19. Lion and eagle oracle: Parke and Wormell 7. Aetion oracle: Parke and Wormell 6. Oracle to Cypselus: Parke and Wormell 8.
20. Parke and Wormell 12. For discussion of this early involvement between Athens and Delphi: Daux 1940: 40–41.
21. Parke and Wormell 51. In addition, by the mid-sixth century BC, literary sources relate that Gyges also asked the oracle who was the happiest man alive (expecting to be told himself) and instead was told it was an Arcadian, Aglaus of Psophis: Parke and Wormell 244; Parke and Wormell 1956a: 384–85. For a recent discussion of Delphi’s relationship with the east: Wörrle 2000.
22. Parke and Wormell 50. See Paus. 10.16.1–2. Strabo is the only ancient source to mention the construction of a treasury by Gyges at Delphi (Scott 4).
23. See discussion in Morgan 1990: 172–82.
24. Parke and Wormell 1956a: 115, Londey 1990.
25. See Parke and Wormell’s characterization of the oracle as “opportunistic,” especially in political issues (as opposed to more impartial or conservative in religious issues): Parke and Wormell 1956a: 418.
26. Malkin 1989: 150.
27. Parke and Wormell 370, 371, 384. For discussion of the Lelantine War, see Forrest 1957: 160–64, Salmon 1984: 67–70, Morgan 1990: 167–68.
28. See Osborne 1998, Osborne 2009: 122. For a recent discussion of colonization, and ways of approaching the relationship between colony and mother-city, see Scott 2012.
29. Ephesus: Parke and Wormell 234. Aegae: Parke and Wormell 225. Gela: Parke and Wormell 410, 3. Pausanias on Archias of Corinth: Parke and Wormell 2. Strabo on Croton and Syracuse: Parke and Wormell 229.
30. Thera: Parke and Wormell 37, 38, 40 (believed by the Therans); Battus: Parke and Wormell 39. See also Parke and Wormell 41.
31. Other literary sources: Pind. Pyth. 4.9; Diod. Sic. (Parke and Wormell 71); Paus. 10.15.7. Inscriptional evidence: SEG 9.72 (Sacred laws: Parke and Wormell 280); Meiggs and Lewis 1988: No. 5 (granting citizenship to Therans on basis of original agreement at time of colonial foundation).
32. Parke and Wormell 46, 47, 525, 526, 568.
33. Morgan 1990: 176. Yet for recent arguments for the lack of desire for a relationship between the colony and Delphi (as opposed to the desire for such a relationship on the part of the mother city), see: Davies 2009, Jacquemin 2011.
34. E.g., Thuc. 1.38.2 and 6.1.6 on the close relationship between Corinth and its colonies in the fifth century BC and on its willingness to provide military support on the basis of its role in their foundation.
35. Defradas 1954.
36. Forrest 1957, Snodgrass 1980: 120, Snodgrass 1986: 53–54. For the debate on where the stories of colonial consultations were shaped, see: Murray 2001: 31–34.
37. See the review of previously scholarly opinion in Malkin 1987: 18–22.
38. Parke and Wormell 1956a: 78, Malkin 1987: 7, 17–81, Morgan 1990: 171–78.
39. Callinus of Ephesus: see Malkin 1987: 19. Dorieus of Sparta: Malkin 1987: 78–81, Morgan 1990: 171–78.
40. Forrest 1957: 174. See Malkin 1987: 89–91, Osborne 2009: 193–94, Aurigny 2011. For the later take-up of Delphi as a place of crucial importance particularly for the development of identity among the western colonies after Phocaean intervention in the sixth century BC: d’Agostino 2000: 82–85. For a recent discussion on the importance of colonization for the identities of relevant communities, emphasizing the local emergence of Delphic colonial oracular consultation stories rather than their development at Delphi: Giangiulio 2010. For a very different view, emphasizing the lack of connection between Apollo Pythios and colonial foundations involving the oracle (as opposed to the stress put on Apollo by the mother city), see: Davies 2009, Jacquemin 2011.
41. In Addition, Parke and Wormell argue for the oracle establishing something of a moral code by this time: Parke and Wormell 1956a: 382–84. Despite its religious conservatism, the oracle by this time seems also to have been responsible for directing the foundation of the Apollo Pythios cult in other places (like Athens: Parke and Wormell 541); regulating the occasion of sacrifice for other divinities (Aphrodite around Attica: Parke and Wormell 212); and even authorizing the worship of new divinities to the Epidaurians: Damia and Auxesis: Parke and Wormell 10, 11.
42. Le Roy 1967: 21–28, Morgan 1990: 132. See de La Coste-Messelière 1936, Dinsmoor 1950. For the latest excavation, and suggestion of an early sixth century date: Luce 1992: 704, Luce 2008: 95–117. There is also evidence for an early temple in the Athena sanctuary at roughly the same time, although its dimensions and form are uncertain: Demangel and Daux 1923: 38–39. Some scholars have seen a Corinthian influence in the design of this early temple: Østby 2000: 241.
43. Luce 1992: 697, 700–701, Luce 2008: 51–60, 61–78.
44. Morgan 1990: 16, 137, 183.
45. Scott 2010: 45.
46. Luce 2008: 412.
47. Thessaly may have offered a life-size statue at Delphi in the first half of the seventh century (Paus. 10.16.8): Jacquemin 333; Scott 1. Cypselus’s treasury: Scott 2; Jacquemin 124. It was in Cypselus’s treasury that the offerings of King Gyges of Lydia were kept.
48. Jacquemin 1999: 32, Scott 2010: 42.
49. Items found include a bronze horse from northern Greece in the Corycian cave 700–650 BC, rings and buttons near the Athena sanctuary from the Balkans. For Olympia finds: Kilian-Dirlmeier 1985, Luce 2008: 413–15.
50. Vatin 1977, Luce 2008: 411–26, Scott 2010: 41–45. For discussion of their identification as Cleobis and Biton: Parke and Wormell 1956a: 378–80.
51. See Pouilloux 1976, Lerat 1980: 102.
52. Luce 2008: 418. Pind., Pyth. 5, talks of a “treasury of the Cretans,” which has never been found and was increasingly thought to have been made up. But the collected nature of their offerings in the eighth and seventh centuries BC may possibly open the debate again over the existence of some kind of early treasury structure: Roux 1962, Jacquemin 1999: 289. For further discussion of Cretans at Delphi: Perdrizet 1908: 2, Guarducci 1946.
53. Scott 10. For discussion, see Courby 1927: 186–87, de La Coste-Messelière 1936: 63–78, Bommelaer 1991: 229.
54. See Luce 2008: 429–36. Equally note the convergence between the oracle’s minimal role in new foundations around the Black Sea and the lack of offerings from that area.
55. No Cretan tripods at Olympia: Rolley 1977: 103. Indeed at Olympia, Cretan weapons appear that seem to have been dedicated by Crete’s enemies. Delphi may have been the sanctuary for Cretans to dedicate in, Olympia for its enemies: Rolley 1977: 146. As well, Sparta seems to have dedicated more often at Olympia in the seventh century than at Delphi, despite its close relationship with the oracle: Picard 1991: 161. For more on the differences between Olympia and Delphi down to the seventh century BC, see Morgan 1990. For the archaic and classical periods, see Scott 2010.
56. See Roux 1979: 3, Morgan 1990: 185, Luce 2008: 434. Unless you count a story in Plut. Mor. 492A–B that the Thessalians used an early form of lot oracle at Delphi when selecting their King Aleuas the Red (and even then it is noticeable that it is not the Pythian oracle they are interacting with). Pausanias also later claimed the first monumental dedication at Delphi was from Larissa in Thessaly in the late eighth century BC (Paus. 10.16.8; Jacquemin 333; Scott 1), but this may have been dedicated only in the sixth century BC: Jacquemin 1999: 51.
CHAPTER 4. REBIRTH
1. Crisa was powerful enough for the sea gulf to the south to have been known as the Crisaean Gulf (Thuc. 1.107.3). Strabo (6.1.15) believed Crisa had also established a colony at Metapontum in southern Italy. Where was Crisa? It has never been identified archaeologically: some suggest it’s the settlement of Moulki on the plain near the coast (see map 3): Morgan 1990: 136. See also Dor, Jannoray, van Effenterre, and van Effenterre 1960. Crisa as the town hampering Delphi should not be confused with Cirrha (although the name is sometimes used in the ancient sources for Crisa), which was the port town where ancient pilgrims arrived en route to Delphi th
roughout its history, or with the name Castri which was given to the modern village built on top of Delphi in the medieval period after Delphi’s abandonment in the seventh century AD. See Rousset 2002b: 218.
2. Oracle response: Aeschin. In Ctes. 3.108 (Parke and Wormell 17). See also the version in Diod. Sic. 9.16 (Parke and Wormell 18). Length of war: Callisthenes FGrHist 124 f1. Leaders of expedition: Parke and Wormell 1956a: 103. Introduction of hellebore: Parke and Wormell 1956a: 104–105.
3. For a recent résumé of the details, along with discussion of the existence of an earlier festival at Delphi, which the Pythian games superseded: Weir 2004: 11–16.
4. Robertson 1978. For previous scholarly discussion of the war, see in particular Forrest 1956. See also Jannoray 1937, Sordi 1953, Defradas 1954. The surviving evidence for the war is best catalogued in Davies 1994. See “the fantasy of the Crisa war cannot be exorcised, instead it will continue to haunt the dreams of historians”: Càssola 1980: 422.
5. Although some have argued for involvement of the Amphictyony from the mid-seventh century BC: Parke and Wormell 1956a: 103.
6. See Mosshammer 1982. Pausanias (10.7.2–5) also reports that the oldest competition was for the singing of hymns to Apollo, with harp, flute, and athletic competitions added in 586 BC.
7. See Strabo 9.3.10; Paus. 10.7.2. For discussion of the difficulties in ascertaining the origins and precise development of the games from the ancient sources: Morgan 1990: 136. Davies in particular argues that the origins of Delphi’s local games were later elaborated in order not only to compete with, but also to ally the increasing number of polis and sanctuary games in the first half of the sixth century BC, and particularly those of the periodos circuit: Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, and Nemea: Davies 2007: 56–65.
8. See McInerney 1999. Indeed McInerney argues that the Sacred War may have been provoked by Delphi as part of an intentional land grab: McInerney 1999: 105. See Rousset 2002a: 281.
9. Bandit stories: Robertson 1978: 44. Change in favoritism of the oracle: See Forrest 1956. Cretan influence: Guarducci 1946, Davies 1994: 204. Heracles and tripod images: Parke and Boardman 1957.
10. First perimeter wall: Luce 1992: 694, Luce 2008: 79–81, Bommelaer 2011: 14–19. Temple dated to same period: Luce 2008: 98–104. Major elaboration of the roof in 575 BC of a preexisting temple: Billot 1977, Jacquemin 1999: 30, 222.
11. Scott 2010: 52. See also Bommelaer 1991: 19, Morgan 2003: 113, Hall 2007: 276–90. The war may have been encouraged by rival factions within Delphi itself: Dovatour 1933. Provoked by Delphi: McInerney 1999: 105. The war as the result of regional rather than “interregional” tensions and interests: Morgan 1990: 136.
12. For the importance of the Thessalian-Isthmus corridor to Thessalian policy: Kase and Szemler 1984.
13. The tyrants of Corinth are said to have plotted actively against the Sicyonian tyrant: Forrest 1956: 37. Sicyon may have later been attacked for its role in the war at Delphi by Corinth’s ally Miletus: Salmon 1984: 227.
14. The Alcmaeonids had been significantly tainted by the Cylon affair in Athens: Cylon, was the would-be tyrant of Athens in the late seventh century, whom the oracle had supposedly supported, but whom the Alcmaeonids had taken upon themselves to kill. In doing so they committed religious sacrilege, and so subsequently had to be punished for their crime: Forrest 1956: 39–42.
15. Luce 1992: 704. The annexation of this vast stretch of land (150–200 sq km) as sacred land was a game changer in Delphi’s history. The degree to which this vast area was controlled by the city from the sixth century BC through to the Hellenistic period has no real likeness in the Greek world. The control can be demonstrated archaeologically: the area of Cirphis extending down from Delphi toward the sea has revealed no surviving remains indicating any kind of settlement from this period, in striking contrast to the rest of the region, a fact only plausible if the entire area had been off limits at that time as sacred land: Rousset 2002b: 239. As a result, control over the sacred land made Delphi something of a unique case in the ancient world, and enabled this small city to punch significantly above its weight in comparison to other Greek cities; see Rousset 1996. The inclusion of Delphi under the auspices of the Amphictyony also put Delphi on a different track from other regional sanctuaries in Phocis, some of which demonstrate strong degrees of anti-Thessalian activity at exactly this time, e.g., Kalapodi: McInerney 2011: 101–102.
16. Importance of symbolic capital in sixth century: Osborne 2009: 231. Prizes at games: see Valavanis 2004. At Delphi, it was a wreath made out of laurel branches.
17. Development of cultural homogeneity: see Snodgrass 1986. For the use of Corinthian pottery at Delphi in this period: Luce 2008: 421. For sculpture and coinage: Osborne 2009: 234–54.
18. See Parke and Wormell 1956a: 99–100.
19. Original focus around sanctuary of Demeter Anthela: Sanchez 2001: 44. Change in composition after annexation of Delphi: Lefèvre 1998: 16. See Tausend 1992.
20. Range of purpose: see Sanchez 2001: 44–50. Prototype European Union: see Tenekides 1931, Daux 1957a, Daux 1957b, Sordi 1957, Tenekides 1958, Amandry 1979. Old boys’ club: Hammond and Griffith 1979: 452. Recent consensus: Sanchez 2001: 44–51, 468–77, Lefèvre 2011. See Daux 1975: 350–54. Of varying interest to Greeks over time: see Lefèvre 1996. Absence in the fifth century BC (and from Herodotus): Sanchez 2001: 27, Hornblower 2007. For discussion of its existence and purpose in late Hellenistic and Roman times: Daux 1975.
21. Convincing rest of Amphictyony: Sanchez 2001: 488. New range of raw materials: Jacquemin 1993.
22. Difficulties in knowing: see Lefèvre 1998: 51. No permanent secretariat: Davies 1998: 11, Lefèvre 1998: 193. Reality: Davies 1998: 10–11.
23. The primary bodies in the administration of the city of Delphi were its ekklesia (assembly), its boule (council), and its prytaneis (magistrates), among whom was the eponymous archon (chief magistrate) of the city. It is thought that it was primarily the prytaneis who liaised with the Amphictyony and handled sanctuary management: Arnush 1991: 11–45. All three bodies had places to meet within the city, with many scholars arguing that the bouleuterion (meeting place of the boule) was within the Apollo sanctuary, and the prytaneion very close to it. In later centuries (Hellenistic and Roman times), the theater within the sanctuary was used for meetings of the city’s assembly, and the council of damiourgoi (a particular class of citizen) came to have considerable influence: Heliod. Aeth. 4.19; Vatin 1965: 227, Weir 2004: 51.
24. Tension between Delphic city and Amphictyony: Lefèvre 1998: 51, Weir 2004: 53–55. On the responsibility of the city for particular events, and on its constitution (Aristotle wrote a treaty on the constitution of the Delphic polis, which is now lost): Roux 1970, Roux 1979: 61, Bommelaer 1991: 24, Jacquemin 1995b, Lefèvre 1998: 44–45.
25. New cults may also have begun at this time at Delphi, like that of Neoptolemus. The stories associating the death of Neoptolemus with Delphi are varied, evoked perhaps to explain the emergence of a cult place in his honor within the Apollo sanctuary that is well known by the fourth century BC: Downie 2004: 152–217.
26. See Parke and Wormell 1956a: 108–109.
27. Questions about plague: Diog. Laert. 1.110; Parke and Wormell 13. See Bowden 2005: 110–11. Solon’s consultations: Parke and Wormell 15 and 16. For Solon’s (later) popularity and sources, see: Osborne 2009: 204–11. For more on Solon, see: Blok and Lardinois 2006, Lewis 2006.
28. Golden statues at Delphi: Plut. Vit. Sol. 25. Exegetai pythochrestoi: Parke and Wormell 1956a: 110–11.
29. Parke and Wormell 326. See Bowden 2005: 114.
30. Early Athenian treasury Jacquemin 85; Scott 7; see Scott 2010: 49.
31. See Parke and Wormell 1956a: 110.
32. Cypselus, tyrant of Corinth, had offered the sanctuary’s first treasury (see the last chapter), as well as numerous other dedications, and been heavily involved with the oracle. His tyrant son, Periander, continued to follow in his father’s footsteps, perhaps with
the dedication of a delicate and exquisitely carved ivory chest, fragments of which have been found buried in the sanctuary: Carter 1989.
33. Jacquemin 435, 434; Scott 19, 20.
34. Scott 2010: 53–54. For more on the tholos and monopteros: de La Coste-Messelière and Picard 1928: 191–92, de La Coste-Messelière 1936: 52–54, 79, Partida 2000: 90.
35. Paus. 10.7.7. The chariot may even have been displayed inside the monopteros: de La Coste-Messelière 1936: 79 n.3. The chariot and stadium races in this period would have taken place in the plain below the sanctuary, as there was no room for them on the steep hillside. While the stadium races would later take place in the stadium built into the hillside, the chariot races for the games, throughout the sanctuary’s history, took place on the plain below: Bommelaer 1991: 10.
36. Although there are some notable Corinthian dedications during this period, including one of the chryselephantine statues found in the burial underneath the sacred way (now on display in the museum): Luce 2008: 412.
37. Pausanias 5.16.5. See Salmon 1984: 227, Carter 1989: 374, Arafat 1995, Snodgrass 2001.
38. Oracle responses concerning Adrastus: Parke and Wormell 24. Using spoils on games: Schol. Pind. Nem. 9.20. See Parke and Wormell 1956a: 121.
39. For the tendency of the ancient sources concerning Delphi’s interactions with tyrants increasingly to rebrand the sanctuary as antityrannical in periods when tyranny was no longer a positive political option, as noted in the last chapter, see: Parke and Wormell 1956a: 121, Malkin 1989: 149. Some tyrants, though, in the period 600–550 BC, received more useful responses, especially when they were portrayed as seeking atonement for their sins, e.g., Pythagoras, tyrant at Ephesus, who sought a method of alleviating famine brought on his city by is own impiety: Parke and Wormell 27.
40. This story too is argued to be a later creation, perhaps from the fifth century, given that all the rival competitors to Delphi in Croesus’s competition were Delphi’s real-life competitors for oracular consultation in the fifth century BC (Abar, Dodona, Amphiarius at Oropus, Lebadeia, Didyma, Ammon at Siwa), when a story underlining Delphi’s preeminence would have been welcome: Parke and Wormell 1956a: 132. Although Herodotus notes that other sanctuaries received dedications following this process as well (e.g., the oracle of Amphiarius at Oropus: Hdt. 1.49–52), perhaps indicating that Delphi was not the only one to get the question right, but simply the one Croesus chose to use.