Editing Pythia (section)

==Scientific explanations==

===Fumes and vapors===
[[File:John Collier - Priestess of Delphi.jpg|thumb|''Priestess of Delphi'' (1891) by [[John Collier (Pre-Raphaelite painter)|John Collier]], showing the Pythia sitting on a tripod with vapor rising from a crack in the earth beneath her]]

There have been many attempts to find a [[scientific]] explanation for the Pythia's inspiration. Most commonly,<ref name=":0">J.Z. De Boer, and J. R. Hale. "The Geological Origins of the Oracle of Delphi, Greece", in W. G. McGuire, D. R. Griffiths, P Hancock, and I. S. Stewart, eds. ''The Archaeology of Geological Catastrophes''. (Geological Society of London) 2000. Popular accounts in A&E Television Networks. History Channel documentary Oracle at Delphi, Secrets Revealed, 2003, and in William J. Broad,  ''The Oracle: The Lost Secrets and Hidden Message of Ancient Delphi''. (New York: Penguin) 2006.</ref> these refer to an observation made by [[Plutarch]], who presided as high [[priest]] at Delphi for several years, who stated that her oracular powers appeared to be associated with vapors from the Kerna [[Spring (hydrosphere)|spring waters]] that flowed under the temple. It has often been suggested that these vapors may have been [[hallucinogen]]ic gases.{{CN|date=June 2023}}

Recent geological investigations have suggested that gas emissions from a geologic chasm in the earth could have inspired the Delphic Oracle to "connect with the divine". Some researchers suggest the possibility that [[ethylene]] gas caused the Pythia's state of inspiration, based on the matching symptoms, ethylene's use as an anesthetic, and the smell of the chamber, as described by Plutarch.<ref name=":0" /> Traces of ethylene have been found in the waters of the Castallian spring, which is now largely diverted for the town water supply of the town of modern [[Delphi]]. However, Lehoux argues<ref>Lehoux, 2007 ''[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17357391 The delphic oracle and the ethylene-intoxication hypothesis.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125135007/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17357391 |date=2018-01-25 }}'' Retrieved 4 December 2017.</ref> that ethylene is "impossible" and benzene is "crucially underdetermined". Others argue instead that [[methane]] might have been the gas emitted from the chasm, or {{chem|C|O|2}} and {{chem|H|2|S}}, arguing that the chasm itself might have been a seismic ground rupture.<ref>Piccardi, 2000; Spiller et al., 2000; de Boer, et al., 2001; Hale et al. 2003; Etiope et al., 2006; Piccardi et al., 2008.</ref><ref>Mason, Betsy. ''[http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1002/2 The Prophet of Gases] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208095700/http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1002/2 |date=2008-12-08 }}'' in ScienceNow Daily News 2 October 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2006.</ref>

[[Nerium|Oleander]], in contemporary toxicological literature, has also been considered responsible for contributing symptoms similar to those of the Pythia. The Pythia used oleander as a complement during the oracular procedure, chewing its leaves and inhaling their smoke. The toxic substances of oleander results in symptoms similar to those of epilepsy, the "sacred disease", which could have amounted to the possession of the Pythia by the spirit of Apollo, rendering Pythia his spokesperson and prophetess. The oleander fumes (the "spirit of Apollo") could have originated in a brazier located in an underground chamber (the antron) and have escaped through an opening (the "chasm") in the temple's floor. This hypothesis fits the findings of the archaeological excavations that revealed an underground space under the temple. This explanation sheds light on the alleged spirit and chasm of Delphi, that have been the subject of intense debate and interdisciplinary research for the last hundred years.<ref name="Harissis 2015">Harissis 2015</ref>

Regardless of which fumes existed in the chasm, winter months would bring cooler weather, decreasing release of gases in the chamber. This offers a plausible explanation for the absence of summer deities in winter months. A toxic gas also explains the reason why the Pythia could only venture into her oracular chamber once a month, both to coincide with the correct concentration of gases,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stadter |first=Phillip A. |title=Plutarch and his Roman Readers |date=18 December 2014 |chapter=Plutarch and Apollo of Delphi |pages=82–97 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198718338.003.0006 |isbn=978-0-19-871833-8 |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/book/26287/chapter/194529059 |access-date=8 December 2022 |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208024431/https://academic.oup.com/book/26287/chapter/194529059 |url-status=live }}</ref> and to prolong the already-short lifespan of the Pythia by limiting her exposure to such fumes.

===Excavations===
Beginning during 1892, a team of French archaeologists directed by [[Théophile Homolle]] of the [[Collège de France]] excavated the site at Delphi. Contrary to ancient literature, they found no fissure and no possible means for the production of fumes.

Adolphe [[Paul Oppé]] published an influential article<ref name=adv>[http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/delphi/articleDelphi02.html# Delphi, the Oracle of Apollo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402131354/http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/delphi/articleDelphi02.html |date=2012-04-02 }} from Adventures in Archaeology</ref> in 1904, which made three crucial claims: No chasm or vapor ever existed; no natural gas could create prophetic visions; and the recorded incidents of a priestess undergoing violent and often deadly reactions was inconsistent with the more customary reports. Oppé explained away all the ancient testimony as being reports of gullible travelers fooled by wily local guides who, Oppé believed, invented the details of a chasm and a vapor in the first place.<ref name=med>[http://medbherenn.com/oracle-at-delphi.html The Oracle at Delphi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402131330/http://medbherenn.com/oracle-at-delphi.html |date=2012-04-02 }} ''Medb hErren''</ref>

In accordance with this definitive statement, such scholars as Frederick Poulson, E. R. Dodds, Joseph Fontenrose, and Saul Levin all stated that there were no vapors and no chasm. For the decades to follow, scientists and scholars believed the ancient descriptions of a sacred, inspiring pneuma to be fallacious. During 1950, the French [[Hellenic studies|hellenist]] [[Pierre Amandry]], who had worked at Delphi and later directed the French excavations there, concurred with Oppé's pronouncements, claiming that gaseous emissions were not even possible in a volcanic zone such as Delphi. Neither Oppé nor Amandry were geologists, though, and no geologists had been involved in the debate up to that point.<ref name=adv />

Subsequent re-examination of the French excavations, however, has shown that this consensus may have been mistaken. Broad (2007) demonstrates that a French photograph of the excavated interior of the temple clearly depicts a springlike pool as well as a number of small vertical fissures, indicating numerous pathways by which vapors could enter the base of the temple.<ref>{{Harvnb|Broad|2007|p=146-147}}: "[A] French photo of the temple's interior showed not only a spring-like pool but fissures... in the bedrock, suggesting a specific pathway by which intoxicating gases could have risen into the oracle's sanctum... What delighted de Boer so much was not the verification of the spring-like pool at the heart of the chasm, as the revelation of the bedrock's composition... there right above the waterline, the photograph clearly showed vertical fissures running through the bedrock.  No denial could hide that fact, no scholarly disclaimer could deny the reality.... [The] cracks ...[showed] evidence of tectonic jolts and protracted flows of mineralized water."</ref>

During the 1980s, the interdisciplinary team of geologist Jelle Zeilinga de Boer,<ref>[http://www.wesleyan.edu/ees/people/emeritus.html Jelle Zeilinga de Boer] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506231049/http://www.wesleyan.edu/ees/people/emeritus.html |date=2006-05-06 }} – Retrieved on 2006-10-01.</ref> archaeologist John R. Hale,<ref>[http://www.louisville.edu/a-s/lbst/staff/jhale.html John R. Hale] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714234412/http://www.louisville.edu/a-s/lbst/staff/jhale.html |date=2006-07-14 }} – Retrieved on 2006-10-01.</ref> forensic chemist Jeffrey P. Chanton,<ref>[http://www.leopoldleadership.org/content/fellows/search-detail.jsp?id=106 Jeffrey P. Chanton] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20050407231545/http://www.leopoldleadership.org/content/fellows/search-detail.jsp?id=106 |date=2005-04-07 }} – Retrieved on 2006-10-01.</ref> and toxicologist Henry R. Spiller<ref>[http://www.krpc.com/index.html Henry R. Spiller] – Retrieved on 2006-10-01. [https://archive.today/20060512104245/http://www.krpc.com/index.html Dead link Archived]</ref> investigated the site at Delphi using this photograph and other sources as evidence, as part of a United Nations survey of all active [[Fault (geology)|faults]] in Greece.<ref name=med />

Jelle Zeilinga de Boer saw evidence of a fault line in Delphi that lay under the ruined temple.
During several expeditions, they discovered two major fault lines, one lying north–south, the Kerna fault, and the other lying east–west, the Delphic fault, which parallels the shore of the [[Corinthian Gulf]]. The [[rift]] of the Gulf of Corinth is one of the most geologically active sites on Earth; shifts there impose immense strains on nearby fault lines, such as those below Delphi. The two faults cross one another, and they intersect right below where the {{Lang|grc-latn|adyton}} was probably located. (The actual, original oracle chamber had been destroyed by the moving faults, but there is strong structural evidence that indicates where it was most likely located.){{sfn|Broad|2007|p=155-157}}

They also found evidence for underground passages and chambers, and drains for spring water. Additionally, they discovered at the site formations of [[travertine]], a form of calcite created when water flows through limestone and dissolves [[calcium carbonate]], which is later redeposited. Further investigation revealed that deep beneath the Delphi region lies a [[bitumen|bituminous]] deposit, rich in [[hydrocarbons]] and full of pitch, that has a petrochemical content as high as 20%. Friction created by earthquakes heat the bituminous layers resulting in vaporization of the hydrocarbons which rise to the surface through small fissures in the rock.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=155-157}}

=== Illusions in the ''{{Lang|grc-latn|adyton}}'' ===
It has been disputed as to how the ''[[adyton]]'' was organized, but it appears clear that this temple was unlike any other in [[ancient Greece]]. The small chamber was located below the main floor of the temple and offset to one side, perhaps constructed specifically over the crossing faults.<ref>In the French excavation report on the temple, [[Fernand Courby]] shows that the ''adyton'' was unlike those found in other temples as it was not central, but on the southwestern side, interrupting the normal symmetry of the Doric temple.  It was divided into two areas, one small area 9 by 16 feet for the oracle, one for the supplicant.  Modern research reported by Broad (p. 37) suggests that both the supplicant and the Pythia descended a flight of five steps into a small room within the temple with its own low ceiling.

Walter Miller has argued that the stone block of 3.5–4 feet that Courby described as being part of the floor was in fact the site where the oracle sat. It showed a square 6-inch hole, widening to 9 inches, immediately under the triangular grooves for the tripod.  Strange channels, possibly to carry water from the spring, surrounded the tripodal grooves. That these had in fact carried waters for long periods was confirmed by the layers of travertine that encrusted it.  Nothing like this has been found at any other Greek temple. Holland (1933) argues that these channels and the hollow nature of the ''omphalos'' found by the French would channel the vapors of intoxicant gases.</ref> The intimate chamber allowed the escaping vapors to be contained in quarters close enough to provoke intoxicating effects. Plutarch reports that the temple was filled with a sweet smell when the "deity" was present:

{{quotation|Not often nor regularly, but occasionally and fortuitously, the room in which they seat the god's consultants is filled with a fragrance and breeze, as if the ''adyton'' were sending forth the essences of the sweetest and most expensive perfumes from a spring|[[Plutarch]], ''Moralia'' 437c).}}

De Boer's research caused him to propose [[ethylene]] as a gas known to possess this sweet odor.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=172}} Toxicologist Henry R. Spiller stated that inhalation of even a small amount of ethylene can cause both benign trances and euphoric psychedelic experiences. Other effects include physical detachment, loss of inhibitions, the relieving of pain, and rapidly changing moods without dulling consciousness. He also noted that excessive doses can cause confusion, agitation, delirium, and loss of muscle coordination.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=212-214}}

[[Anesthesiologist]] [[Isabella Coler Herb]] found that a dose of ethylene gas up to 20% induced a trance in which subjects could sit up, hear questions and answer them logically, though with altered speech patterns, and they might lose some awareness and sensitivity in their hands and feet. After recovery, they had no recollection of what had happened. With a dose higher than 20%, the patients lost control over their limbs and might thrash wildly, groaning and staggering. All these hallucinogenic symptoms match Plutarch's description of the Pythia, whom he had witnessed many times.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/ark/stories/s1266794.htm Interview with John R. Hale on the Delphic Oracle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070602183338/http://www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/ark/stories/s1266794.htm |date=2007-06-02 }}, ABC News, Australia – (Retrieved on 2006-04-20)</ref>

During 2001, water samples from the Kerna spring, uphill from the temple and now diverted to the nearby town of Delphi, yielded evidence of 0.3 parts per million of ethylene.<ref>{{Harvnb|Broad|2007|p=198}}. Methane (15.3 parts per million) and [[ethane]] (0.2 ppm) were also detected in the Kerna sample. However, the intoxicating effects of ethylene are more powerful than those of [[methane]] or ethane.</ref> It is likely that in ancient times, higher concentrations of ethylene or other gases emerged in the temple from these springs.<ref>"the Kerna spring, once alive but now vanished since Greek engineers had re-routed its waters to supply the town of Delphi"  Tests from nearby sites showed that the concentration of ethylene at Kerna was ten times that at other nearby springs.  In an interview reported in Broad (2006, p. 152), de Boer stated that "the Kerna sample, because of the spring's rerouting, had to be drawn from a city's holding tank... letting some of the gas escape as it sat... and lessened the water concentrations.  If so the actual levels of the [[methane]], [[ethane]] and [[ethylene]] that came out of the ground would have been higher".</ref>{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=194-195}} While likely in the context of the ethylene gas theory, there is no evidence to support the diminishing ethylene concentration statement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Foster |first1=Jay |last2=Lehoux |first2=Daryn |date=January 2008 |title=A mighty wind |journal=Clinical Toxicology |language=en |volume=46 |issue=10 |pages=1098–1099 |doi=10.1080/15563650802334028 |pmid=18821146 |issn=1556-3650|doi-access= }}</ref>

Frequent [[earthquake]]s produced by Greece's location at the clashing intersection of three [[tectonic plates]] could have caused the observed cracking of the limestone, and the opening of new channels for hydrocarbons entering the flowing waters of the Kassotis. This would cause the admixture of ethylene to fluctuate, increasing and decreasing the potency of the drug. It has been suggested that the waning of the Oracle after the era of Roman Emperor [[Hadrian]] was due in part to a long period without earthquakes in the area.

===Political and Diplomatic Role of the Oracle===
For the oracle, the shrine’s pan-Hellenic reputation relied on its perceived neutrality, which it maintained by avoiding overt favoritism toward specific city-states or factions. However, since the oracles tended to be neutral, which means it often resulted to be ambiguous. Such oracles will allow people to have different interpretations or often misinterpret the words. For example, during the Persian Wars, the Delphic Oracle initially advised submission to the Persians. It is a stance reflecting the pro-Persian sentiments of some Delphic officials. However, the Athenian leaders reinterpreted subsequent oracles to rally Greek resistance.{{snf|Fontenrose|1978}}

This adaptability shows Delphic Oracle’s role as a mediator rather than a direct political force. Consultants’ interpretations often shaped the oracle’s political impact, correlating its ambiguous messages with their agendas.

Modern scholarship continues to debate the Pythia’s role in ancient Greek society. The discovery of geological explanations for her trance states has provided a scientific explanation for ancient myths in modern understanding.

This evolving interpretation of the Pythia reflects the growing understanding towards ancient religion, helping people to understand the complexity of the relations between God and people in ancient times. By re-evaluating the Pythia’s role, they can be seen both a sacred symbol and an active participant in the oracular process.