Phoíbē through the eyes of sculptors, painters, and craftsmen across the ages
Priestess of Delphi (John Collier, 1891) — the Pythia stands above her tripod, laurel bough and sacred smoke in hand, the living voice of the oracular seat Phoebe once held at Delphi.
The Delphic Oracle — Attic red-figure kylix by the Kodros Painter, c. 440–430 BC: King Aegeus stands before the enthroned figure on the oracular tripod, the earliest surviving image of prophecy spoken at Phoebe's Delphi.
The Oracle (Camillo Miola, 1880) — the Pythia writhes upon the great tripod between the columns of Apollo's temple while the priests bear witness, the trance of divine utterance rendered in marble light.
Consulting the Oracle (John William Waterhouse, 1884) — a circle of petitioners leans toward the priestess of Delphi, each waiting on the few god-sent words that will govern a life.
Lycurgus Consulting the Pythia (attributed to Eugène Delacroix) — the Spartan lawgiver kneels to receive his laws from the enthroned priestess, Delphi's authority over the whole Greek world made visible.
The Omphalos — the marble navel-stone of Delphi, carved with its woollen net (Delphi Archaeological Museum): the very centre of the world, where Phoebe held the oracle before bequeathing it to her grandson Apollo.
The Temple of Apollo at Delphi — the re-erected Doric columns still stand against the slopes of Parnassus, the house of the oracle that Earth gave to Themis, Themis to Phoebe, and Phoebe to Phoebus Apollo.
