Delphi, state and private consultation of the Delphic oracle

• Apollo was the predominant god worshipped at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi but not the only one
• Dionysus was said to have occupied Delphi for the 3 winter months, when Apollo went to live with the Hyperboreans, a mythical people who lived at the very edges of the world 
• The sanctuary was renowned for its oracle, as well as for the theatrical and athletic events, and the Pythian Games that took place here every 4 years
• Other than providing the personnel for the oracle, such as the Pythia and the priests, the local Delphians had limited control over the sanctuary and the oracle 
• Delphi was, at the time, a small community of around 1,000 inhabitants 
• The sanctuary was run by the Ampictyonic League, a local association of Greeks 
• As a Panhellenic sanctuary, the oracle had to be as neutral as possible 
• There are a few cases where it had been accused of bribery
• Towards the end of the 6th c. BC, Herodotus suggests that a noble Athenian family, the Alcmaeonids, had ‘bribed the Pythian priestesses to bid any Spartans who should come to inquire of her on a private or public account to set Athens free’.
• Although these accusations were serious and doubtless had consequences for both political and individual future consultations, they seem to be isolated incidents
• Without this reputation for neutrality and fairness, Delphi wouldn’t have been so popular and trusted throughout its history 
• Prescribed Source: The Site of Delphi 

  Date: earliest buildings are 6th century BC

  Significance: Panhellenic sanctuary and site of the Pythian oracle of Apollo 

  Festival: Pythian Games 

  Key buildings to learn: Temple of Apollo, the Theatre, the Sacred Way, the stadium