Search Results: Pythia

The Pythia (or Oracle of Delphi) was the priestess who held court at Pytho, the sanctuary of the Delphinians, a sanctuary dedicated to the Greek god Apollo. Pythia were highly regarded, for it was believed that she channeled prophecies from...

The imposing archaeological site of Delphi sits over 1800 feet up on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus, about 6 miles inland from the Corinthian Gulf, central Greece. The ancient temple complex of Delphi, which dates back at least...

"Priestess of Delphi" by John Collier, 1891. A 19th century vision of how the Pythia might have looked like, and how she became intoxicated by hallucinogenic gases emerging from the floor.

Delphi was an important ancient Greek religious sanctuary sacred to the god Apollo. Located on Mt. Parnassus near the Gulf of Corinth, it was home to the famous oracle of Apollo which gave cryptic predictions and guidance to both city-states...

Oracles in the ancient Greek world were the way in which the people of Greece could communicate with their gods. Gods couldn’t be communed with directly, so an oracle, who was often a woman, was the person that the gods spoke through, acting...

Women in the ancient Greek world had few rights in comparison to male citizens. Unable to vote, own land, or inherit, a woman's place was in the home and her purpose in life was the rearing of children. That is a general description and when...

Follow Aristonike, an Oracle-in-training in Delphi, as she studies to become the Pythia and communicate Apollo’s will and prophecies. — As the sun rises over Delphi in 500 BCE, Aristonike hurries to the temple of Apollo where a single...

The ancient Greeks believed the gods were an ever-present influence on humanity, for both good and bad. The belief that these gods might be influenced in turn is evidenced in the widespread building of temples dedicated to them as well as...

The god Apollo in Greek mythology is the Olympian god of, well, quite a lot! Apollo is associated with the bow, music, divination, the sun, poetry, healing and medicine and, who would have thought, plagues. He was one of the most loved gods...

The lyre was a stringed musical instrument played by the ancient Greeks. It was probably the most important and well-known instrument in the Greek world. The lyre was closely related to the other stringed instruments: the chelys which was...