Back in the good old days, and by that I mean a long, very long, like AD-time ago, there was this place in continental Greece called Delphi: a temple near the town bearing the same name that was dedicated to Apollo, the Olympian God of, among other things, Beauty, Light, Youth, Medicine and the Arts. An admittedly heavy portfolio, but the view from Olympus was nice, the air thin and the faith of the Ancient Greeks so fervent that one could hardly contemplate Apollo quitting his job...

Although Delphi was by far not the only temple dedicated to Apollo, it was probably the most scenic and, as far as I am concerned, my preferred sanctuary in Greece. It is imposing, trouble and mysterious by foggy weather, built in a fabulous flora, with stunning views over the surrounding mountains. On a sunny day, as in my pics, one could stay for hours, just watching the scenery and trying to imagine what life could have been like when Olympus had more Gods than all today's religions taken together.

The particularity of Delphi was a lady called Pythia. And, apart from the eternal Jimi Hendrix (“excuse me, but I kiss the sky!”) very few people have reached Hall-of-fame status for being constantly high. Pythia is one of them. You see, Pythia was an oracle. That's how she earned her living. Not that bad, if you think of it: living in a stunning place, benefiting from the eternal gratitude of kings and four-star generals that remained in awe in front of her and eternally thankful for advising them what to do in difficult circumstances. A thing she did after inhaling psychotropic substances, for free; an activity that could put you in serious trouble and bring you a hangover but absolutely no fame nowadays. Still one that Pythia executed with pleasure after sitting on her high stool -that could well be the ancestor of today's bar stools- after drinking water from the Kastalia fountain and chewing substantial amounts of laurel leaves as well.

But there was a slight downside to this kind of frenzied prophecies, mainly due to the fact that she usually got so high that it was hard to grasp what she said, or meant for that matter, unless one got high as well. Of course hardly as high as Pythia on her three footed stool, almost into a trance and ethyl coma and engaging into what one could easily describe as senseless moaning, shouting and speaking. The advantage of the whole enterprise being that, when people need to believe in something, they are eager to interpret in a comprehensible manner almost anything, even Pythia's gibberish.

The issue of where these fumes came is still debated. Some think the sanctuary was built on a volcanic schism and she just stood above it, inhaling earth's exhaust fumes; others maintain that she burnt hardly recommendable plants and smelt them until she knocked herself senseless. A number of substances have been named in this context: methane, carbon dioxide (this is really weird), benzin (did it really exist at that time?), but Pythia seems to have taken her secret with her to Olympus.

One of her most known oracles is the one she gave when Athens was about to be attacked by the Persians, (actually Xerxes, the ur-enemy of Greeks) and she was asked to tell what could save Athens; and this she did by prophesying that “the wooden fortress” would save Athens. Some thought this meant they should shut themselves in Acropolis and wait it out, somehow neglecting the fact that Acropole was made of marble and stone. Others thought that she meant boats: a wall of boats protecting Athens by the sea like a wooden fortress. And since her prediction was systematically vague, when things turned out bad, real bad, it became clear it was the other option that should have been chosen: Acropolis and not the boats, or vice versa! But when things turned out well, well, it was party time in Delphi!

It is a free world, or so even ancient Greeks liked to think (despite thousands of slaves doing the tough jobs, while they debated Democracy and engaged in star-gazing), and one could think of a thousand reasons for wanting to reach trance on a stool in such a marvelous scenery. What remains a mystery to me though is what was in the mind of people who chose to believe a virgin that “kissed the sky” (in the later years it was decided that virgins were no more good for the job, and Pythias had to be at least 50 years old!). The fact that satellites, drones and hackers still did not exist to provide intelligence is not enough in my mind.

Since a kid I have been haunted by enigmatic Pythia (the name is etymologically related to “python” and the verb “to rot”, in Greek...). But another theory has it that it derives from the Greek word “Pathos” (Πάθος). I don't know why, but I go for that theory...