The ancients believed Delphi to be the centre of the earth; this, they said, was determined by Jupiter, who let loose, from the east and from the west, two eagles, which met here. The tomb of Neoptolemus (or Pyrrhus), son of Achilles, was at Delphi, and near it the famous Lesche, adorned by Polygnotus with the history of the Trojan War. In the plain between Delphi and Cirrha the Pythian games were celebrated. These national games, and the pro tection of the Amphictyons, gave Delphi a last ing splendor. It is now a village called Castri, near which the Castalian spring may still be seen.
In 1892 the site of Delphi, until that time occupied by the village of Castri, was purchased by the French government, a new village was established farther westward, and the French School at Athens, under the direction of Theo phile Homolle, began important excavations. The entire precinct has been revealed, and, with the assistance of Pausanias"Itinerary,) many structures have been identified, including the altar, temple, stadium, theatre, treasuries and other buildings. More than 3,000 inscriptions have been found, many of great value for Grecian history. The sculpture discovered con tributes much to the history, of art in the late 6th and early 5th century B.C. The ancient wall (the Hellenico), extending east and west, has been recovered in its entire length, and the two boundary walls, climbing the hill at either end of the Hellenico, have been traced. The main entrance was in the eastern of these two walls, and from this the Sacred Way proceeds by a zigzag course to the temple. Just within the precinct wall, on the northern side of the Sacred Way, stood the large building dedicated as an offering by the Laceda-monians after the battle at .1Egospotamos (q.v.). To the west, on the southern side of the way, was the Sicyon ian treasury, in the form of a Doric temple, distyle in antis. Still further westward, on the
same side of the way, is the Cnidian treasury, originally a small marble Ionic temple, distyle, with a sub-structure of tufa. The sculpture from the pediment and frieze of this building, and the fragments of moldings, are of very considerable interest. The structure has been described as perhaps the most nearly perfect extant example of the transitional style of the early 5th century B.C. Here the Sacred Way makes a decided turn; and further north, but still on the same side of the way, is the Athen ian treasury —a Doric temple in antis, of small size, with a basis bearing the remains of a ded icatory inscription which announces that it was built with the spoils from the battle of Mara thon (q.v.). It was on stones in this treasury that the hymns to Apollo with ancient musical notation were found. Beyond this treasury was the many-fluted of the which supported the colossal marble sphinx, now in the museum.
The site of the temple shows the remains of various successive buildings. Many remains have been recovered of that built by the Alcinz onidis (6th century), which was destroyed by an earthquake. Some archaic sculptures discovered have-been assigned to the gables of this struc ture. The foundations now extant are those of the temple built in the 4th century. No definite information can be gained as to the oracle. The theatre, in the northwest corner of the precinct, dates from the early 2d century and is one of the best preserved in all Greece. The walls and seats of the auditorium remain; there are 33 tiers of seats arranged in seven sets, with a paved longitudinally intersecting passage, or diazoma. Consult the