Page 12 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book. To close the book, close the window or tab.

GODS, SANCTUARIES AND TEMPLES
Sanctuaries and temples
The ancient Greeks worshipped their gods in special areas called sAnctuAries. Inside the sanctuaries were many temPles.
The ancient Greeks worshipped their gods by dedicating parts of the countryside
to them. These sacred areas were called sanctuaries and they contained temples, treasuries and many other buildings. In Olympia, as in several other places, the sanctuary contained a sports stadium (see pages 40–45).
The main buildings were the temples (picture 2). They were rectangular and had gently sloping roofs. The Greeks, like the ancient Egyptians, did not know how to support a roof without using many columns. So they turned this
limitation into a masterly piece of architecture.
E The oracle at Delphi is said to have declared Socrates to be the wisest man in Greece, to which Socrates replied that if so, this was because he alone was aware of his own ignorance. This claim is related to one of the most famous mottos of Delphi, “know thyself”.
G 1 The ruins of the altar at the sanctuary of Apollon. The sanctuary at Delphi
Delphi is in the mountains north west of Athens. Here there was a sanctuary to the god Apollon (picture 1). It was believed that this sanctuary, built next to
a sacred spring, marked the centre of the universe.
In the main temple to Apollon, an eternal flame burned. Legends tell of how Apollon first came to Delphi in the shape of a dolphin, carrying priests on his back.
Vapours seeped up into the temple through cracks in the
floor. This may have put the future-teller, or oracle, into a
trance and so allowed her to sing her prophesies. The
vapours came from the earth goddess Gaea.
This oracle was extremely important to the ancient
Greeks, and was consulted before all wars.
Important cities built treasuries at Delphi to
thank the oracle for advice important to their
victories. The largest is the Treasury of Athens, built to commemorate the Athenians’ victory at the Battle of Marathon (see pages 36–37).
12