! It is a Hellenistic or Roman copy of the stone that was believed to have marked the place above which the eagles of Dias/Zeus met, establishing the sanctuary of Delphi in the centre of the world. It seems rather strange to see "the thing" that for centuries was considered to mark the centre of the world! And we can resist taking photographs next to it. At the photo you can see my friend Sue posing next to it.

One of the exhibits that has really impressed me is the colossal Naxian Sphinx. I do not choose the word colossal to describe it randomly. The statue of Sphinx stands 2.3m (7.5ft) high and once it was placed atop a column reaching over 10m (33ft) in height. The prosperous inhabitants of Naxos, the biggest island in the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, have donated this statue to Delphi in 560 BC. One can clearly notice the influence of Egyptian art on this statue.

I have to say that the moment I saw this statue, I associated it in my mind with Oedipus and Thebes-most probably because on our way to Delphi we went through the famous town of Thebes. The myth of Oedipus run instantly into my mind, but I soon realized that it was not connected with the famous myth or the tragedy of Sophocles.

Three chryselephantine life-size heads of statues impress us a lot. Unfortunately only part of these masterpieces survived through the years and we can see now the two heads in good condition as well as parts of their arms, feet and toes. Archeologist say that they portrayed god Apollo (the one at the picture), his sister, goddess Artemis/Diana and the third head (the one that is not that well reserved) is believed to be part of the statue of their mother, Leto.

As I see them, the question that instantly comes into my mind is why the ivory is black instead of white, as it should be. The guide informs us that ivory turns black when it’s burned. Particularly the oracle of Delphi has often been hit by earthquakes and fires. In case of fire it was a habit, at that time, to burry the precious monuments and objects, so as to protect them. Thanks to that, these particular exhibits survived looting through the centuries. It is also the reason why the were discovered by chance after more 30 years of the beginning of the excavation in the Delphi site.

Along with the heads, we see a reconstruction of an ox, which was made of wooden and outside covered with silver.

A notable exhibit is the Three Dancing Girls grouped around a column. The tripod is believed to have supported the tripod of the kind sat on Pythia as she went into her oracular trances. The girls are thought to be celebrating the feast of god Dionysus who also resided in the sanctuary.
His presence was honored in the winter months when Apollo was resting or away else where.

Last but nor least we visit a special room dedicated to one of the most famous-I believe I am not exaggerating by saying that- statues of Greece. Sue told me that she saw for the first time the bronze Charioteer statue (in a photo) at school in a history book and by that time she never thought that she would once stand in front of this statue.

The statue was commissioned by a Sicilian tyrant named Polyzalos to commemorate his chariot victory in the Pythian Games in 478 BC. It is a life-size statue belonging to a larger group, which represented a chariot drawn by four horses.
It is a 1.80m high statue, according to our guide, which means that Polyzalos was a very tall man considering that the average height at this time was 1.50m! The bronze Charioteer is, as archeologists say, a “severe” Attic style representative example…to me the Charioteer is simply a masterpiece!