APOLLO SHRINE

The first monument on the right of the Sacred Way was the bronze bull of Corcyra. Today we can only see the remains of the bases of this work that fishermen from Corfu had deposited as an offering. One of their bulls, which persisted in leaving the herd and pointing to the sea, had indeed indicated a place of miraculous fishing. Near this base, we notice another one that supported nine bronze statues, one of which was of Apollo. It was the offering made by the victorious Arcadians of the Lacedemonians. Just opposite, on the left of the sacred Way, 37 bronze statues had been set up by the victorious Lacedemonians of the Athenians. A very arrogant offering if one compared it with that, much more modest, of the victorious Athenians in Marathon and which was on the right of the majestic ex-voto. It consisted of sixteen statues sculpted by Phidias and representing Athena, Apollo, Miltiades the hero of Marathon and some others.

Continuing on the Sacred Way,

one found, immediately after and on the left, a group of statues erected by the Argians around 456 B.C. and representing the Seven Chiefs who had marched against Thebes.

While progressing, one sees two semi-circles on both sides of the way. The one on the left had been consecrated by the Argians and contained the statues of the Seven Epigones, the successors of the Seven Chiefs who had also marched against Thebes but succeeded this time in seizing and destroying it. The one on the right had also been consecrated by the Argians and contained ten bronze statues representing the ancient kings and queens of Argos and Thebes. One could thus see first the statue of Danaos, founder of Argos, as well as that of Heracles, hero of Argian origin but born in Thebes. The purpose of this offering was thus to underline the friendship which had developed between Argos and Thebes after 370 B

.C.

Returning to the Sacred Way,

one sees, on the left, the remains of the treasure of the Sicyonians, dating from 500 B.C. Those who had overthrown the tyrant of Sicyone built this treasure by using parts of a building which the tyrant himself had built! Just after this treasure came the splendid treasure of Siphnos, all in marble. It was richly decorated with pediments and a sculpted frieze, partially preserved and exposed in the museum. Two female statues, the caryatids, replaced the two supporting columns. Here, no victory was celebrated, the treasure was only meant to provoke wonder by its richness and beauty...

We then arrive at a crossroads,

called the crossroads of the Treasures, where some piles of ruins are other treasures. Following the path, you will see rising, in front and to the left of you, the famous treasure of the Athenians, built with the tithe of the battle of Marathon. It is a superb building, of Doric style, with metopes and sculpted pediments. On the facade of the entrance were arranged six metopes that represented a scene of amazonomachy symbolizing more than ever the fight against the barbarian invader, namely the Persians. On the southern facade, visible while going up, nine metopes showed the exploits of Theseus. Finally, the two other facades presented the exploits of Heracles. To see the originals, some of which have been preserved, one must wait for the museum: those seen on the treasure are plaster casts. Opposite this treasure, on the right of the Sacred Way when you go up, stood the treasure of Syracuse. The place it occupied was of course not insignificant, it emphasized the power of Syracuse and the victory of its people over the Athenians, in 413 B.C.

Continuing on the Sacred Way,

on the

left, the remains of a long building, the bouleutêrion

or Senate, then a large rock which could be the rock of the Sibyl. The Sibyls, like the Pythias, were creatures endowed with a power of divination, with the difference that they were imaginary beings and not real women. The legend says that it is on this rock that the first of the sibyls had sat and had prophesied the Trojan war. Behind this rock, on the left, there was once a spring, now dried up, which was guarded by the serpent Python in addition to the oracle of Gaia. We can see that since the most ancient times, the Earth and the deities of the underground waters, the Muses, were venerated here.

Continuing on the sacred way,

one saw on its left the portico of the Athenians. The seven Ionic marble columns supported a wooden roof; the building was leaned against the large polygonal wall covered with inscriptions of freed slaves. This portico sheltered numerous trophies of the naval victories of the Athenians.

Turning the corner of the polygonal wall, one leaves on the right the Corinthian treasure, the oldest in Delphi, and continues until one discovers, slightly to the left, the remains of the altar of the sanctuary of Apollo. Made in the^5th

century B.C., it subtly mixed white and black marble and constituted a very beautiful ensemble. Just to the left, a pillar had been built to accommodate the statue of Perseus, the last king of Macedonia. But Perseus having been defeated by Paul-Emile at the battle of Pydna, the equestrian statue of the victor was finally erected...

Returning to the sacred way,

one notices a little before, on the right, a circular base which is the vestige of the tripod of Platées. It was a splendid ex-voto offered by all the Greek cities that emerged victorious from the battle of Plataea against the Persians, in 479 BC: a golden vat supported by a bronze column formed by the winding of three snakes and on which were engraved the names of the thirty-one cities. What remains of it is today... in Istanbul!

Continuing on the Sacred Way,

we reach the remains of a set of bases among which the high pillar of Prusias which supported the equestrian statue of king Prusias II (182-149 BC). In front of this pillar we notice a foundation: it is the remains of a bronze palm tree which supported a golden statue of Athena.

Here we are in front of the ruins of the temple of Apollo

in which officiated the Pythia. The remains that we see are those of the last temple, that of the IVth century BC, because several others followed one another on this same site. According to the testimony of the vestiges dating from 650 BC, the temple of Apollo was a building of Doric style, in tuff. According to the legend, Apollo himself laid the foundations. In 548 B.C., it burned down and donations poured in from all sides to undertake its reconstruction. The tufa temple of the Alcméonides was built in the same place, with six columns on the facades and fifteen columns on the sides. Realized in marble, the sculptures of the pediments reveal the concern of the builders to create a work even more beautiful than the preceding one. An earthquake and a war damaged the building, which was completed in 330 BC. The pediment represented the arrival of Apollo in Delphi. The metopes were not sculpted, but shields taken from the Persians during the battle of Marathon were fixed to them.

As for the interior of the temple, our knowledge is limited to the writings of antiquity. On the walls of the entrance were engraved mottos such as Know Thyself. The cella must have been divided into two parts: one would have contained the fireplace where the immortal fire burned, and the other, a golden statue of Apollo. Going along the temple on the right, one notices a large wall which served to retain the earth as well as a rectangular niche, the niche of Cratéros. It sheltered a group of bronze statues representing a hunt during which Alexander the Great, attacked by a lion and about to die, was saved by one of his officers, Cratéros, escorted by a pack of dogs. This offering to Apollo was made around 320 BC by the son of Cratéros... who was also called Cratéros! Do not miss the epigram on the three blocks at the bottom of the niche. One then takes the staircase on the left of this niche to reach the theater.