The Pythia (pronounced /ˈpɪθiə/; Ancient Greek: Πυθία [pyːˈtʰíaː]) was the name given to the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, a place in central Greece. She was the oracle of Delphi, a person believed to receive messages from the gods. Her title was sometimes called the Pythoness in English.
The Pythia was first known to exist by the 8th century BC, though some sources suggest the temple may have been older, dating back as far as 1400 BC. She was believed to speak under the influence of Apollo, a Greek god. By the end of the 7th century BC, the Pythia became the most important oracle in Greece and remained active until the late 4th century AD. During this time, the Delphic Oracle was the most respected and influential oracle among the Greeks, and the Pythia was considered one of the most powerful women of the classical world. The Delphic Oracle is one of the best-recorded religious practices of ancient Greece. Many famous writers, including Aeschylus, Aristotle, Herodotus, and Plato, wrote about the oracle.
However, details about how the Pythia performed her role are unclear. Ancient writers from the classical period (6th to 4th centuries BC) did not explain the process, assuming it was well known. Later writers, from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD, gave different descriptions. One common idea was that the Pythia spoke in a confused or excited state caused by vapors rising from the ground. Priests then interpreted her words and turned them into poetic verses called dactylic hexameter, which are still found in Greek literature. Some scholars, such as Joseph Fontenrose and Lisa Maurizio, disagree, arguing that ancient sources show the Pythia spoke clearly and gave prophecies in her own voice. For example, Herodotus, who wrote in the 5th century BC, described the Pythia speaking in dactylic hexameter.
Name
The name Pythia comes from the Greek phrase "pythia hiereia," which means "priestess of the Pythian Apollo." This name is connected to "Pythios," a title for Apollo. The word "Pythios" is linked to "Pytho," the original name of Delphi in Greek mythology. The name Pythia is likely related to Python, the name of a mythical snake that Apollo killed near Delphi. The Greek word for this place, "Pytho," comes from the verb "púthein," meaning "to rot." This refers to the sweet, unpleasant smell that came from the decaying body of the snake after Apollo killed it.
Origins
The Delphic Oracle may have existed in some form as early as 1400 BC, during the middle period of Mycenaean Greece (1750–1050 BC). Evidence suggests that Apollo took over the shrine when priests from Delos arrived in the 8th century BC, replacing an earlier dedication to Gaia. This change in the 8th century, making the Oracle a shrine to Apollo, is linked to the growing importance of Corinth and sites in the Corinthian Gulf.
The earliest written story about the Delphic Oracle’s origin is found in the Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo. Scholars believe this hymn was written around 580 to 570 BC. It describes how Apollo chose his first priests, who were Cretans from Knossos traveling to Pylos. Apollo, known as Delphinios (a name related to dolphins), appeared to them in the form of a dolphin and led them to a place where they would receive rich offerings. The Cretans followed him, singing a song called "Iē Paiēon," which was likely a type of hymn. "Paean" may have been how Apollo was known during the Mycenaean period.
Scholars like G. L. Huxley note that the hymn suggests Cretan priests once served at Delphi. Robin Lane Fox points out that Cretan artifacts, such as bronze and sculptures, have been found at Delphi from the 8th century onward. These items support the idea that Cretans were connected to the site. Hesiod, an early poet, visited Delphi near the end of the 8th century and saw the omphalos, a stone believed to mark the center of the world.
Later stories describe other origins for the Oracle. One, written by Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC, tells of a goat herder named Coretas. He noticed a goat that fell into a crack in the earth and behaved strangely. When Coretas entered the chasm, he felt a divine presence and could see the past and future. Villagers began visiting the site, experiencing trances and convulsions. A shrine was built there, and people started worshiping there by 1600 BC. After some deaths, the villagers chose a young woman to act as a link to the divine. Eventually, she spoke for the gods.
Earlier myths say the Oracle was first associated with the goddesses Themis and Phoebe, and the site was sacred to Gaia. Later, it became sacred to Poseidon, the god of earthquakes. During the Greek Dark Age (11th to 9th century BC), it was believed Apollo took over the temple, driving out the twin guardian serpents of Gaia. His body wrapped the serpents around the caduceus. Later myths claimed Phoebe or Themis gave the site to Apollo, justifying the change. Some stories suggest Poseidon was appeased by a new site in Troizen.
Diodorus wrote that the Pythia, the Oracle’s priestess, was originally a young virgin. Her purity was important for her role with Apollo. However, a story tells of Echecrates, a man who kidnapped and violated the virgin Pythia. Because of this, the Delphians passed a law requiring future priestesses to be elderly women aged 50. They would wear the costume of a virgin as a reminder of the old tradition.
Scholar Martin Litchfield West notes that the Pythia’s practices, such as sitting on a tripod and entering a trance, resemble shamanistic traditions from Central Asia. However, there is no direct evidence of such connections. William Godwin described the tripod as having holes. When the Pythia inhaled vapors from the chasm, her body changed: her hair stood on end, her skin color shifted, her heart raced, and her voice seemed to come from a supernatural source.
Organization of the Oracle
Since the first operation of the oracle at the Temple of Delphi, it was believed that the god Apollo lived within a laurel tree, his holy plant, and gave oracles for the future through the rustling of the leaves. It was also said that the art of divination was taught to the god by the three winged sisters of Parnassus, the Thriae, when Apollo was grazing his cattle there. The Thriae once used a Kliromanteion (an oracle by lot, or cleromancy) in that area, and it is possible that this was the first oracle of Delphi: throwing lots into a container, then drawing them, with their colors and shapes holding special meaning.
Three oracles operated in Delphi in succession: the chthonion, which used egkoimisi (a method involving sleeping in the holy place to experience a revealing dream); the Kliromanteion; and finally the Apollonian, with the laurel. However, after the introduction of the cult of Dionysus at Delphi, the god who inspired his followers with ecstasy and madness, the Delphic god gave oracles through the Pythia, who fell into a trance under the influence of vapors and fumes from the inner sanctum of the Oracle. The Pythia sat on a tall gilded tripod above the opening. In the past, the Pythia was a young virgin, but after Echecrates of Thessaly kidnapped and violated a young Pythia in the late 3rd century BC, an older woman over fifty was chosen instead, who dressed and wore jewelry to resemble a young girl. According to tradition, Phemonoe was the first Pythia.
Though little is known about how the priestess was chosen, the Pythia was likely selected, after the death of her predecessor, from a group of priestesses at the temple. These women were natives of Delphi, required to live soberly and have good character. Some were married, but once chosen as Pythia, they gave up family life, marriage, and personal identity. During the height of the oracle’s popularity, the Pythia may have been a woman from an influential family, well educated in geography, politics, history, philosophy, and the arts. Later, uneducated peasant women were chosen for the role, which may explain why poetic prophecies in early periods were later given only in prose. Often, the priestess’s answers were written in hexameter by a priest. Archaeologist John Hale noted:
“The Pythia was sometimes a noble from an aristocratic family, sometimes a peasant, sometimes rich, sometimes poor, sometimes old, sometimes young, sometimes a highly educated woman to whom someone like the high priest or philosopher Plutarch would dedicate essays, other times a woman who could not write her own name. It seems aptitude, not status, made these women eligible to be Pythias and speak for the god.”
The role of a priestess, especially the Pythia, was a respected career for Greek women. Priestesses enjoyed many freedoms and rewards, such as freedom from taxes, the right to own property and attend public events, a salary and housing provided by the state, a wide range of duties depending on their affiliation, and often gold crowns.
During the main period of the oracle’s popularity, as many as three women served as Pythia, a tradition linked to the triad, with two taking turns giving prophecies and one kept in reserve. Only one day of the month could the priestess be consulted.
Plutarch said the Pythia’s life was shortened by her service to Apollo. The sessions were exhausting. After each period, the Pythia was said to be as tired as a runner after a race or a dancer after an ecstatic dance, which may have affected her health.
Other officials served the oracle alongside the Pythia. After 200 BC, there were two priests of Apollo, who managed the entire sanctuary. Plutarch, who served as a priest in the late first century and early second century AD, provided the most information about the oracle’s organization at that time. Before 200 BC, when the temple was dedicated to Apollo, there was likely only one priest of Apollo. Priests were chosen from Delphi’s main citizens and appointed for life. In addition to overseeing the oracle, priests conducted sacrifices at other Apollo festivals and managed the Pythian Games. Earlier arrangements, before the temple became dedicated to Apollo, are not documented.
Other officials associated with the oracle are less well known. These include the hosioi (‘holy ones’) and the prophētai (‘prophets’), from which the English word “prophet” is derived, meaning “one who foretells.” The prophētai are mentioned in literary sources, but their role is unclear. Some suggest they interpreted the Pythia’s prophecies or rephrased her words into verse, while others argue the term refers broadly to any sanctuary officials, including the Pythia. There were five hosioi, whose duties are unknown but may have been related to the oracle’s operation.
In traditions linked to Apollo, the oracle gave prophecies during the nine warmest months of the year. During winter, Apollo was said to leave his temple, replaced by his divine half-brother Dionysus, whose tomb was also in the temple. It is unclear whether the Oracle participated in Dionysian rites with the Maenads or Thyades in the Korykion cave on Mount Parnassus, though Plutarch mentions his friend Clea served as both a priestess to Apollo and to Dionysus. Male priests had their own ceremonies for the dying and resurrecting god. Apollo was said to return at the start of spring, on the seventh day of the month of Bysios, his birthday. This would align with the absence of the goddess Demeter in winter, part of earlier traditions.
Once a month, the oracle underwent purification rites, including fasting, to prepare the Pythia for communication with the divine. On the seventh day of each month, the Pythia was led by two priests, her face veiled in purple. A priest would then declare:
“Servant of the Delphian Apollo, go to the Castallian Spring, wash in its silvery eddies, and return cleansed to the temple. Guard your lips from offense to those who ask for oracles. Let the God’s answer come pure from all private fault.”
The Pythia would then bathe naked in the Castalian Spring and drink the holier waters of the Cassotis, closer to the temple, where a naiad with magical powers was said to live. Euripides described this purification ceremony, beginning with the priest Ion dancing on Mount Parnassus, performing duties within the temple, and sprinkling the floor with holy water. These ceremonies always occurred on the seventh day of the month, sacred to Apollo. Then, escorted by the hosioi, an aristocratic council of five, and a crowd of oracular servants, the Pythia would arrive at the temple. Consultants, carrying laurel branches sacred to Apollo, approached the temple along the Sacred Way, bringing a young goat for sacrifice in the temple’s forecourt and a monetary fee.
Temple of Apollo
The ruins of the Temple of Delphi that can be seen today were built in the 4th century BC. This temple was a type of building called a peripteral Doric structure, meaning it had columns around its sides. It was built on top of an older temple from the 6th century BC, which itself was built on the site of a temple constructed in the 7th century BC by architects named Trophonios and Agamedes.
The 6th-century BC temple was called the "Temple of Alcmaeonidae" to honor the Athenian family that paid for its rebuilding after a fire destroyed the earlier version. This temple had six columns at the front and 15 columns in total, arranged in a 6 by 15 pattern. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 373 BC. The sculptures on the temple’s pediments were created by Praxias and Androsthenes of Athens. The new temple built later had the same 6 by 15 column layout around its base. Inside the temple was the adyton, a sacred room where the Delphic oracle was located, and where the Pythia, the oracle’s priestess, performed her duties.
The temple had the phrase "Know thyself," one of the Delphic maxims, carved into its walls. Some modern Greek writers believe other maxims were also carved there. These maxims were said to be given by Apollo through the Oracle or by the Seven Sages of Greece. The temple remained standing until AD 390, when the Roman emperor Theodosius I destroyed it and most of its statues and artworks to eliminate all signs of paganism.
Scientific explanations
There have been many attempts to find a scientific explanation for the Pythia's inspiration. Most often, these refer to an observation made by Plutarch, who served as a high priest at Delphi for many years. He noted that the oracular powers of the sibyl seemed connected to vapors from the Kerna spring, which flowed beneath the temple. Some people have suggested these vapors might have been gases that could cause hallucinations.
Recent geological studies suggest that gas emissions from a crack in the Earth's surface could have inspired the Delphic Oracle to "connect with the divine." Some researchers believe ethylene gas may have caused the Pythia's state of inspiration. This idea is based on symptoms that match those of ethylene, its use as an anesthetic, and the smell of the chamber described by Plutarch. Traces of ethylene have been found in the waters of the Castallian spring, which now supplies water to the modern town of Delphi. However, some scholars argue ethylene is unlikely, while others suggest benzene, methane, carbon dioxide, or hydrogen sulfide as possible gases. They note that the crack itself might have been caused by an earthquake.
Oleander, a plant, has also been studied in modern toxicology. The Pythia used oleander during the oracular process, chewing its leaves and inhaling its smoke. The plant's toxic parts can cause symptoms similar to epilepsy, a condition called the "sacred disease." This might have led people to believe the Pythia was possessed by the spirit of Apollo, making her a prophet. Oleander fumes, described as the "spirit of Apollo," could have come from a fire pit in an underground chamber and escaped through a crack in the temple floor. This idea matches findings from archaeological digs that uncovered an underground space beneath the temple. This explanation helps explain the long-debated "spirit" and "chasm" of Delphi, which have been studied by many scientists for over a century.
No matter which gases were present, colder winter weather would reduce gas release in the chamber. This might explain why summer deities were not mentioned during winter months. A toxic gas also explains why the Pythia could only enter her chamber once a month, to ensure the right gas concentration and to protect her health from harmful fumes.
In 1892, a team of French archaeologists led by Théophile Homolle excavated Delphi. They found no cracks or signs of gas production, contradicting ancient writings. In 1904, Adolphe Paul Oppé argued that no chasm or vapor existed, that natural gases could not cause visions, and that reports of the priestess having violent reactions were unreliable. He believed ancient accounts were made up by travelers tricked by local guides.
Scholars like Frederick Poulson, E. R. Dodds, Joseph Fontenrose, and Saul Levin agreed with Oppé, claiming there were no vapors or chasm. For decades, scientists believed ancient descriptions of a sacred "pneuma" (spirit) were incorrect. In 1950, Pierre Amandry, a French expert, also denied the possibility of gas emissions in Delphi, even though he was not a geologist.
Later reviews of the French excavations showed Oppé’s conclusion might have been wrong. A 2007 study by Broad found a French photograph of the temple’s interior showing a pool and small cracks, suggesting pathways for gases to enter the temple.
In the 1980s, a team of scientists, including geologist Jelle Zeilinga de Boer, archaeologist John R. Hale, chemist Jeffrey P. Chanton, and toxicologist Henry R. Spiller, studied Delphi. They found evidence of two fault lines beneath the temple: the Kerna fault (north-south) and the Delphic fault (east-west). These faults cross near the adyton, the original oracle chamber, which was destroyed by shifting earth. The area has underground passages, water drains, and travertine, a type of rock formed when water flows through limestone. Deep beneath Delphi lies a layer of bitumen, rich in hydrocarbons, which can release gases when heated by earthquakes.
The layout of the adyton is unclear, but the temple was unique in ancient Greece. The small chamber was located below the main temple floor and possibly built over the fault lines. Its design allowed vapors to gather in a confined space, creating effects that might have been interpreted as divine inspiration. Plutarch described the temple as filled with a sweet scent when the "deity" was present:
"Occasionally, the room where the god’s consultants sit is filled with a fragrance and breeze, as if the adyton were sending forth the essences of the sweetest perfumes from a spring."
— Plutarch, Moralia 437c
Zeilinga de Boer proposed ethylene as the gas responsible for the sweet smell. Toxicologist Henry R. Spiller noted that inhaling small amounts of ethylene can cause trances, euphoria, and altered moods without losing consciousness. Larger doses may cause confusion, agitation, or loss of coordination.
Anesthesiologist Isabella Coler Herb found that ethylene gas at 20% concentration could induce a trance where people could sit up, answer questions logically, and lose some awareness in their hands and feet. After recovery, they had no memory of the experience. Higher doses caused loss of limb control.