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A review by cymry09
Delphi: A History of the Center of the Ancient World by Michael Scott
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it was informative and detailed, and it covered lots of interesting topics. However, I found it difficult to get through, either due to an often overwhelming litany of “so-and-so, King of such-a-place, son of this-guy, who fought in the battle of what’s-it, came to Delphi in this century”, or due to a simple lack of focus on my part - probably a bit of both. The historical aspect was often terribly dry, and the description of the monuments and dedications would have been vastly improved by the addition of some decent illustrations.
The blurb calls it “richly illustrated”... I beg to differ. A handful of plates in the middle, and a few illustrations and maps are about all there is until you reach the final few chapters, where there is suddenly a wealth of very welcome archaeological photos. The illustrations provided are also VERY small, and hard to make out in their black and white, in-text format. I was left wishing for detailed views, elevations, anything to give us a better idea. While it is, of course, impossible to say exactly what Delphi looked like, there is plenty of archaeological and literary evidence to give us clues.
Also, the book is laser-focused on the history of Delphi and situating it in the larger Greek world, particularly explaining its rise to prominence and how it achieved that. This aspect is covered well and in depth. However, there is a notable lack of explanation of the oracle’s activities or even the day to day activities of Delphi. It was almost as if the Pythia was herself missing from the history. I was disappointed not to read more about the oracles themselves, or even about the priests, the villagers, the attendants...
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but be prepared for a long history lesson.
The blurb calls it “richly illustrated”... I beg to differ. A handful of plates in the middle, and a few illustrations and maps are about all there is until you reach the final few chapters, where there is suddenly a wealth of very welcome archaeological photos. The illustrations provided are also VERY small, and hard to make out in their black and white, in-text format. I was left wishing for detailed views, elevations, anything to give us a better idea. While it is, of course, impossible to say exactly what Delphi looked like, there is plenty of archaeological and literary evidence to give us clues.
Also, the book is laser-focused on the history of Delphi and situating it in the larger Greek world, particularly explaining its rise to prominence and how it achieved that. This aspect is covered well and in depth. However, there is a notable lack of explanation of the oracle’s activities or even the day to day activities of Delphi. It was almost as if the Pythia was herself missing from the history. I was disappointed not to read more about the oracles themselves, or even about the priests, the villagers, the attendants...
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but be prepared for a long history lesson.