The Center of the World

February 20, 2026

“Know Thyself”

• The saying etched to the pediment at the entrance of the Temple of the Oracle of Delphi

No one really knows how all of this started.  Legend tells us that Zeus, wanting to know how big the world was released two eagles flying in opposite directions.  It was here, they met and thus the place was called the Omphalos - the navel or center of everything.

Zeus?

Sunset from our hotel room

It is also said the God Apollo fought a great battle here against a huge serpent or Python.  In celebration of this victory a temple to Apollo was created and its worshippers were referred to a “Pythians”.

Apollo vs the python

There is also the story of a prophetess called Sybill and her followers who worked here during the early Mycenaean times, around 1400 BCE, and these followers would later morph into the Oracles.  We will never know what is true.

Regardless of the origin, the Oracle of Delphi became the preeminent religious pilgrimage in the ancient world.  For over 1,000 years both Kings and ordinary people would travel here to the slopes of Mount Parnassos overlooking the brilliant blue waters of the Gulf of Corinth seeking insight to their problems.  The Oracle had a direct line of communication to the God  Apollo.  Knowledge of the future held great power.

Arriving here it is easy to see why the place could evoke such awe.  The site is on a small plain overlooking the steep valley below.  Soaring behind it are huge limestone cliffs rising hundreds of feet in the air.  The rocky edifices give the place a grandeur that only nature can provide.

Temple to Athena down the hill

What it looks like today from the road

And in its prime

We entered the same path pilgrims came.  All were the same here, rich and poor alike.  You walked up the switch back trail to the temple above.

The Sacred Path

Here is what is looked like at the peak of its power.  There would be pilgrims everywhere.

As you climbed you would see remains of treasury buildings and platforms for many statues given to the Temple as a offering from cities, rich Kings, etc all looking for blessings from the Priestess waiting for them above.

This is the Omphalos stone marking the spot Zeus dropped a great stone from the heavens where the eagles met.  it also served as a grave stone for the python defeated by Apollo.

Omphalos

Eventually you made it here to the courtyard before the great Temple of Apollo.  in its time it was gleaming white.  Behind you stood an enormous statue of the the god.  This temple was actually the third and largest built on this site.

Here you would ritually cleanse yourself and sacrifice to the god - for some reason goats were preferred.  It is likely because hauling a bull up here would be a significant amount of work.

Then a priest would usher you in the first lobby.  The air would be thick with the smoke of burning laurel leaves and you would make a second sacrifice to the gleaming statue of Apollo facing you.   Here also would be the original Omphalos stone reminding you you have indeed come to the center of the world.

The is the back of the temple where you met the Cracle

Now it is time to meet the Oracle.  You are ushered into the final chamber.  There, seated on a tripod is a woman who appears to be in a state of ecstasy similar to the rendering below.  She was considered to be speaking with the direct words of Apollo.  The smell of incense is heavy.  You present your question to an attendant who then asks the woman.  She will whirl and mutter or shout then usually will say a brief pithy statement.  Seldom was it clear and straight forward and would later have to be interpreted in hindsight.

“Life is a coconut!” she shouts.

And you think, “Well that’s just great, what’s a coconut?.  But you are ushered out and its the next persons turn.

What made her get into a trance is the subject of debate.  Some would say she is breathing in volcanic gases from the earth to achieve euphoria, this was later proven to be untrue.  Others would claim she would chew on laurel leaves or other drugs.  Or she may have simply self induced herself into a frenzy, consider modern day church worshipers who claim to speak in tongues.  Whatever the case, great reverence were placed in her pronouncements.  There were usually 2-3 Oracles working on shifts at any one time.

Many famous people made the trek to see her including Socrates, King Midas, the historian Plutarch and even the Emperor Nero who was warned about his impending assassination.

When Alexander the Great came he asked if he would be successful in conquering the world.  According to witnesses, the Oracle would only mutter.  Alexander grabbed her by the hair and would not let go.  The helpless woman cried out “You are unstoppable!”.

Alexander said, “I have my answer”

Above the temple is a theatre.  Here, every four years the Pythian Games were held.  But, being Apollo’s games, they focused on the arts particularly music and poetry.  There were athletic games as well held at the stadium still higher on the mountain.

The stadium

It is beautiful here looking out on the valley below. But it did not last. Emperor “Buzz Kill” Theodosius, mentioned in the last post,  also closed the site to purge paganism and support Christianity.

Delphi fell into ruin.  As the centuries wore on it was gradually forgotten, buried by mudslides.  However, in the 19th century there was a resurgence of interest.   Archeologists began digging and slowly but surely these ancient treasures reemerged.

Discoveries at the Delphi dig

Digging Delphi out

Today, it remains a place a mystery surrounded by staggering natural beauty.  It was one of the best stops on our Greece leg of this episode of the Road to Bali.  We leave Greece and over the next few days we will fly south to explore a civilization even older.

We are going to Egypt.   See you there.