Delphi: A History of the Center of the Ancient World by Michael Scott (review)

In this engaging book, Scott covers not only the traditional ground (how did the oracle of Apollo at Delphi emerge as the preeminent arbiter of decisions throughout the ancient Greek world?) but also recounts the full breadth of the site’s almost fifteen-hundred-year ancient history, as well as its rediscovery and gradual reemergence in the fifteenth through twentieth centuries. Indeed, what elevates this book above standard scholarly accounts is its holistic view and its concern with why the oracle has had such influence not only in the ancient past but also in the modern period.

The book begins with a vivid account of what it was actually like to consult the oracle. In doing so, Scott examines the various theories that seek to explain how the priestess gave her oracular responses. Dismissing scholarly hypotheses involving chemically induced intoxication (for example, by ingesting laurel or breathing gases emanating from the rocky chasm), Scott prefers an explanation that considers the wider religious context of divine communication. He reminds us that “we have to imagine ourselves into a society in which oracular connection with the divine was a commonly accepted cultural activity in a world that was believed to be controlled by the gods.” In such a context, he suggests that the oracle at Delphi served as a part of the process of decision making in situations where consensus was hard to reach, noting that oracular responses were usually ambiguous and therefore only one step in the process of deliberation. In this way, Scott argues, oracular consultation “slowed down the decision process” and resulted in higher quality outcomes.

Following this persuasive explanation of the role of the oracle, Scott traces the history of the site from prehistoric times to the modern era, always with a keen eye for anecdotes and stories that illuminate the significance and meanings of the oracle in different eras and cultural contexts. The early chapters probe Greek myth and history, while later chapters cover the stories of the travelers and archaeologists who visited and worked at Delphi from the fifteenth century onward. Ironies and paradoxes abound, particularly in the later history of the site. For example, we learn that the so-called sacred way that tourists tread today was actually a creation of the sixth century CE and that, despite the growth of Christianity, pagan temples survived alongside Christian churches well into late antiquity. A significant rupture occurred in the early seventh century CE, when the site was destroyed by invading Slavs. After that time, Delphi disappeared from the map for eight hundred years before being rediscovered and gradually restored to prominence in the subsequent centuries. An important part of the final stages of this story is the role of humanizing and romanticizing Europeans in conjuring an idyllic image of Greece. Yet Scott does not neglect the importance of geopolitical concerns among the major powers as they competed in the nineteenth century for control of Greece’s cultural capital.