A Muse from Pieria first told me this story - which, of course, is no guarantee that it actually happened like this, Muses being Muses. But if you listen closely, I think you will hear the truth of my tale.
After Dionysos was cured of madness by the Mountain Mother Kybele, and initiated into her Mysteries, which became his, he attracted to himself a large following. These were the Nymphs and Satyrs of his youth, as well as other woodland Goddesses, and mortal men and women from all over, who longed to dance the God's sacred dances and drink his everflowing wine and experience blessed states of ecstasy. Now Dionysos got the idea to spread his blessings to all parts of the world, even as far away as India and Bactria, so with his attendant throng, he set off on that great adventure. He conquered the East without so much as shedding a drop of blood. When he encountered a great Indian army, his companion Pan gave a great shout, and filled them all with panic so that they dropped their weapons and fled.
Victorious, Dionysos led his thiasos back into broad Hellas, making a point of passing through Phocis, west of his home in Boeotia, that they might come to the city of Delphi and visit the sanctuary of Apollo to call upon the Oracle there. Delphi cling to the dizzyingly steep slopes of Mount Parnassus, with forbidding cliffs above it and a gulf beneath. Hills spread out to either side of the old city, and the air grew thin as one climbed the mountain.
One day the Gods on Olympos had been discussing scientific matters, and the question of where the earth's center lay arose. Though the Gods were wise in many things, they did not yet know this. So Father Zeus turned two eagles loose, one from the spot where the sun rises, and the other from where it sets. Released at the same time and flying at the same speed, they met over Delphi. Zeus erected a beehive shaped stone on the spot, for certainly this was the navel or omphalos of the world.
Now broad-bosomed Ge established her Oracle on the spot, and gave forth warnings from the omphalos. As time passed, the Goddess grew weary of mortals and Gods alike, so she retired to the depths of the earth, giving the care of her Oracle over to Themis, her daughter. Unfortunately wise Themis was too busy to tend the Oracle properly, so she gave its care over to Phoebe the Titaness. Now Phoebe was still angry over the loss she and her siblings had suffered in the war between the Gods and Titans, and she had no love for the sons of the Gods. So she took slime left over from the great flood that had killed all but Deukalion and moulded it into the shape of a terrible serpent-dragon. She breathed life and all of her hatred into it, and then set the beast up to guard the Oracle that was in her care. Anyone who attempted to approach it was eaten up by the terrible dragon.
The Goddess Leto, pregnant with her two great children Apollo and Artemis, passed through the area. She was under a terrible curse from the Goddess Hera, and could not give birth to her children anywhere that had felt the touch of the sun. She suffered in pains of birth, anguish the likes of which no Goddess had ever felt. When she paused near Delphi to catch her breath for the long journey, the terrible dragon rose up from its cave and harried her. It chased her through the valleys and mountains of the area, threatening to tear her with its awful fangs, and eat the babies in her belly. Somehow the Goddess managed to flee, and found her way to Delos, a small craggy island that rose from the sea in order to give her solace and room to birth her mighty children.
Copyright Sannion, 06/25/02
All Rights Reserved
Posted with permission
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