Pythia on Steam

John Collier Priestess of Delphi, 1891 The Pythia was the high priestess of Apollo and the god's mouth on earth. A powerful female position that ran from 800 BC to 400 AD. Standing over steaming rocks (as featured in the #painting), the oracle would speak Apollo's language of the gods, which only the priests could interpret. A frenzy would consume the oracle, the priests would record her and then restructure what they heard into poems for the client-seeker of fortune. #art