Pythian Games
Victors received a wreath of bay laurel, sacred to Apollo, from the Vale of Tempe, in Thessaly.
Ovid states that the games were inaugurated to celebrate Apollo's killing of the serpent, "Lest in a dark oblivion time should hide the fame of this achievement, sacred sports he instituted" (Metamorphoses, 1.445-6).
[1] According to Ovid, the python was produced spontaneously by Gaea (mother earth) at the beginning of primordial time and was a threat to human beings.
By killing the monster, Apollo rendered the area safe for human beings and established his ownship of the site.
Nine citizens from Delphi, called theoroi, were sent to all Greek cities to announce the beginning of the games in order to attract athletes, as well as to declare the period of the Sacred Truce (Hieromenia), aiming at protecting not only the theoroi and the athletes who traveled to Delphi but also the temple of Apollo itself.
If a city was involved in armed conflict or in robberies during that period, its citizens were forbidden to enter the Sanctuary, participate in the games, or consult the Oracle.
At the same time, the truce allowed the Amphictyony to focus on preparing for the games, which included restorations for all structures of the Sanctuary, from the temples to the streets and fountains.
[citation needed] Despite the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire during the 4th century, Delphi remained an active pagan site and the Pythian Games continued to be celebrated at least until AD 424.
The records of Aristotle present an overview of the festivities: the Games lasted for six to eight days and were started by a reenactment of the victory of Apollo over Python.
The athletic and equestrian events were the same as those at Olympia, apart from the lack of the four-horse chariot, and the addition of running races for boys.
[5][6] The athletic competition included four-track sports (stade, diaulos, dolichos and hoplitodromos (racing encumbered with pieces of Hoplite armor)), wrestling, boxing, pankration, and the pentathlon.
Pausanias writing in the 2nd century AD, says the oldest contest at Delphi was the singing of a hymn to Apollo, god of arts and music.
In those poems, Pindar praises not only the victors, but also their families, as well as the aristocratic and athletic ideals of the late archaic period.
[8] The largest part of his surviving works is the Victory Odes (Epinikia), chorus songs to be sung in the homeland of the winner of the Games upon his return.
The total number of Victory Odes is 45 celebrating the winners in the four most famous panhellenic athletic competitions: the Olympic, the Nemean, the Pythian and the Isthmian Games.
The hymns celebrating victories in Pythian Games include 12 odes and offer information on the exact competition of each athlete.
