Before we toured the Delphi site, we made a stop at the museum. Isn't the above 2,500-year-old plate beautiful and so modern looking? Coincidentally, it's the piece the museum displays at the top of their website too!
Alexandra, our intrepid guide, gets us ready to tour the museum.
Delphi is a pagan site. The above slab is the only piece in the museum that has a connection to St. Paul. It is from a letter by the Roman Emperor Claudius to Lucius Junius Gallio, who was the proconsul of Achaia at the time of Paul's stay in Corinth. Remember when the proconsul dismissed the case against Paul in Corinth? That was Gallio.
The above bust from the 2nd or 3rd century AD has been narrowed down to Plutarch, Plotinus, or a philosopher from the Neoplatonic school. Take your pick.
These muscular twins with the dreadlocks, Kleobis and Biton, are from 580 BC, by the sculptor Polymedes of Argos. They were dedicated to the god Apollo at Delphi. The story goes that there mother was a priestess and they came to her aid by pulling her cart to the sanctuary of the goddess Hera when their mother's oxen couldn't be found. Their mother asked Hera to give her sons a reward. When the ceremony was over, Kleobis and Biton fell asleep, never to awake. Hera granted them the gift of a peaceful death.
A gold and ivory statue of Artemis, a gift brought to Delphi.
Above, bits and pieces of other gifts to Apollo at Delphi.
The athlete Haggis in marble, 380 BC.
Which way to the toga party?
The magnificent Charioteer of Delphi, a bronze statue from around 480 BC of a youth presenting his chariot and horses after his victory. It is one of the most important statues from ancient Greece. The young man faces the crowd with modesty and self control, important Greek virtues.
Look at the wonderful detail in his face.
Those feet--so real looking!
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