Casting the eye over the site of ancient Delphos[212], one cannot
imagine what has become of the walls of the numerous buildings, which
are mentioned in the history of its former magnificence. With the
exception of a few terraces, nothing now appears. We do not even see any
swellings or risings in the ground, indicating the graves of the temple.
All, therefore, is mystery; and the Greeks may truly say,--"Where stood
the walls of our fathers? Scarce their mossy tombs remain!" But
Though here no more Apollo haunts his grot,
And thou, the Muses' seat, art now their grave,
Some gentle spirit still pervades the spot,
Sighs in the gale, keeps silence in the cave,
And glides with glassy foot o'er yon melodious wave.
Delphos is now sunk into a village,--a village of wretchedness,--known
by the name of Castri.
Delphos was built in the form of a kind of amphitheatre, and was divided
into three parts; one rising, as it were, above the other. It was
universally believed by the ancients to be situated in the middle of the
earth; in consequence of which it was called the "navel of the world."
It stood under Parnassus. It was not defended by walls, but by
precipices, which environed it on all sides. It had temples dedicated to
Latona, Diana, and Minerva Providence; also one dedicated to Apollo.
This edifice was built, for the most part, of a very beautiful stone;
but the frontispiece was of Parian marble, and the vestibule was
decorated with paintings. On the walls were moral sentences. In the
interior was a statue of the god, and such a multitude of precious
things, that it is impossible to describe them. We must refer to
Plutarch, Strabo, Pausanias, and other ancient writers; and more
particularly to Barthelemy's "Travels of Anacharsis," since he has
collected all the principal circumstances in regard to it. Our business
is to state the condition to which it is reduced. Before we do this,
however, we must admit something of what has been written of this
celebrated place.
Delphos was an ancient city of Phocis, in Achaia. It stood upon the
declivity, and about the middle of the mountain Parnassus, built upon a
small extent of even ground, and surrounded by precipices, which
fortified it without the aid of art. Diodorus says, that there was a
cavity upon Parnassus, whence an exhalation arose, which made the goats
skip about, and intoxicated the brain. A shepherd having approached it,
out of a desire to know the causes of so extraordinary an effect, was
immediately seized with violent agitations of the body, and pronounced
words which indicated prophecy. Others made the same experiment, and it
was soon rumoured throughout the neighbouring countries. The cavity was
no longer approached without reverence. The exhalation was concluded to
have something divine in it. A priestess was appointed for the reception
of its inspirations, and a tripod was placed upon a vent, from whence
she gave oracles. The city of Delphos rose insensibly round about the
cave, where a temple was erected, which at length became very
magnificent. The reputation of this oracle very much exceeded that of
all others.
The temple being burned about the fifty-eighth Olympiad, the Amphyctions
took upon themselves the care of rebuilding it. They agreed with the
architect, for three hundred talents. The cities of Greece were to
furnish that sum. The Delphians were taxed a fourth part of it, and made
gatherings in all parts, even in foreign nations, for that purpose.
Gyges, king of Lydia, and Croesus, one of his successors, enriched the
temple of Delphos with an incredible number of presents. Many other
princes, cities, and private persons, by their example, in a kind of
emulation of each other, had heaped up in it tripods, vessels, tables,
shields, crowns, chariots, and statues of gold and silver of all sizes,
equally infinite in number and value. The presents of gold which Croesus
alone made to this temple amounted, according to Herodotus, to upwards
of 254 talents (about 35,500_l._ sterling); and perhaps those of silver
to as much. Most of those presents were in being in the time of
Herodotus. Diodorus Siculus, adding those of other princes to them,
makes the amount 10,000 talents (about 1,300,000_l_).
It is not less surprising than true[213], that one of the most
celebrated edifices in the world has been so entirely destroyed, that
sufficient traces are scarcely left by which the traveller can form even
a conjecture as to its position.
During the Sacred war, the people of Phocis seized from it 10,000
talents to maintain their armies against their powerful opponents. Sylla
plundered it; and Nero carried away no less than five hundred statues of
brass, partly of the gods, and partly of the most illustrious heroes. It
had been plundered no less than eleven times before.
It is not known when this celebrated oracle ceased. Lucian says that
answers were given in his time: but most of the Grecian oracles were
annihilated when Constantine relinquished the errors of polytheism.
Indeed Constantine the Great proved a more fatal enemy to Apollo and
Delphos, than either Sylla or Nero: he removed the sacred tripods to
adorn the hippodrome of his own city. Afterwards Julian sent Oribesius
to restore the temple, but he was admonished by an oracle to represent
to the emperor the deplorable condition of the place. "Tell him, the
well-built court is fallen to the ground. Phoebus has not a cottage; nor
the prophetic laurel; nor the speaking fountain (Cassotis); but even the
beautiful water is extinct."
The temple was situated in a very romantic situation; rendered still
more striking by the innumerable echoes, which multiplied every sound,
and increased the veneration of superstitious visitants. But even its
form is unknown; though painters, for the most part, have delineated it
as circular, amongst whom may be mentioned Claude Lorrain, and Gaspar
Poussin.
The Apollo Belvidere is supposed to be a copy from the statue in this
temple.
The Castalian spring, however, still exists, and equally clear as in
ancient times. It is ornamented with ivy, and overshadowed by a large
fig-tree, the roots of which have penetrated the fissures of the rock.
At the front is a majestic plane-tree.
The remains of the town wall are a little to the east of the Castalian
spring; but no part of it is left but the interior mass, which consists
of an exceedingly hard composition of small stones and mortar.
When Pausanias visited Delphos, there were four temples and a gymnasium
in the vicinity of the eastern gate; and several ruins and fragments may
now be seen: some fine blocks of marble, some with inscriptions, a
marble triglyph, and other Doric remains. There are none, however, of
the hippodrome; in which ten chariots are said to have been able to
start at the same moment.
The temple has vanished like a dream, leaving not a trace behind;
insomuch, that Mr. Dodwell's opinion is, that the site of this far-famed
edifice must be sought for under the humble cottages of Castri, as the
whole village probably stands within its ancient peribolos. In some
places, however, are blocks of considerable magnitude; and some ancient
foundations, supposed to be those of the Lesche, which contained the
paintings of Polygnotus; and near the Aga's house are several remains of
some fluted marble columns, of the Doric order, and of large dimensions.
Some inscriptions, too, have been observed. One in marble is in honour
of the Emperor Hadrian: "_The council of the Amphictyons, under the
superintendence of the priest Plutarch, from Delphi, commemorate the
Emperor_." Another: "_The council of Amphictyons and Achaians, in honour
of Polycratea, high priestess of the Achaian Council, and daughter of
Polycrates and Diogeneia_." Another states that "_The father and mother
of Amarius Nepos, honoured by the Senate of Corinth with rewards, due to
him as senator and overseer of the Forum, put their son under the
protection of the Pythian Apollo_."
The remains of the gymnasium are principally behind the monastery. The
foundations were sustained by an immense bulwark of hewn stone. There is
also some part of a stadium. The marble posts remain. Its length is 660
feet. "I was surprised," says Mr. Dodwell, "to find few fragments of
marble among the ruins of Delphos. The town was small; but it was a
concentration of great opulence and splendour. What can have become of
the materials which adorned its public edifices? Several curiosities are
no doubt buried below the village: though the soil is in general so thin
and so rocky, that great masses cannot be concealed beneath the
superficies." They have, no doubt, crumbled away. The fate, however, of
Delphos has been greatly aggravated of late years; for in consequence of
some dispute between the agents of Ali Pacha and the inhabitants of
Castri, the Pacha laid the village under contribution to pay him the sum
of 15,000 piastres. This they were unable to do; in consequence of which
everything was taken from them; and this serves to explain the ruined
state of the place. "In its present condition," says Dr. Clarke, "there
is not in all Lapland a more wretched village than Castri[214]."