"Secrets of The Oracle of Delphi (New Documentary 2014)." YouTube. YouTube, 2014. Web. 22 June 2016
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In the eyes of every Greek, Delphi was the center of the world. In Greek mythology, the center of the world was found when Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth, which collided in the sky above Delphi. This place has been marked "Navel" (stone). A Roman copy of Omphalos of Delphi is located at the Delphi Museum. The Temple of Apollo of Delphi was built in the 7th century BCE under the guidance of two prominent architects: Trophonios and Agamedes. In the 6th century BCE, the temple was rebuilt with the help of Athenian family, the Alkmaeonids. The temple was reconstructed again for the third time in 330 BCE by the Corintian architects, Spintharos, Xenodoros and Agathon after a devastating earthquake hit Delphi in 373 BCE. The complete destruction of the temple occurred in 390 AD by Emperor Theodosius I who ordered to silence the oracle in the name of Christianity.
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In the video Secrets of The Oracle of Delphi, the American archaeologist John Hale and the Dutch geologist, Dr. Jelle Zeilinga De Boer from Wesleyan University, who specialized in earthquake damage visited Delphi site to study the powers of the Delphi oracle. Dr. De Boer had located the earthquake fault that is located right under the temple. The earthquake at Delphi that devastated the temple had been shrouded in mystery. The documentary itself is definitely a mixture of history and archaeological research. Dr. De Boer examined the archaeological findings from 1913 excavation in and around the spot, Abydot, which served as a chamber for the priestess where only the Pythia to serves as a bridge between the mere mortal and Apollo.
Bibliography:
"Secrets of The Oracle of Delphi (New Documentary 2014)." YouTube. YouTube, 2014. Web. 22 June 2016. "Postharvest Information Network." Ethylene: The Ripening Hormone. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 June 2016. |
In the stories involving the Delphi oracle and the Pythia, the Pythia entered almost drugged state before she would foretell the future of the seeker. During the excavation, at first no one saw anything unusual but then scientists from other fields entered into solving the mystery of the Delphi temple. My question always has been “If the story of the Pythia and fumes is true, what kind of gases would have the ability to alter the mind of a human and drive it into a drug state? If the city of Troy was always taken as a myth, and then by accident it was found in Turkey, there has to be a logical explanation to the Pythia and the toxic state.” The other question that raised my eyebrows was why there was such strong drive of the previous archeologists from the 1980s expedition who discounted and even outruled the earthquake fault considering the fact that Greece is one of the most seismically active countries in the world? Dr. De Boer found the fault during the survey of the area. The question of the gases came up again. American Museum of Natural History’s Dr. Steven Soter was working a few miles from the Delphi in the Gulf of Corinth stated that the whole region has gas emission through the fault lines.
Finding which gas gave almost a narcotic effect took for the researchers. In contrast to Delphi, in western Turkey there are springs that have highly toxic deadly levels of carbon dioxide that have enough power to kill birds and a man. After taking samples of spring water and testing travertine, Ethylene seemed to be the answer. Dr. De Boer says that ethylene does have sweet smell as that the Greek historian, Plutarch (45 AD) described but according to Washington State University’s article Ethylene: The Ripening Hormone, “Ethylene is a small hydrocarbon gas. It is naturally occurring, but it can also occur as a result of combustion and other processes. You can't see or smell it.”
The mystery behind what and how the Pythia inhaled before and during the ceremony may not be ever completely solved or explained with 100% bulletproof theory. I do not think I would even want to solve the mystery because it would take the whole mystery out of the Temple of Apollo. This video is a great example of why students should never dismiss subjects outside of their chosen fields. Everything is weaved and interweaved: archaeology, history, toxicology, geology, and chemistry. Physics with math, chemistry with art, astronomy with geology and etc. Archaeologists in 1913 missed out and dismissed a presence of geological fault that was beneath their feet running through the Temple of Apollo. How would they know if they were never taught ways finding the faults or had any knowledge of seismic history of Greece? I loved the video because the research was thorough and the documentary itself was interesting and captivating. It moved from simple archaeological search into geological and then chemical. |