DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0233
The Delphic Omphalos
177
Thus far Monsieur Courby, whose modest but convincing an-
nouncement will rank among the most brilliant archaeological dis-
coveries of our time. For the speculations that follow he is not
responsible. But it seems to me that his momentous find goes a
long way towards establishing my hypothesis of a Delphic omphalds-
and-pillar. The slender wooden post implied by the square hole
in the omphalos was—if I am right—none other than the ' lofty
pillar' of Apollon, to which ' tithe and trophy ' were attached in his
earliest cult, the cult established by the Hyperboreans Pagasos and
Agyieus1. As the veritable earth-centre it furnished the starting-point
of later arithmology. In the mystic language of the Pythagoreans'2,
the second vowel E with the second planetary body, the sun ; id. ib. 5 writes E as el,
'if,' 'if only,' a word that might introduce a question or a prayer addressed to the god;
id. ib. 6 treats E or ei as a symbol of dialectic;
id. ib. 7—16 gives a Pythagorean disquisition
on E, that is TvifTe, as the numerical base result-
ing from the union of the first even duo with the
first odd rpia ; id. ib. 17—21 concludes that E is
for el, ' thou art,' as a metaphysical invocation of
the deity. Years ago I ventured the suggestion
(W. H. D. Rouse Greek Votive Offerings Cam-
bridge 1902 p. 354 n. 11, Folk-Lore 1903 xiv.
287 f.) that the E was a sacred relic, in fact the head of Poseidon's trident kept in the
sanctuary, where he had an altar (Paus. 10. 24. 4) and probably a chapel (see H. Pomtow
in Philologus 1912 lxxi. 45 ff.), much as the trident of Neptune is kept affixed to the wall of
the ancient church of S. Vigil in Tridentum, the modern Trento, Trent (L. Schmitz in
Smith Diet. Geogr. ii. 1230) ; and it will be admitted that the trident-head, which symbolises
Poseidon on coins of Corinth, Leukas, Mantineia, Troizen, etc., is of the requisite shape—
indeed Agathon Telephos frag. 4 Nauck2 ap. Athen. 454 D describes the letter E as rpibdous
Tr\dyios, 'a trident laid crosswise.' My friend Mr A. H. Smith once told me that in his
opinion the mystic E might possibly be explained by the resemblance that it bears to
the ITI-shaped window or smoke-hole over the door of hut-urns from Etruria etc. {Folk-
Lore 1903 xiv. 288). Miss J. E. Harrison {ib. 1904 xv. 416 n. 271) has acutely compared
the Delphic E with the trinity of pillars represented e.g. on Phoenician reliefs from
Sardinia (G. Patroni in the Mon. d. Line. 1904 xiv. 23of. pi. 21, 2a and pi. 25, 2) and
suggested 'that the E was originally three betyl stones or pillars placed on a basis and
representing the three Charites' (J. E. Harrison in the Comptes rendus du Congres Lnter-
national d'Arche'ologie Iere Session, Athenes 1905 pp. 194—196, citing Paus. 9. 38. 1,
Plout. de mils. 14 (quoted infra §3 (a) iii (x))i schol. Pind. 01. 14. 16 iraph. ti2 'AirbX-
Auwt (pTjcrt Kad^eadai rets Xdptras 5td r:'qv irpbs avrbv oiKeLbT7]Ta. ev yovv AeX0ois iiri rrjs
5e£ias fiaiv iSpv/ievai rod 'AwbWcovos). R. Eisler Weltenmantel und Himmelszelt Miinchen
1910 ii. 489 n. 4 draws attention to a passage in the deoXoyov^eva. rrjs dpidfx^TLKrj^ {theolog.
arithm. 32 p. 30 f. Ast roirup 5r] t<2 rpowq) rrjs SiKaioavvqs e dpid/xip diKacoraTa €vo<pdeL(rrjs
Kal rrjs rod orixov dpidixt)tlk9is eiKovos fvyy tlvi ovk aTridavus eiKaadeiiyqs, to irapa.yye\iJ.a
rots yvupi/JLOis iv avfj.fib\ov axvP-a-TL ° Hvdayopas eveTrot-qaaro u £vybv p.7] vvep^aiveLv,"
tovt€<tti, biKCLioo-uvriv), according to which Pythagoras assigned the number 5 or E to
justice and saw in it the image of scales {{vybv) : Eisler notes that this implies E 'in der
Stellung des m in der delphischen Inschrift.'
1 Supra p. 169.
2 On which see A. Delatte JEtudes sur la litterature pythagorieienne Paris 1915
p. 139 m
C. II.
12
177
Thus far Monsieur Courby, whose modest but convincing an-
nouncement will rank among the most brilliant archaeological dis-
coveries of our time. For the speculations that follow he is not
responsible. But it seems to me that his momentous find goes a
long way towards establishing my hypothesis of a Delphic omphalds-
and-pillar. The slender wooden post implied by the square hole
in the omphalos was—if I am right—none other than the ' lofty
pillar' of Apollon, to which ' tithe and trophy ' were attached in his
earliest cult, the cult established by the Hyperboreans Pagasos and
Agyieus1. As the veritable earth-centre it furnished the starting-point
of later arithmology. In the mystic language of the Pythagoreans'2,
the second vowel E with the second planetary body, the sun ; id. ib. 5 writes E as el,
'if,' 'if only,' a word that might introduce a question or a prayer addressed to the god;
id. ib. 6 treats E or ei as a symbol of dialectic;
id. ib. 7—16 gives a Pythagorean disquisition
on E, that is TvifTe, as the numerical base result-
ing from the union of the first even duo with the
first odd rpia ; id. ib. 17—21 concludes that E is
for el, ' thou art,' as a metaphysical invocation of
the deity. Years ago I ventured the suggestion
(W. H. D. Rouse Greek Votive Offerings Cam-
bridge 1902 p. 354 n. 11, Folk-Lore 1903 xiv.
287 f.) that the E was a sacred relic, in fact the head of Poseidon's trident kept in the
sanctuary, where he had an altar (Paus. 10. 24. 4) and probably a chapel (see H. Pomtow
in Philologus 1912 lxxi. 45 ff.), much as the trident of Neptune is kept affixed to the wall of
the ancient church of S. Vigil in Tridentum, the modern Trento, Trent (L. Schmitz in
Smith Diet. Geogr. ii. 1230) ; and it will be admitted that the trident-head, which symbolises
Poseidon on coins of Corinth, Leukas, Mantineia, Troizen, etc., is of the requisite shape—
indeed Agathon Telephos frag. 4 Nauck2 ap. Athen. 454 D describes the letter E as rpibdous
Tr\dyios, 'a trident laid crosswise.' My friend Mr A. H. Smith once told me that in his
opinion the mystic E might possibly be explained by the resemblance that it bears to
the ITI-shaped window or smoke-hole over the door of hut-urns from Etruria etc. {Folk-
Lore 1903 xiv. 288). Miss J. E. Harrison {ib. 1904 xv. 416 n. 271) has acutely compared
the Delphic E with the trinity of pillars represented e.g. on Phoenician reliefs from
Sardinia (G. Patroni in the Mon. d. Line. 1904 xiv. 23of. pi. 21, 2a and pi. 25, 2) and
suggested 'that the E was originally three betyl stones or pillars placed on a basis and
representing the three Charites' (J. E. Harrison in the Comptes rendus du Congres Lnter-
national d'Arche'ologie Iere Session, Athenes 1905 pp. 194—196, citing Paus. 9. 38. 1,
Plout. de mils. 14 (quoted infra §3 (a) iii (x))i schol. Pind. 01. 14. 16 iraph. ti2 'AirbX-
Auwt (pTjcrt Kad^eadai rets Xdptras 5td r:'qv irpbs avrbv oiKeLbT7]Ta. ev yovv AeX0ois iiri rrjs
5e£ias fiaiv iSpv/ievai rod 'AwbWcovos). R. Eisler Weltenmantel und Himmelszelt Miinchen
1910 ii. 489 n. 4 draws attention to a passage in the deoXoyov^eva. rrjs dpidfx^TLKrj^ {theolog.
arithm. 32 p. 30 f. Ast roirup 5r] t<2 rpowq) rrjs SiKaioavvqs e dpid/xip diKacoraTa €vo<pdeL(rrjs
Kal rrjs rod orixov dpidixt)tlk9is eiKovos fvyy tlvi ovk aTridavus eiKaadeiiyqs, to irapa.yye\iJ.a
rots yvupi/JLOis iv avfj.fib\ov axvP-a-TL ° Hvdayopas eveTrot-qaaro u £vybv p.7] vvep^aiveLv,"
tovt€<tti, biKCLioo-uvriv), according to which Pythagoras assigned the number 5 or E to
justice and saw in it the image of scales {{vybv) : Eisler notes that this implies E 'in der
Stellung des m in der delphischen Inschrift.'
1 Supra p. 169.
2 On which see A. Delatte JEtudes sur la litterature pythagorieienne Paris 1915
p. 139 m
C. II.
12