"Know Thyself"; "Avoid Excess"

During our drive to Delphi, we saw more wind turbines on the mountains and solar panels in the fields, and we drove through some of the largest crop--and especially cotton fields--in Greece. The Greeks, and other Europeans, are careful to preserve their countryside from suburbs and other urban spreads, keeping most of their population in the cities themselves. Europeans are very concerned about pollution; Ryan commented on how, in Germany, he saw many more people on bikes and that bike trails, alongside roads, were common. Other people we talked to mentioned how much more common public transportation, compared to individual cars, is in Europe. We made a quick photo stop at a beautiful lookout on Parnassus Mountain on our way to the Oracle of Delphi, which was an exhilarating experience of natural purity.

Oracle of Delphi exuded intellectual vibrance, and the energies that flow in that environment are positively remarkable. Both inscribed on the Temple of Apollo and the atmosphere of Parnassus, are the notions, in Greek: “Know Thyself” & “Avoid Excess.” The tour guide was phenomenal, giving a presentation that reinforced the effect of Delphi; she stressed that the questions asked yield the answers they deserved. Delphi was the center of the Greek world, where people from every polis (city-state) would gather to ask wisdom of the Oracle. Before every colony was founded, from Barcelona to Alexandria, the Oracle of Delphi had to be consulted first. Many years later, Theodosius the Great, an Eastern Roman emperor, outlawed paganism and had Delphi shut down. Eventually, the entire site was buried under rockslides and dirt and a village was built over it. The British and French rediscovered Delphi in the 1800s, relocated the village, and restored the site to its current condition. Even now, it is still a far cry from the lavish and richly decorated temple complex it once was. Our entire journey was under the sight of Mount Parnassus, a tall and rocky natural monument. After the enlightening presentation, many of us journeyed up the entire side of the slope to the stadium where the Pythian Games were held during Roman times. We toured the Delphi museum, where we found a lot of the remaining art and statues from the original setting. That Oracle and that entire side of the mountain had to be incredibly invigorating in its prime. The essence of Delphi is a perfect model of the human condition. The way things unfold for us has so much to do with what choices we make, and the best way to do that as leaders did in antiquity is to craft our question very carefully in order to evoke the knowledge we seek. We must clarify both sides of a decision as distinctly as possible to allow reason, or in ancient Greeks’ cases, the priestess, illuminate the favorable option.

We then made our way to lunch at Omfalos which may have been my favorite restaurant we went to; they were impressive with the way they do business. As soon as we all got seated they presented us with options, showing the fresh cut meats and ingredients. Then, instead of the usual pitchers of somewhat cool tap water, they brought us glass liters of cold, fresh tasting water, free of charge.  The olive oil drizzled bread, which they had no problem bringing more of when we devoured the first basket, was wonderfully seasoned and made from quality ingredients, it seemed, as is tradition in much of Europe . The souvlaki and pasta was delicious, and after lunch, we all were given slips of paper worth 15% off in their gift shop, which brought them even more commerce. There was a table full of Greek children, and they all had “fizzy water;”   Greek youth seem to be very trendy, as on another occasion I noticed that about three fourths of a group of adolescent students wearing the flashy American sports teams’ snapback caps. It seems like if it’s cool, you better be doing it, or you’ll be an outcast.

After a beautiful ride along the coast to our next hotel in Patras, we admired at the scenery of mountains and sea while digesting the life-changing experiences of the day. We were able to enjoy some time at the beach before dinner and swim in the Corinthian Sea, dodging numerous sea urchins.  After dinner at the hotel, we had the group in full together at a table discussing the day and other observations from the trip creating pleasant interaction.