Where else might Delphinus have been used?

It’s all very well coming up with a story that works for Delphi, but this could be a case of fitting the facts to the theory. Is there anywhere else where a cult of Apollo Delphinios may have used the rising of Delphinus to time when to offer sacrifices?

Greek months are usually named after the major festival in them. It seemed reasonable therefore to look for months called Delphinios, which would be months when a major event involving Apollo Delphinios would be held. If you find an event that doesn’t match then then it’s a serious problem. An almost equally serious problem was that I only know of three months named Delphinios, all from Catherine Trumpy’s recent book in Greek months. In Aegina all we know is that the month exists. In Thera there was a month Delphinios which was not in the sailing season. This is a positive match, but then so would be many months. The best news was from Olous, a city on Crete. It had a month Delphinios roughly around January time, which would suggest they held their festival in the first month following the rising of Delphinus. A similar event is found in Athens. The month there is known as Gamelion, but Jon Mikalson has analysed the calendar and found that roughly January would have been the time for sacrificing to Apollo Delphinios. In fact the only city which I know does not work according to this system is Delphi itself. This might sound like quite a big problem.

The reason I’m not too worried is that the Temple of Apollo at Delphi is in a very peculiar position. It’s smack behind some impressively tall cliffs. The cliffs are so tall that it takes about a month longer before stars become visible before sunrise. So if you’re performing your sacrifice outside of the temple in the morning then you’d have to wait until February-ish rather than January to see Delphinus shining down on you just before sunrise.

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi

This delay might explain why Delphi became a successful oracular site. There were no shortage of oracles in ancient Greece you could visit masses of them. But because of this delay it was possible to perform a ceremony to Apollo Delphinios at your own city and have time to travel to Delphi to consult the oracle there. The greater the effort expended in getting an answer the more value it will have. This also explains why centres of mystic wisdom tend to be hidden in the depths of the Sahara like the Oracle of Zeus Ammon.

So did the ancient Greeks use the constellation Delphinus to help coordinate rituals? I’m not certain. I think it’s certainly a plausible explanation. I think it’s probable that stars were used to help keep time for religious events, and Delphinus is the most likely constellation to use for Apollo Delphinios, but each time you say something is probable you move a step further away from being certain.

Certainly, as far as proving the use of Delphinus, the job has only just begun. It’s for other classicists to decide how happy they are with it as an explanation and to point out all the problems I’ve missed.

If you want to read the fully referenced and peer-reviewed version of the paper, then you’ll find a version co-authored with Efrosyni Boutsikas in Antiquity Vol 79 No. 305 Sept 2005. pp 564-72 —–