h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Delphi, Greece - A449165
Author: My name be Gnomon, so it be! Arrr! - U151503

This be the last of me Greek entries, me hearties, based on me jaunt to Greece last Easter.

May ye do yer worst to it!

Arr!

Great read, thank you.

By the way, is it "International Talk Like a " Day?

Yes, it is.

However did I guess?

Ooo arrr - or so
Fascinating entry, I know I've heard some of it before, other thinga are completely new to me.
Two questions and some nitpicks:

Athena Pronaia - who is she ? I only know Pallas Athene - Is she the same goddess ?

Pythian Games : what did they consist of ? The way you describe the space, i can't imagine that long distance running was part of it.

prophesies- prophecies ( my dictionary gives prophecies as noun and prophesies as verb).

to make the most ostentations offerings to the god. - ostentatious offerings

the path leaves the sanctuary and ascends steeply to the Stadium, where the Pythian Games. - ...Games were held/took place ?


A plate with picture of Apollo - ...with a picture..


Bel

Thanks, B'Elana, for spotting those typos. I love it when people read my entries in detail. You obviously have the same gift that I have, the ability to see typing errors in the middle of text.

I really don't know about Athena Pronaia. All the guide books give this name without any explanation. I assume she's the same goddess as Pallas Athena and Athena Parthena, but I'll have to do some research to find out.

I also don't know what sort of games they played at the Pythian Games, but this is something that is probably easy enough to find out.

'He would consult the oracle. There were many oracles, but the most important was the one at Delphi. For more than a thousand years, Delphi was a sacred place dedicated to the god Apollo and home to the Oracle.'

What's an oracle, then? A person? A book? A deity? An early attempt at cricket stumps? Presumably the Oracle is capitalised because it's a special oracle, but this introductory section needs a bit more explanation, as initially you presume we know what we're talking about when we may not.

'Note the bizarre rules that apply to Greek Museums - you can take photographs, but you are not allowed to use flash'

That's pretty standard in most museums to my knowledge, as it fades most dyes and paints and means you are more likely to buy a well-lit postcard in the gift shop.


I'm also going to point out that this is a very interesting Entry - especially the final section, which I found fascinating. Good job!

I thought the whole entry was about explaining the oracle, so I didn't have to explain it in the first paragraph. I'll think about this.

The bizarre bit about the rules is that you can photograph the artefacts, but that you can't photograph yourself standing beside or in front of the artefacts. I'll reword this to make it clearer.

I understand that the Entry is an explanation of the Oracle at Delphi, Gnomon - I just think that at the start when you mention other oracles elsewhere, it could do with a sentence explaining what an oracle physically was. It's the only bit of the Entry that isn't crystal clear.

Rich, go and read this one A14480804 and then come back and tell me Gnomon's entry isn't crystal clear

Oh, I've seen that

I'm only suggesting adding one sentence here, you know! I've already said that the rest is thoroughly enjoyable...

Yes, I know
Maybe I should direct pilgrim4truth to this PR, to make him/her realise what is needed, and that it's not about uneducated people who don't know Wittgenstein, Heisenberg at al. criticising his/her entry

Thanks, folks. I've amended the first paragraph to provide an explanation of "oracle" the first time I use the word. I've also reworded the museum rules paragraph so that it is clear that it is the ban on photos of people that is bizarre, not the ban on flash photography.

As for pilgrim4truth, I think it is one thing to explain philosophy in terms a philosopher will understand, and a different thing entirely to explain it so that the rest of us will understand.

"If you really understand something, you should be able to explain it in words of one syllable". I've seen this applied to Einstein's theory of relativity.

*muses on Gnomon's philosophy on writing philosophy for non-philosophers*

Looks great now, chief

Agreed

I've found out what Pronaia meant. It was a description of the sanctuary rather than of the goddess, and meant "in front of the temple", because the sanctuary was in front of the Temple of Zeus, when you were arriving from Athens.

I've added that into the entry.

Great entry as ever, Gnomon.

There's a story you might like to mention.

King Croesus (again) wanted to test a number of the Greek oracles to see which was the most accurate. He sent messengers to seven different oracles who were instructed to ask the oracle the same question at exactly the same time. They were to ask what the King was doing at that exact moment. Croesus had decided to do something very odd so as to make it more of a test - he was making stew of a tortoise and a lamb in a brass, lidded cauldron. The Delphic Oracle got it right.

Probably part of the reason he didn't think twice when they told him a great Empire would fall...

Interesting entry

One minor typo if I may:

Euroasian Continental Plate --> from memory it's nearly always 'Eurasian', though the odd 'Euro-Asian' may creep into some journals