In October 2010, my very generous boss and his lovely wife invited me to join them on a cruise on the Aegean Sea, to celebrate their birthdays on a yacht filled with about hundred other friends and family. We boarded the yacht at the port of Piraeus in Athens, sailed to Santorini and Mykonos in the first two days before passing through the historic Corinth Canal, and arrived at the Port of Delphi in the Greek island of Itea on day 3. While the entire 7-day long cruise was an amazing experience, my time in Itea was perhaps the most memorable.
We arrived at the port around midday and had the day to ourselves to explore the island. We were expected to get back to the yacht by nightfall to continue the voyage, heading towards Sicily. I joined three others on a sightseeing expedition.
Itea is the home of Delphi, one of the most important sites of the ancient world. The Temple at Delphi was known as the “navel of the earth” among the ancient Europeans. According to Greek mythology, Delphi was designated as the center of the earth by Zeus, when he sent two eagles in opposite directions and they met at this site.
Ancient Greeks dedicated the temple to Apollo, the Greek God of healing, music, poetry and a lot more. People would journey here from all over to seek wisdom from the Oracle, who served as Apollo’s earthly mouthpiece. According to folklore, the Temple of Apollo was erected after the god protected the site by slaying the dragon, Python. The women who served as Oracles at Delphi were given the title of Pythia in honour of Apollo’s heroic feat.
Nestled in a broad cleft on the south slopes of Mount Parnassus, the site of the Temple is one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. Getting up to the actual archaeological site of the ruins requires a steep climb. It was a cool, clear October afternoon as we started climbing the steep slope. By the time we summited, we were out of breath and feeling the climb in every muscle. But the magnificent, panoramic view of the mountains surrounded by floating puffs of clouds, made the uphill ascent totally worth it.
I tried to imagine the arduous climb pilgrims and supplicants would have made back in the day, to reach the sanctuary just to ask the Oracle a question.
The Oracle would answer questions posed to them by visitors wishing to be guided in their future actions. It is believed that she was fairly vague in her responses and it was up to the seeker to interpret her answers.
The Temple was built on intersecting fault lines at Delphi, and the Oracle would sit on her golden tripod over a deep fissure in the ground, which seeped ethylene, ethane and methane, a cocktail of non-addictive but highly hallucinogenic gases. According to legend, the Pythia would fall into a deep trance, probably from fumes rising from the fissure and the priests would interpret her utterances into promising, but imprecise, prophesies. Then her vague words would be communicated to the pilgrims who had travelled to consult the oracle of their fate.
Today, it is obvious that the Oracles were mostly high when making their prophecies, which perhaps explains the vagueness!
Surrounding the temple are the remains of grand monuments built by grateful pilgrims. The archaeological ruins of Delphi also include the theater and stadium where the Pythian Games were once held. They were held once every four years in honor of Apollo, and were second only to the Olympics in importance. The theater would have been used for music, drama, and poetry competitions during the festivals that took place at the site. The acoustics of this theatre are supposed to be amazing.
Delphi is an impressive and beautiful site, but I can’t help but feel philosophical about it. It reminds visitors that nothing is stable. Things are constantly shifting. The Titans gave way to the Olympians who gave way to the Christian Church. The fabulous Greek civilization was conquered by the Romans who were eventually overrun by the barbarians. Nothing is forever….
After the visit to Delphi we got back to the yacht where one of the stewards asked us if we wanted bikes to explore the island. Apparently, the yacht carried several mountain bikes for passenger use and we were free to take them out. The avid bike lover that I am, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go biking in a new country. The rest in my group just wanted to get a drink and chill on the deck. I decided to change into appropriate clothing and take the bike out for a spin. As I came out, I bumped into my friends Richard and Vanessa who were also planning to go biking around the island. Vanessa was keen on buying authentic Greek Olive Oil, not the type one gets in the supermarket, but preferably the type one finds in farmers markets.
We asked around and were told that we should go to Amfissa, a small town about half hour away by bike, on the northern edge of the Olive forest of the Crissaean plain, popular for the Amfissa Olives. It was around 5 PM and there was plenty of daylight. We decided to go for it. We were told to get on the highway nearby (which had bike lanes) and just keep following it till we reached Amfissa. Sounded simple enough.
Twenty minutes into our ride on a busy highway that had more ups than downs, we began to regret our decision. But since we expected to reach Amfissa within 10 minutes, we decided to keep going. 10 mins turned into 20 with no sign of a town, village or habitation! Just cars whizzing by. By now we were too deep into this journey to change course. Finally, an hour after we started our journey, we reached Amfissa….only to find that most shops were closed!
And the few that were open only had the regular supermarket variety of Olive Oil. By this time, darkness had set and we were exhausted. But we had no choice but to bike our way back to the port and get back on the yacht. We dreaded the journey back. As we got back on the highway, we realized none of our bikes had headlights or reflectors!
We also realized that the distance from the port to Amfissa was 13 km. Now, we had to bike back the same distance in pitch darkness on a major Greek highway, having failed in our mission. Thankfully, on the return journey, we encountered the down slopes that had vexed us on the onward journey, and didn’t require us to expend too much energy pedaling. The scary part was biking in the darkness and hoping that we didn’t get run over!
After a particularly challenging return journey which involved positive thinking and a team effort, we finally made it back to the yacht, albeit without the olive oil, but all our limbs intact, ready to set sail for Sicily. More on Sicily at another time!
