Delphi, Greece
Today we sailed through the Corinthian Gulf, gazing on one side at the mountains of the Peloponnese and on the other side those of central Greece. We landed at the port of Itea and from there drove up to Mount Parnassus where Delphi was perched.
Apollo was the god of light, harmony, prophesy and music and was greatly venerated in ancient Greece. According to the ancient mythology he had wanted to create the first oracle of the world in order to pass knowledge about the future to the people. He traveled throughout of the country looking for the ideal place to create it. When he came to Mount Parnassus, he was taken with the dramatic scenery and decided that this was the place. He slayed the python that was protecting the water fountain; water is the source of life and without this life cannot exist.
Apollo built his temple, which was also used as the Oracle, and then turned himself into a dolphin, approaching a ship that he saw in the distance. He ordered the men to follow him and made them the first priests of his Oracle, which was thereafter named Delphi.
We followed the sacred way up toward the temple and saw the famous treasures that had been built by the various Greek city-states. Even the city of Massey, today in France, had a treasury here. Greeks from all over the world have sought advice from the Oracle and thanked it in return by offering statues and treasuries. The temple was especially impressive and above it extended the theater that could seat about 5000 people back in ancient times. Some of us went even higher in order to reach the stadium in which the Pythian Games would take place once every four years. The prize for the winners was nothing else but a wreath made out of the branches of the laurel tree.
After putting forward our questions to the Oracle we continued our tour by visiting the museum. We saw some of the most beautiful sculptures that were found at the site by archeologists, amongst which was also the Omphal of the world: the belly button that was signified with a huge rock that Zeus threw off Mount Olympus. It had indeed once been the religious naval of the earth. The most stunning of the statues we saw was The Charioteer, one of the only bronze statues found on the site. We gazed into his eyes that looked so alive after about 2.500 years.
We left the site, taking with us some the energy that it had given us. We sailed through the Corinthian Gulf in order to go through the Corinth Canal. En route we saw many dolphins, and six or seven of them were obviously fishing. Even a sea turtle, probably a Careta Careta sailed about the Panorama.
The Corinth Canal was especially impressive with its tall sandstone walls. It was opened in 1893 and is used up until this day by over 12.000 ships in order to shorten the journey around the Peloponnese. It shortens this journey from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean – from the Corinthian Gulf to the Saronic Gulf. It is four miles long, and it was a masterpiece of engineering at the beginning of the century.
We left it behind us and sailed past the islands of Salamis where the famous naval battle had taken place in 480 BC between the Greeks and the Persians. With the Persian defeat, their expansion to the western world was stopped. Soon we could see the Acropolis; we were getting close to the city of Athens and the port of Zea where we would end our voyage, keeping always in our minds the journey, the adventures, and the island of Ithaka…the voyage of life.
