Entries from June 2008
Delphi- Delphes
June 18, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Delphi is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo. His sacred precinct in Delphi was a Panhellenic sanctuary, where every four years athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games, the precursor to the Olympic Games.
Delphi was revered throughout the Greek world as the site of the omphalos stone, the centre of the earthhestia (“hearth”) of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. After the battle of Plataea, the Greek cities extinguished their fires and brought new fire from the hearth of Greece, at Delphi; in the foundation stories of several Greek colonies, the founding colonists were first dedicated at Delphi. and the universe.
Delphes est le site d’un important « sanctuaire panhellénique », c’est-à-dire d’un sanctuaire commun à toutes les cités de la Grèce antique. Il est dédié au dieu Apollon Pythien et caractérisé par la présence d’un oracle. Delphes se trouve en Phocide.
Il est important de rappeler que les sanctuaires panhelléniques (de « Hellènes », synonyme de « Grecs ») étaient des complexes architecturaux extérieurs aux cités : ils constituaient les seuls lieux où tous les anciens Grecs prenaient part à des célébrations à caractère religieux « communes ».
