Saturday, 6.19: High and Dry - Smoking Sulfur on a Rock

The Oracle of Delphi is one of the most famous and important historical figures of the ancient Greek world. According to legend, she sat on a tripod atop a rock in Delphi where Apollo occasionally possessed her and gave her prophetic visions of the future, visions that rocked the ancient Greek world. Although the stories claimed her visions stemmed from the vapors released from the dead body of the gigantor snake Apollo slayed to "save the city", modern analysis hypothesizes that the sulfurous vapors effusing through the rock crevice may have been infused with a high concentration of ethylene, causing the sybil's wild hallucinations. Not that sniffing a banana will get you high. Just saying.

Now, I am a scientist. Like most scientists, I don't just take these stories for granted. Experiments must be carried out; claims verified. So, we took a day trip to Delphi to find out exactly what made the Oracle tick. Unfortunately, the it's been a while (read: thousands of years) since the vapors actually came out of the rocks and because it's technically a historical site now, I couldn't actually collect any samples. However, I don't think that detracted from the experience at all. It was a gorgeous, albeit sweltering day, and the amount of history that was contained in the ruins kinda blew my mind. Just a little bit. Maybe a little more than that.

The trip to Delphi takes 3 hours from Athens by bus, so we left for the bus station not at all awake and alert at 6:00 AM and promptly slept on the bus for the next three hours. Upon arriving at Delphi, disoriented and confused, we started climbing up a hill to reach the Oracle, only to realize that we climbed up a large hill for nothing. But it wasn't all in vain because the view was incredible something out of a movie shot.

We milled about for awhile and followed some signs, finally making our way to the museum, which was very impressive. They had taken a lot of the statues (really, all of the statues) and relics from the site and stored them in the museum to protect them from the elements. For instance, these twin brothers here:

The most interesting thing about them, I think, is their knees. Look at that detail! I don't think I've ever seen such detailed knees. Is it weird that the first thing these statues reminded me of was Cat Among the Pigeons, where Hercule Poroit comments that a woman can lie about her age by changing her face and her mannerisms but the knees never lie?

Also impressive was this rendition of a charioteer, or...what's left of it.

It's an awfully precise picture with such few pieces (to be fair, the charioteer was displayed by himself right next to this exhibit), but it just reminds me of sixth grade, when, split up into two groups, we had to paint a picture of a civilization just from clues left behind by the other half of the class. It was very difficult, and thus, I am always impressed by the level of detail of the reconstructions drafted by the analysts who work on these projects, especially in that if it were me, I might not have realized that the extra arm was part of the same sculpture at all. It also makes me wonder what kind of things historians will be reconstructing from our civilization in 3000 years.

We then made our way to the historical site at Delphi. It wasn't too long of a walk, and once we started going up, we went allllll the way up. Along the way, we encountered things like:

The Athenian Treasury:

Some really old columns:

The Temple of Apollo:

This theater:

And of course, the rock that spouted the fumes that started it all:

It looks like a really uncomfortable rock to sit upon, especially on a tripod, but then again, I'm not high on sulfur fumes. Also, the rock was probably enclosed by walls and such, but you'd still be hard pressed to get me to sit on it sniffing smoke for any length of time.

We got to the top of the ruin sites at last and found a really nicely preserved stadium where the ancient games were once held. It was a beautiful view of the whole of the ruins and as we rested, I reflected about how far we had come (read: on our walk, as young adults, as a people...) and how much of a tan I was getting. The tan thing wasn't just a shallow observation because contrary to my previous assumptions that I could not get burned, I had gotten burned and was thusly trying to prevent myself from further burnage. I did notice that slowly, but surely, I was getting back to my middle school days. Umm...BOO.

After a great lunch of some really awesome pizza and much needed lemonade, we set out for Tholos, the center of the world, where heaven and earth met. Climbing down a hill this time, and passing through an ancient gymnasium, we finally reached what was to be a very peaceful bunch of rocks. No, I kid. It was much more than that. There is an amazing amount of history here, and even though I'm not a history buff, enthusiast, or even general subscriber, I do love stories and the history of Tholos and its importance to the Greek people is rather inspiring to me. Oh dear. Now I just sound like a sap.

Anyways, when I got back to Athens later that night, I looked up the specifications for the Mount Parnassos, specifically, the ruins of Delphi, and after much searching, because the information is apparently nowhere, I got a number, which I'm going to assume is from Tholos to the Stadium: 550 m. Which, if I remember correctly, exceeds the specifications for List #4. As for the gradient, I'm pretty sure this hill is > 20 degrees. Take a look:

 

And that's one of the less steep sections. Anyhow, with a vertical lift of 550 m and an average gradient of, lets say 40°, by visiting the Oracle at Delphi, Tholos, and the charming town nearby, objective #4 has been fulfilled.

4. Climb a mountain at least 400 m tall w/ an average gradient of at least 20 degrees.

After visiting Tholos, a quest for ice cream began, and though the ice cream wasn't exceptional nor cheap, it was much needed. Even with the sugar, we all conked out on the bus ride back and, getting back at 9:00 PM, had a quite delicious McDonalds meal. Not too Greek, but oh so meaty.

It was a great Saturday. The sun shining, the clouds wispy, the history epic. For a more or less impromptu day trip, it was one of the best Saturdays I've had in Greece. :)

At the center of the world,

Angela