We rose early in order to tour Delphi, the site of the Temple of Apollo where the Pythia used to provide cryptic answers to the  questions that the god’s worshippers asked of him.  Delphi was one of a dozen oracles in ancient Greece.  Its origins predate those of the pantheon familiar to us from Greek mythology, that temperamental family of deities holding court on Mount Olympus. 

        The myth preserved by Classical authors was that Pytho,  a monstrous serpent, ruled Delphi from its cave deep below the mountains. In some versions, the serpent was female.  The Pythia was the serpent’s priestess, transmitting her mistress', or master’s, messages to mortals.  After Apollo slew the serpent, the Pythia performed the same office for Delphi’s conqueror. 

       According to the tour guide, the Pythia would sit between three metal pots on tripods.  The oracular priestess would inhale the smoke from hallucinogenic plants that were burned in the braziers.  Then she would utter something that, unsurprisingly, required interpretation.  Offerings induced the priests of Apollo to aid the querents to understand the oracle.

        The cult of Delphic Apollo was one of the most successful enterprises in early Greece. Sovereigns and aspiring usurpers from all over the Mediterranean region consulted the oracle and enriched it.  At least 30 treasuries had to be added to the complex surrounding the great Temple of Apollo.  The remnants of the treasury buildings dot the slopes encircling Delphi, which lies between two peaks of Mount Parnassus.   There were also a theater and a stadium for games cut into the steep hillsides surrounding what the believers called the Omphalos, the Navel of the World.  Today, though all lies in ruins thronged by tourists, the site retains its aura of elemental power.

This is the source of the sacred Spring of Castalia.  Castalia was guarded by the serpent Pytho for millennia, until the creature's fatal battle with Apollo.
 

In Delphi’s Archeological Museum,  I saw this restored bronze ceremonial pot, possibly one of those that a Pythia used.

The Sphinx of Naxos once stood atop a column next to the Temple of Apollo.  It is about two meters in height.

The Charioteer of Delphi is the most famous piece in the Delphi Archeological Museum’s collection.  Sotades, an early Classical sculptor, made the life-size bronze statue around 475 BCE.  It was excavated from the Sanctuary of Apollo.