DELPHI: The Sacred Way

　　德尔斐：神圣之路

　　by Stephanie Prescott

　　Long before all roads led to Rome, Delphi was the center of the world. Zeus himself ordained it. One day from high on Mount Olympus, the king of Greek gods let fly two eagles one from the west and one from the east. Where they met he would declare the omphalos, or navel, of the world. They met at Delphi, a wild and beautiful site at the foot of Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Ringed by rocky cliffs, cut by chasms, and watered by springs, Delphi became the eighth-century B.C. home to the cult of Apollo, the most respected oracle in the ancient world.

　　Men came from near and far to seek the oracle's wise advice. Writing their questions on lead tablets, rulers asked if they should wage war on their enemies; farmers asked advice on crops; brothers came to settle feuds. A priestess, called the Pithiness, usually a respected older woman, went into a trance to communicate with the gods. Her wisdom was wrapped in riddles that were interpreted by her priests and relayed to the waiting pilgrims.

　　Petitioners had to make offerings, of course. And if the oracle was right, the grateful sent even more gifts. Thus, Delphi became enriched with the wealth of many nations. Treasuries, statues－even a gold-leafed palm tree－lined the Sacred Way, which pilgrims followed to the gleaming Temple of Apollo where the oracle awaited them.

　　But Delphi's golden age was not eternal. When the Christian emperor Theodosus banned the worship of Olympic gods in A.D. 385, the oracle was also banned. Gradually Delphi's treasures returned to the earth, victims of war, landslides, and the dust of time. In the Middle Ages, the small settlement of Kastri arose on the site, and olive groves stood where once marble statues lined the Sacred Way.

　　Except for the Byzantine Eastern Empire, much of ancient Greece was mostly forgotten until the European Renaissance. Then, thanks to the art and artifacts that the Romans copied－or stole－from their Greek subjects, Europeans became interested in this ancient civilization. They visited Athens, they read Homer, and they saw－protruding from the ground where it had lain buried for centuries－the rubble of ancient Greece. (In some cases, they even carried treasures home with them, where they remain today, in museums and private collections.)

　　The French became especially intrigued with the Delphi entombed beneath the village of Kastri. In the 1840s, they began preliminary fieldwork there, but realized that for the work to proceed, Kastri would have to be relocated. The French government agreed to help pay for this move. Understandably, the 19th century villagers of Kastri were not all in favor of this upheaval. However, since the early 20th century, when most of the excavation of Delphi was carried out, the village has prospered from tourism.

　　If you visit Delphi today, you will have to use your imagination, or a guidebook, to reconstruct the ancient site. Except for the Athenian Treasury and some sections of the Temple of Apollo, most of the stones of Delphi lie as they fell. Safely housed in the nearby museum are the wonderful works of art, some wholly preserved, that the French excavations uncovered.

　　Although the temples have fallen, the rocky crags of Parnassus still tower over Delphi, and cascading waters still rush to the sea. Amidst these oldest of nature's shrines, Delphi may still seem the center of the world.

　　在条条大路通罗马之前，德尔斐是世界的中心，这是宙斯自己定的。一天，希腊众神之王让在奥林匹斯山放飞两只神鹰，一只向西一只向东，它们相遇的地方就称为世界中心或称世界之脐。这两只鹰相遇在德尔斐，希腊中部帕纳塞斯山脚下一个荒野的但风景秀丽的地方。德尔斐四周为岩石峭壁和泉水灌入的峡谷所环绕，公元前8世纪成为对阿波罗神的膜拜之地，古代社会最尊敬的神谕之地。

　　人们从远近不同的地方来到德尔斐寻求神谕智慧的忠告。统治者在铅版上写下问题，询问是否可以和敌人开战；农民来此寻求对庄稼的建议；兄弟们来解决争端。女祭司常常是位受人尊敬的年长妇女，进入入定状态与上帝交流。她的智慧忠告以谜语的形式说出，再由她的牧师翻译给等待的朝圣者。

　　当然，请愿者要给回报。如果神谕对了，感恩的人会给很多的礼物。因此，德尔斐集中了各族的财富，变得越来越富有。宝库、雕像，甚至金叶的棕榈树沿着神路两侧摆放，朝圣者就沿着这条圣路走向闪耀着光芒的有神谕的阿波罗神庙。

　　然而，德尔斐的辉煌时代并非永久。公元385年，信奉基督教的皇帝狄奥多西一世禁止朝拜奥林匹克众神，神谕也被禁止了。德尔斐的财富逐渐江河日下，德尔斐成了战争的牺牲品，最后沦为时间的废墟。中世纪时，此地成为卡斯托里村，曾经是大理石雕像排列的神路成了橄榄树园。

　　除了拜占廷时期的东罗马帝国，人们对古希腊的辉煌几乎忘得一干二净。直到欧洲文艺复兴时期，欧洲人又开始对古文明产生兴趣，幸亏罗马人从他们的希腊臣民那儿复制或偷窃了艺术品和手工艺品。他们参观雅典，阅读荷马作品，去看那些埋在地下几百年的露出地表的古希腊瓦砾。（有时，他们甚至将珍品带回家，现在有的藏于博物馆，有的为私人收藏。）

　　法国人积极筹划让埋在卡斯托里村庄下面的德尔斐城重见天日。19世纪40年代，他们开始了初步的野外工作。随着工作的进展，他们发现卡斯托里村必须迁移。法国政府同意帮助负担搬家费用。可以理解的是， 19世纪的卡斯托里村不赞成这项大举动。然而自20世纪初以来，随着大部分德尔斐遗址被挖掘，这个村庄已经因旅游业而繁荣。

　　今天，如果你参观德尔斐古迹，你一定要发挥你的想像力，或阅读旅游指南，重建这一古迹。除了雅典财富和阿波罗神庙部分建筑，德尔斐的大部分石头还留在原地。那些由法国人发掘出来的精湛的艺术品安全地存放在附近的博物馆里，其中一部分保存得非常完好。

　　虽然神庙已经倒塌，但帕纳塞斯山的岩石峭壁仍然矗立在德尔斐城，奔腾不息的河水依然冲向大海。在这些古老的圣地中，德尔斐似乎依然是世界的中心。

　　A chasm is a deep opening in the Earth’s surface,or a gorge.