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The name Pythia is derived from "pythia hiereia" (Greek: πυθία ἱέρεια), meaning ' priestess of the Pythian Apollo '; it is related to Pythios (Πύθιος), an epithet of Apollo, itself deriving from Pytho, which in myth was the original name of Delphi. [13]
Python, sometimes written Pytho, presided at the Delphic oracle, which existed in the cult center for its mother, Gaia, "Earth", Pytho being the place name that was substituted for the earlier Krisa. [1] Greeks considered the site to be the center of the Earth, represented by a stone, the omphalos or navel, which Python guarded.
Delphi among the main Greek sanctuaries. Delphi (/ ˈ d ɛ l f aɪ, ˈ d ɛ l f i /; [1] Greek: Δελφοί), [a] in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world.
Lycurgus Consulting the Pythia (1835/1845), as imagined by Eugène Delacroix. Pythia was the priestess presiding over the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. There are more than 500 supposed oracular statements which have survived from various sources referring to the oracle at Delphi. Many are anecdotal, and have survived as proverbs.
The Pythia was the mouthpiece of the oracles of the god Apollo, and was also known as the Oracle of Delphi. [7] The Delphic Oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture. Distinctively, this woman was essentially the highest authority both civilly and religiously in male-dominated ancient Greece.
This double meaning is true in ancient Greek and Latin also. [7] The Greeks and Romans did not have a standard word that would apply in all cases. Manteion (μαντεῖον), Psychomanteion (ψυχομαντεῖον) and chresterion (χρηστήριον) were common in Greek. A prophecy might be referenced by the name of the god: "Apollo ...
In some Greek cults priestesses served both gods and goddesses; Pythia, or female Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, and that at Didyma were priestesses, but both were overseen by male priests. The festival of Dionosyus was practiced by both and the god was served by women and female priestesses known as the Gerarai or the venerable ones. [32]
The Pythian Games (Ancient Greek: Τα Πύθια, romanized: Ta Pythia) were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. They were held in honour of Apollo at his sanctuary in Delphi every four years, two years after the Olympic Games, and between each Nemean and Isthmian Games. The Pythian Games were founded sometime in the 6th ...