Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/26

 DELPHL was disooTvred in eonseqnence of some shepbcrds, who had driven their flocks to the spot, becoming inspired bj the Tspoor and uttering prophecies (x. 6. § 7). The Pythia sat npon the tripod when she gave the oracles of Apollo, and the object of it was to prevent ber &lling into the chasm. (Diod. xvi. S6.) Between the three legs of the tripod hung a oircular vessel, called Ae9qf and cortina, in which were preserved the bones and teeth of the Pythian serpent (DianTs. Per. 441, and Eostatb. ad loc. ; Serv. ad Virg. Aen. ill 360, vL 317.) For a farther description of this tripod, see Diet ofAnL art, TV^Mt. No vapour is now found issuing from any part of the Delphian rocks. Upon leaving tiie temple, we again follow Pan- sanias in his account of the remaining objects, which lay north of the temple within the peribolus. Pau- sanias, upon going out of the temple, turned to the left, where he nodoed a peribolus enclosing the tomb of Neoptolemns, the son of AchiDes, to whom the Delphians oflfored sacrifices every year. (Paus. z. 84. § 6; Strab. 'a. p. 421.) He was said to have been nraidered in the temi^e, near the sacred hearth; but the manner of his death was differently related. Above the ruins of the temple, and a little to the east, Ulrichs noticed the remains of an ancient wall, which he supposed to be a part of the peribolus of the tomb of Neoptolemus. StiU higher up above the tomb, was the stone which Cronus was said to have swallowed instead of bis son Zeus, and sfterwards to have vomited up. (Pans. /. c.) Upon leaving the stone, and returning as it were to the temple, Pausanias came to the feuntain Cassotis (Koirirtfrls), the access to which was through a small wall built near it (z. 24. § 7). Ulrichs identffies Cassotis with the fountain near the church of St Nioolaus, before which are some x«mains of an ancient polygonal wall. Pausanias ftirther says, as we have airauly seen, that the Cas- sotis flowed into the Adytum. Accordingly, we find that the fountain of St. Nicdaus lies immediately above the ruins of the temide; and lower down the hill we now find some water springing out of the ground at the present Eellmicdt which water is probably the same that once flowed into the Adytum, but has now made an ezit for itself below, in conse- quence of being buried by the ruins of the temple. All previous travellers lud identified the Cassotis with the fountain JTem^, which flows between the ruins of the theatre and the Stadium; but, in addi- tion to other objections that might be urged, it is tmposribie to believe that the peribolus of the temple extended so fiur. The name Cassotis oooois only in Pausanias, but the fountain itself is mentioned in other ancient writers. It is mentioned in the Homeric Hymn as a beautifully flowing fountain, where Apollo slew the serpent (m Apoll. 300); and Euripides alludes to it as watering the maed grove surrounding this temple (/on, 112). This sacred grove, which is frequently mentioned by the ancient writers, con- sisted of laurel-tnes and myrties, but one laurel-tree in particular was called pr»>eminentiy the Pythian laurel, and branches of it were used for sacred pur- poses within the temple. Above the Cassotis was the Lbscrv (Altrxiy) of the Delphians (Pans. z. 25. § 1), part of the stone floor of which was discovered by Ulrichs in the out- buildings of a house above the ftnntain of St Nico- laus. Lesehae were pnbKc buildings, in which persona might meet together and eonverse, • since
 * DELPHI.

767 private hotasei were generally too small for such a purpose. The DelpUan Lesche was adorned with two large paint'mgB by Polygnotus, dedicatoij of- forings of the Cnidians; the painting on the right band represented the capture of Troy and the de- parture of the Greeks, and that on the left the descent of Ulysees into Hades. A long description of these pictures is given by Pausanias (z. 25—^1 1 oomp. Plut de Be/, Or, 6, 47 ; Plin. zzzv. 9. s. 35). The figure of Cassandra was particularly adnured. (Ludan, Imag. 7.) The site of the theatre is marked by a hi^ wall, a little to the west of the Cassotis. This wall, which is covered by several inscriptions, was the sonthem wail of the theatre, which, as usual with Grecian theatres, was built in a semicircular form upon the slope of the bill. The inner part of the theatre is almost entirely covered, and only a small portion of tiie upper seats is visible. It appears from an in- scription that the theatre lay within the Pythian sanctuary (Bodih, Inter, No. 1710), and according to Pausanias it adjoiued the wall of the endoeure (z. 32. § 1). Accordingly, the ruins of the theatre determine the eztent of the enclosure to the north- west In the theatre the musical contests oi the Pythian games were carried on, from the earliest to the latest times. (Plut de Def, Or. 8.) Ascending from the Peribolus {ivftraiSdi^i 8i iic rov wepitfdAou, Pans. z. 32. § 1), Pausanias came to a statue of Dionysus, and then to the Stadium, situated in the highest part of the city. It was built of Parnassian stone, but was adorned with Pentelio marble by Herodes Atticus. (Paus. L c. ; Philostr. Vit, Sophist, ii. p. 550.) There are still considerable remuns of the Stadium, now called Ldkkoma^ and its whole length may be distinctly traced. Ifany of the seats remain, composed of the native rock; but the Pentelic marble with which it was decorated fj Herodes Atticus is no longer founds It has been already roesitioned that the Stwlium was originally in the maritime plain, where it continued to be in the time of IMndar {Pgth. zL 20, 73); and we do not know when it was removed to tiie city. It has beoi shown above that the large fountain Kemd near the Stadium was not the Castalia. There can be little doubt that the ancient name of Kemd was Delphusa (AtX^voxi), which we learn from Stepbanus B. was the fountain of the place (s. V, Ac^. The Castalia, from its po- sition, oonld supply only the lower and eastern part of the city; and that the Pylaea, in the western part of the city, was well provided with water is ezpressly stated by Plutarch {d^ Pgth, Or. 29). It is not improbable that Kfpra, the modem name of the foimtun, is only a corruption of the ancient Kpfyni, Pylaea (IlvXala) was a suburb of Delphi, on the road to Crissa. It derived its name from the meet- ing of the Amphictyonic Council in this place, the council, as is well known, being caUed Pylaea. In the time of Plutarch, Pylaea vras provided with " temples, synedria, and fountiuns." The synedria appear to have been built in later times for the use d the Amphictyons; and the two ancient walls sup- porting the art^cial platform, upon which the chapel of St Ellas stands, are jnobably the remains of such a building. (Plut de Fifth, Or. 29; Dion Chry- sost Or. Izzvii. p. 414.) A littie above the chapel of St Elias, in the direction of the Stadium, there are some ancient sepulchres cut out of the rock. It was upon approaching the suburb of Pylaea that Ermenes was attacked by the conspirators, for the