NARRATOR: Delphi, Greece.
Near the Gulf of Corinth, on
the slopes of Mount Parnassus,
a religious shrine, known
as the Sanctuary of Apollo,
was established
sometime before 1200 BC.
It was here that the
legendary Oracle of Delphi,
a succession of
priestesses of Apollo,
prophesied for the
people of Greece.
According to the
Greek author Plutarch,
the Oracle would
enter a small chamber
in the Temple of Apollo,
take her seat on a tripod,
and inhale
sweet-smelling vapors,
inducing a trance-like
state from which she could
communicate with the gods.
 It was the seat
of Apollo's oracle,
so he was the one who
provided prophecies there.
The priestess is there
just as a conduit for it.
In fact, she has no
power of her own.
So Apollo himself is not
going to show up to actually
deliver the oracles.
He's on Mount Olympus.
He's with the other
Olympian gods.
His line is open for
questions, but he's
not going to show up himself.
Lots of people came to
visit looking for answers
to questions that they had.
And these are people
not only in mythology,
but, in fact, actual people
in history coming to visit.
If you go to Delphi
today, you can
see inscriptions of the answers
that were given to questions.
NARRATOR: Although the Oracle
made her final prophecy
over 1600 years ago, for
many, the Sanctuary of Apollo
remains an important
site because
of the relics and
offerings that may
still lie there to this day.
But some believe that
among these riches
lies a much more
profound treasure--
an omphalos stone.
In Greek, the word omphalos
literally translates to navel.
And while there were
numerous omphalos stones
throughout Greece, the
egg-shaped omphalos stone
at Delphi was the
most significant.
 This navel really
just represents sort
of the center of the Earth.
Now, not the center of what
we think of as the Earth,
but the center as in
the most important
place for the Olympian gods.
One story is that
Zeus sent some birds
flying in different
directions, and where
they met was the omphalos.
That was the navel of the Earth.
This is where this oracle
would be established.
NARRATOR: But in addition to
marking the center of the Earth
for the Olympians, in some
ancient Greek accounts,
the omphalos stone was also the
source of her prognostications.
RICHARD RADER: But
sometimes the omphalos stone
exerts some power.
Sometimes it's just a vessel for
gaseous fumes that get you high
and puts you in the right
mindset to talk to the gods.
Sometimes it's just a stone.
 If true communication
took place between our world
and extraterrestrials, which
the ancient Greek gods were,
then I prefer to think that some
type of transmitter was used
and only the Oracle
knew how to operate it.
Why?
Because she was the chosen one.
