I think I must have pissed off Apollo by calling his twin sister butch,
because he did not put in an appearance at his temple today. Instead it
was freaking cold and rainy, but I had to be undeterred by the weather, because
how many times am I going to have the chance to visit Greece?
Today I went to Delphi. This is the oracle where the prophecy that
Oedipus was going to kill his father and marry his mother was made
(twice). It's also, according to Greek mythology, the center of the world
- Zeus released two eagles from the ends of the earth, and this is where they
met. You can't even believe the geography - the slopes of Mount Parnassos
fall away one after the next and nestled between them is the complex of
treasuries, temples, and even a theater (oh, those wacky ancient Greeks and
their love of a good play!). It's all ruins now, but I think that makes
it even better. Maybe it's my twentieth century mind, but a temple just
isn't a temple unless it's crumbling to bits.
 |
| Note: Definitely not a skinny, docile blonde |
There's no longer an oracle at Delphi. I thought I might apply for the
job, since I'm not really happy in Bahrain, but according to Lonely Planet, her
visions were induced by inhaling vapors, and drugs don't really coexist with a
Mormon lifestyle. Also, I can't really see myself being Apollo's type - I
imagine he's more into skinny, docile blondes (since most of the men in my life are).
 |
| The gymnasium of Ancient Delphi |
I also spent two hours talking to a 'good boy' (or so a random old Greek man
told me when he staggered up and engaged us in conversation...he had a badge on
his shirt that said he was with New York City School District Security
Services, but I have my doubts) from Canada named Kevin. He'd spent a
year teaching ESL in Korea - Pusan to be exact - and it was really good to talk
to a person who didn't roll their eyes every time I said, 'When I was in
Korea.' He admitted to having really bad travel karma, though, so maybe the rain was his
fault.
Today I went to Delphi. This is the oracle where the prophecy that
Oedipus was going to kill his father and marry his mother was made
(twice). It's also, according to Greek mythology, the center of the world
- Zeus released two eagles from the ends of the earth, and this is where they
met. You can't even believe the geography - the slopes of Mount Parnassos
fall away one after the next and nestled between them is the complex of
treasuries, temples, and even a theater (oh, those wacky ancient Greeks and
their love of a good play!). It's all ruins now, but I think that makes
it even better. Maybe it's my twentieth century mind, but a temple just
isn't a temple unless it's crumbling to bits. 
Ironically, I asked when I wrote this how many times I'd travel to Greece? It's been three times already, and I'd like to go again, when I have the right time off.
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