Delphi · The Priestess Who Sat Above the Crack

Delphi stands on the slope of Mount Parnassus. The ancient Greeks held it to be the centre of the world, the “navel of the earth”, and the oracle of Apollo was spoken through the priestess Pythia.

She sat above a fissure inside the temple, breathed in gas seeping from the ground and spoke indistinct words, which the priests turned into verses that could be read two ways. Modern geological work has found a fault and a natural gas channel beneath the site — the ancients knew of it too.

The oracle was in use for a thousand years. Before a city-state ran into trouble, it sent someone to ask first.

Historical Mysteries / Delphi · Greece / 8th century BC