![\"overlooking](\"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/overlooking-the-olive-trees.jpg\")
<\/a>\nFor centuries, pilgrims-common\u00a0men and women, as well\u00a0as generals and kings-flocked\u00a0to the Oracle of Delphi to ask\u00a0their most important life questions. And,\u00a0legend has it, her predictions came true.<\/p>\n
Although you can\u2019t see, touch, or hear\u00a0the Oracle, you\u2019ll sense the mysticism filling\u00a0the air as the urban sprawl of Athens,\u00a0100 miles in the distance, dissolves into\u00a0the rugged terrain. Nestled on the slopes\u00a0of Mount Parnassus, you\u2019ll find sprawling\u00a0archaeological ruins in the valley of Phocis.\u00a0Its magnificent location boasts panoramic\u00a0vistas eliciting an intangible magic\u00a0matched only by the centerpiece\u00a0of the site, the Temple of Apollo, home\u00a0to the Oracle herself.<\/p>\n
Follow in the footsteps of thousands\u00a0who traveled here, climbing the hot and\u00a0dusty trail towards the Temple. See what\u2019s\u00a0left of the market, theatre, and stadium\u00a0clinging to the mountainside. Think of the\u00a0pilgrims scouring the market for an\u00a0offering\u2014perhaps as encouragement for\u00a0an answer, perhaps simply as gratitude.\u00a0And as you approach the Temple, try to\u00a0see past its shattered bones to envision\u00a0an edifice that once stood so awesome that\u00a0it evoked unquestioning faith from all\u00a0who entered. Replicas of its former structure\u00a0are not hard to find in town, but you\u00a0can get a full picture of the archaeological\u00a0site in the Delphi Museum.<\/p>\n
Do you really need to see to believe?\u00a0Although not visible today, pilgrims\u00a0reported vapours wafting from a rock\u2019s\u00a0fissure deep inside the Temple. Ancients\u00a0believed it was this mist that empowered\u00a0Priestess Pythia to convey the Oracle\u2019s\u00a0messages. Imagine her haunting screams\u00a0as she worked, arousing an audience that,\u00a0until then, had waited in tense, silent\u00a0anticipation.<\/p>\n
The moral of the story? Don\u2019t confuse\u00a0what you hear with what you want to\u00a0hear. After all, eternal wisdom at Delphi\u00a0preaches know thyself\u2026 suggesting that\u00a0some answers are meant to come only\u00a0from within.<\/p>\n Explore\u00a0our most popular tour that\u00a0includes this activity:\u00a0explorica.com\/iag<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The inscription carved on\u00a0the grand arch entrance in\u00a0Delphi reads: \u201cKnow thyself.\u201d\u00a0Although it\u2019s as relevant today\u00a0as in the 8th century B.C.,\u00a0you might wonder how well\u00a0it was heeded within the gates\u00a0of ancient Greece. For centuries, pilgrims-common\u00a0men and women, as well\u00a0as generals and kings-flocked\u00a0to the Oracle of Delphi to ask\u00a0their most important life questions. And,\u00a0legend has it, her Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":6237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,172],"tags":[410,345,58,113,128],"class_list":["post-6235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explorica-news","category-teachers","tag-cultural-immersion","tag-educational-tours","tag-educational-travel","tag-greece","tag-student-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6235"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6347,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6235\/revisions\/6347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>If you\u2019re wondering whether there\u2019s any\u00a0truth to the legend, consider the story of\u00a0Croesus, King of Lydia, who in 547 B.C.\u00a0asked the Oracle if he should attack the\u00a0Persians. The Oracle responded, \u201cIf you\u00a0do, you\u2019ll cause a great Empire to fall.\u201d\u00a0Encouraged, the king launched his attack,\u00a0only to find himself defeated. Distraught,\u00a0the king went back to the Oracle to complain.\u00a0\u201cI told you an Empire would fall,\u201d\u00a0she said. \u201cIt just happens to be yours!\u201d<\/p>\n