Editing Delphi (section)

{{short description|Archaeological site and town in Greece}}
{{For|the modern town|Delphi (modern town)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Delphi
| native_name    = {{lang|el|Δελφοί|italic=no}}
| relief         = yes
| image          = Delphi, Greece - panoramio.jpg
| alt            = Delphic Tholos
| caption        = The Athena temple complex, including the [[Tholos of Delphi|Delphic Tholos]]. The background is the Pleistos River Valley.
| image_upright  = 1.3
| map_type       = Greece
| coordinates    = {{Coord|38.4823|N|22.5013|E|type:landmark_region:GR|format=dms|display=inline,title|}}
| map_size       = 290px
| location       = [[Phocis]], Greece
| map_dot_label  = Delphi
| type           = Ruins of an ancient sacred precinct
| height         = Top of a scarp {{convert|500|m|ft}} maximum off the valley floor
| discovered     = 
| excavations    = 
| archaeologists = [[French School at Athens]]
| cultures       = [[Ancient Greece]]
| ownership      = Hellenic Republic
| management     = Ministry of Culture and Sports
| public_access  = Accessible for a fee
| other_designation =
| website = {{cite web | author=E. Partida | title=Delphi | website=Odysseus | publisher=Ministry of Culture and Sports, Hellenic Republic | year=2012 | url=http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2507}}
| notes = 
| designation1          = WHS
| designation1_offname  = Archaeological Site of Delphi
| designation1_date     = 1987 <small>(12th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
| designation1_number   = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/393 393]
| designation1_criteria = i, ii, iii, iv and vi
| designation1_type     = Cultural
| designation1_free1name = Region
| designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Europe|Europe]]
}}
[[File:Map greek sanctuaries-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|Delphi among the main Greek sanctuaries]]
'''Delphi''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɛ|l|f|aɪ|,_|ˈ|d|ɛ|l|f|i}};<ref>{{cite book |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |url=https://archive.org/details/longman-pronunciation-dictionary/page/209/mode/2up |first=John C. |last= Wells |publisher=Longman |location=Harlow, England |year=2000 |orig-date=1990 |edition=new |isbn=978-0-582-36467-7 |page=209}}</ref> {{Langx|el|{{lang|grc|Δελφοί}}}} {{IPA|el|ðelˈfi|}}),{{efn|1=In English, the name ''Delphi'' is pronounced either as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɛ|l|f|aɪ}} or, in a more Greek-like manner, as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɛ|l|f|iː}}. The bottom line on the etymology is that Delphoi is related to delphus, "womb", which is consistent with the omphalos stone there being considered the "navel" of the universe and the site being the uterus of [[Gaia|Earth]]. The delphis, or "dolphin" connection, is an accidental result of the dolpins being named from their uterus-like appearance. The full etymology is to be found in Frisk.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title=δελφίς, Δελφοί, δελφύς | encyclopedia=Griechisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch | first=Hjalmar | last=Frisk | volume=Band I | year=1960 | location=Heidelberg | publisher=Carl Winter}}</ref> The inscriptional variants, Dalphoi, Dolphoi, Derphoi,<ref>Also given in {{cite encyclopedia | title=Δελφοί | encyclopedia=A Greek-English Lexicon | author1=Henry George Liddell | author2=Robert Scott | author3=Henry Stuart Jones | year=1940 | publisher=Perseus Digital Library | url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aalphabetic+letter%3D*d%3Aentry+group%3D18%3Aentry%3D*delfoi%2F}}</ref> might appear to be dialects, especially Dalphoi, usually taken as Phocian, as the Phocians spoke Doric. Frisk labels them as secondary developments, including the apparent Doric original a in Dalphoi. It could well be Phocian, but was not originally Doric. The true dialect form, Aeolic Belphoi, with Delphoi, must be reflexes of a Bronze Age *G<sup>w</sup>elp<sup>h</sup>oi, which does not have an original "a".<ref>{{cite book | title=Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean | author1=Alice Mouton | author2=Ian Rutherford | author3=Ilya Yakubovich | year=2013 | location=Leiden | publisher=Brill | page=66}}</ref> Frisk's Proto-Indoeuropean is *g<sup>w</sup>elb<sup>h</sup>-u-, with a -u- extension. Without the extension there is no relation between Delphoi and delphus. However, Frisk, a major Indo-Europeanist, cites some parallels of -woi- to -oi- in other words. The evidence from mythology adds strength to his hypothesis. Without the w, Delphoi is not related to Delphus, but only seems so. The etymology of dolphin is fairly standard.}} in legend previously called '''Pytho''' (Πυθώ), was an ancient [[sacred precinct]] and the seat of [[Pythia]], the major [[oracle]] who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient [[Classical antiquity|classical world]]. The [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] considered the centre of the world to be in Delphi, marked by the stone monument known as the [[Omphalos of Delphi]] (navel).

According to the [[Suda]], Delphi took its name from the [[Delphyne]], the she-serpent (''[[Drakaina (mythology)|drakaina]]'') who lived there and was killed by the god [[Apollo]] (in other accounts the serpent was the male serpent (''drakon'') [[Python (mythology)|Python]]).<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/pi/3137| title = Suda, pi,3137}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/delta/210| title = Suda, delta,210}}</ref>

The sacred precinct occupies a delineated region on the south-western slope of [[Mount Parnassus]].

It is now an extensive archaeological site, and since 1938 a part of [[Mount Parnassus|Parnassos National Park]]. The precinct is recognized by [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]] in having had a great influence in the ancient world, as evidenced by the various monuments built there by most of the important ancient Greek city-states, demonstrating their fundamental [[Hellenic civilisation|Hellenic]] unity.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web |url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/393 |title = Archaeological Site of Delphi |website = World Heritage Convention |publisher = United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization |access-date = 23 October 2022}}</ref>

Adjacent to the sacred precinct is [[Delphi (modern town)|a small modern town of the same name]].