The Oracle of Delphi and the Search for God's Will

For centuries, Greeks and others from the ancient world would journeyed to this place in the mountains, the Oracle of Delphi. There they would seek answers to their questions, to their problems from Apollo, god of light, music, and harmony.

Delphi is located on Mount Parnassus. There is something about going up, up in the mountains; it seems like you are closer to God.

Here are the remnants of the 4th century BC altar to Apollo. Inside this temple, a priestess known as Pythia, would listen to the traveler's question and give him an answer, often cryptic in nature. The most well-known maxim uttered by the oracle is, "Know thyself." There are 147 famous maxims.

The base of the 4th century BC temple, which was built on the foundation of the 6th and 7th century BC temples.

The legend of how this place was chosen to be such a holy site involves Zeus releasing two eagles, one flying to the east and one flying to the west. They crossed at Delphi, which was then considered the omphalus, the naval, the center of the earth. The above stone is representative of that center.

I did some reading in preparation for visiting Delphi. I was fascinated by the idea of going to a place where you could pose a question to the gods and receive an answer.

In the beautiful, gloaming light, I tried to imagine the majesty of this place with its bright shining marble temple and people coming from all over the world, bearing precious gifts for Apollo, hopeful for a solution to their dilemmas.

Above and below is the Treasury of Athens where some of the gifts would have been stored.

The Theatre at Delphi.

Many sites of importance in ancient Greece had theaters.

The theatre gave the spectators a magnificent view of the entire sanctuary and the valley.

The Stadium of Delphi is at the highest point of the site. It hosted the Pythian Games and is the most well preserved ancient stadium in Greece.

The length of the stadium was one Pythian stade, 178.35 meters or almost 200 yards.

Even though it was a pagan site, Delphi was one of my favorite places in Greece. After all, before Jesus, if you you weren't Jewish, what other options did you have? The light at Delphi was beautiful. I think the centuries of all the people coming to seek answers from a god imbues the place with holiness. As Father Michael said before we began our tour of the site, the impulse to worship has been with people forever.

Though there is not anything that directly links the Oracle of Delphi to St. Paul, something came to mind. All the people from through the centuries came to Delphi searching for answers from the divine. The Israelites carried the Ark of the Covenant with them. Then they built a temple to store the laws of God.

Today, we too search for answers: what is your will for me, God?

Pilgrimages to Delphi or in the Footsteps of St. Paul are good. But not absolutely necessary. For as St. Paul taught us: you are a temple of the Holy Spirit. 

God speaks to us in the silence of our hearts, where we are, if we will listen.