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The Similarities Of Delphi And Olympia

Decent Essays

Sanctuaries have been seen throughout ancient Greece. A sanctuary has been defined as a sacred area for rituals, cultural activities, musical, theatrical, sports, and drama events. These events had a dual purpose of entertaining and religious activities. Activities could be civic religious based, or mystery religious based. Two major examples of sanctuaries in ancient Greece consist of Delphi and Olympia. Delphi and Olympia have specific functions that share similarities, yet simultaneously differ through buildings, activities performed, and corresponding history of each site. When focusing on Delphi and Olympia, an important note to make consists of Delphi and Olympia having broad similarities, but when investigating further, their differences appear specifically in certain features. Delphi’s and Olympia’s similarities have been seen through the features at each site. For a sanctuary to be truly defined as a sanctuary, the site must have an altar and peribolos. The altar and peribolos are important because the altar allows the people to worship their god/goddess, and the periobolo distinguishes the sacred area from the non-sacred area. The site can also include propylon, a sacred way, temple, and ancillary building. A propylon is a monumental gate which has the purpose of highlighting the importance of the area. A sacred way is where the processions occur. The temples are not sanctuaries, but erected to show off the altar. They altar had a greater importance

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