Natalia Skoroletina is a friend from Greece. I am
sharing the unedited text and photographs of a place in Greece which is an
important part of Greek mythology and close to the hearts of Greek people. Here
she tells the story of the historical place and why it’s so special for Greek
people. I am sure the readers will enjoy reading this story and the beautiful
photographs of those places. This will give the readers around the world an
insight to Greek history and mythology.
At the foot of Mount Parnas, between two grand
rocks of the Fedriads lies the center of the Earth. Why is that so? And because
Greek mythology says so, and we have no reason to doubt its postulates: once
upon a time, from two opposite ends of the universe, Zeus let two eagles so
that they could find the navel of peace, and they met in the Delphi. Why is
Noah's pigeons accepted de facto, but there are objections about the Eagles of
Zeus?
Tradition has it that here in Delphi, in gray -
even for the Olympic gods - there was a sanctuary of Gaia, the Earth goddess,
guarded by her son, the terrible dragon Python. Apollo killed Python, turned to
dolphins' sleep and brought the lost Cretan vessel to the Gulf of Corinth, six
miles from Parnas. Sailors, amazed by the role played in their rescue of the
dolphins, vowed to serve the Temple of Apollo and rename the site in Delphi
after their rescuers. (According to another version, the name Delphi comes from
the Indo-European "delphis", which means "womb",
"belly"). Let's not resemble George the Victorious, who killed Python
Apollo, who returned to the ashes of the Dragon, but rather remember Homerov's
lines: "And where at first out of the raging sea I sailed together with a
fast-winged ship in the image of a dolphin, there I want that I wish they would
worship me, Apollo the Delphic." The Greeks worshipped: from the 6th
century BC, the Pythian Games were held in Delphi, the second most significant
after the Olympic, sports and artistic competitions, which ended in the 4th
century AD by Emperor Theodosius I, b an eagle with a pagan.
The last person to address the Delphic Oracle as a
professional in 362 AD was Julian the Reignant - the last linguistic emperor
who wished to revive the ancient Greek religion. Before being silent forever,
Piphia gave the following sad answer to the emperor's envoy: "Tell your
king that the walls are destroyed, Apollo has no temple anymore, no oracle, the
Castilian source said. The key that could tell so much has dried up.
The authority of the Delphic Oracle was undeniable,
especially during the unprecedented blossom of the Sanctuary—from the 6th to
the 4th centuries BC. p.m. The glory of Piphia, a priestess of Apollo, adorned
by chewing the laurel leaves of a woman, reached the most remote corners of the
Ancient World, and it was her, according to the tradition who was credited with
the most successful prophecies in world history: the Devkalion Flood, the
Expeditions of Art Gonautov, the Trojan War.
But Pifia had to go through some unpleasant
moments. So, in 356 BC p.m. the bandit Philomilus, head of the Fokeycev,
occupied the Delphi, looted the treasures and killed many priests of Apollo. To
justify his atrocities, Filomil as it is in our times, decided to present them
as fateful, and himself as an involuntary tool of rock. To do this, he needed
the assistance of Piphia, who, although frowning by chewing the Lavra, refused
to cooperate with the robber. Then Philomel forcibly drove her onto the
simulator, from where, under threat of fake copies, Piphia exhaustedly
exclaimed: "You are free to do whatever you think.
He forcibly forced Piphia to give him a profitable
prophecy and Alexander the Great. It did not end well for neither Philomel nor
Alexander.
The successes of Pithia turned Delphi into the
richest city of the Greek world: this is evidenced by 20 marble treasures,
where precious offerings were stored, magnificent statues, which were told to
us in his books by the first guide to Greece Pavsanius, a geologist raf of the
2nd century AD. After the Battle of Marathon, their treasure was built in the
Delphs of Athens, as well as the richest island of Sifnos at that time: thanks
to them, spared by time, we can draw an idea of the rest for ourselves.
It must be said that Apollo wisely warned all those
entering with the advice cut out at the entrance of the temple: "Know your
self." Those who did not listen to him continued to go on to Piphia. Some
claim that this civil phrase was given to Apollo by the sage Chilon, others
that Piphia uttered it in response to Chilon's rhetorical question: "What
is best for mankind?" Anyway, over
the past millennia, few people of the human kind have taken advantage of this
invaluable advice.
In fact, it was not Piphia herself who was the one
who was the prophecy, but the God Apollo: it was just she, sitting on a high
gym above a crevice, from where the suffocating vapors came out, muttering
phrases that Apollo's priests were about to decipher. In short a
well-established factory bringing in considerable profits. At first Piphia
prophesied only once a year, on Apollo's birthday, then those who wanted to
"know them", it turned out so much that the prophecies began to be
given on the seventh day of each month, when Apollo was absent in the kingdom
of Hyperborean, leaving St. the deputy in the Delphi of the cheerful brother
Dionysus, and soon almost daily, without holidays and weekends. Pifia's
customers first bathed in the Castalia Key (where Pifia washed her hair), paid
for the entrance and stood in line in front of the closed curtain - the
"confession room", from where soon the indistinguishable groans of
Pifia flew. The work of the Delphic Oracle was described in detail by Plutarch,
who himself served as a priest of Apollo: it was from him that we know that
when Piphia predicted against her will (and that is, the will of Apollo), she
was soon dying.
The Magic Castilian Key can be seen from afar and
today, access to it is for some reason forbidden: allegedly, because of the
danger of falling stones from the rocks in this place. Maybe his waters are
actually prophetic, and someone just doesn’t want people’s eyes to be “opened”?
But even those who are skeptical of ancient Greek
fairy tales and, more so, of the magic described in them, cannot help but feel
the power and greatness of Delphic nature. Here and only here could reside the
formidable, beautiful God of music, science and arts, the golden-haired doctor
Fab Apollo!
The sanctuary sits 700 meters above sea level among
a majestic landscape hidden by the mist of centuries-old trees, in perfect
harmony with the universe, literally between heaven and earth. Who were the
ancient architects who published masterpiece after masterpiece, revealing one
mystery of the universe after another?
Many years ago, as an active advertising and
communication professional engaged with my clients promos; a friend of mine,
running an art and creative design Institute requested me to lecture the
students once a week on the practicalities of advertising and communication,
and the role of creative designing. He informed, the students, apart from creative
designing will learn about advertising and communication, and will help them in
later years when they star their careers.
In one such lecture, I briefed the students about
the finer points of advertising and communication. And the role it plays in
promoting and markets ideas, products and services. To test their creative
abilities, I asked them to sell the Taj Mahal. Further, asked the students, if
they had any questions or doubts. All were fine with it. Presuming they had
understood me, I was happy the young boys and girls understood what I actually
meant.
The boys and girls were all trying to think of
ideas. But one boy appeared a bit fidgety and confused, after a while, the boy hesitatingly
got up and asked innocently, excuse me sir, but how can we sell the the Taj
Mahal and who will buy it!
The whole class, the boys and girls burst into laughter.
He was bewildered. After the commotion calmed, I clarified, sell means promote
in advertising lingo. Again he replied innocently, I was all along wondering,
how the hell, can we sell the Taj Mahal!
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