Delphi shares the same root with the Greek word for womb, δελφύς delphys.
Pytho (Πυθώ) is related to Pythia, the priestess serving as the oracle, and to Python, a serpent or dragon who lived at the site. "Python" is … See more

Most of the ruins that survive today date from the most intense period of activity at the site in the sixth century BC.
Temple of Apollo
Ancient tradition refers to a succession of mythical temples on the site: first one built of olive branches from See more

The prophetic process
Perhaps Delphi is best known for its oracle, the Pythia, or sibyl, the priestess prophesying from the tripod in the sunken adyton of the Temple of See more

Today Delphi is a municipality of Greece as well as a modern town adjacent to the ancient precinct. The modern town was created after … See more

The site was first briefly excavated in 1880 by Bernard Haussoullier (1852-1926) on behalf of the French School at Athens, of which he was a sometime member. The site was then occupied by the village of Kastri, about 100 houses, 200 people. Kastri ("fort") had … See more

In the Iliad, Achilles would not accept Agamemnon's peace offering even if it included all the wealth in the "stone floor" of "rocky Pytho" (I 404). In the Odyssey (θ 79) Agamemnon crosses a "stone floor" to receive a prophecy from Apollo in Pytho, the first known of … See more

Occupation of the site at Delphi can be traced back to the Neolithic period with extensive occupation and use beginning in the Mycenaean … See more