Apollo At Delphi Essay

The centrality of music to the worship of Apollo at Delphi is explicitly expressed already in the Homeric hymn to Apollo, and so it seems plausible that music had been a trademark of Delphic ritual at least from the seventh century BCE. Early In the hymn, Apollo is stressing the inseparable link between his different cultic roles as a prophet, healer and musician, “I wish the dear kithara and the curved bow as my things, and I shall foretell the unerring council of Zeus to mankind” (εἴη μοι κίθαρίς τε φίλη καὶ καμπύλα τόξα, χρήσω δ᾽ ἀνθρώποισι Διὸς νημερτέα βουλήν). Moreover, the hymn serves as a clear illustration of the innate status of musical practices in Delphic ritual as it tells of the inauguration the Delphic temple by Apollo himself