Two thousand five hundred years ago, the rulers of men journeyed to sacred land in Central Greece, in search of answers and prophecies, a glimpse into the future through the uttered riddles of a high priestess. Steeped in mystery, Delphi not only was home to the renowned Oracle Pythia, but also a votive playground of sorts, speckled with astonishing pieces of art dedicated to Apollo.

With evolving times and cultural trends, the “new kids on the block” shut down a Delphi dwindling in popularity in 381 AD. But the glory of “Earth’s Navel” resonated throughout the ages. Fast forward to the late 19th century, Delphi’s intrigue, and the thirst for discovery had the Americans and French racing to secure rights to dig. The French win and the Great Excavation of 1892 begins, revealing some of antiquity’s most precious treasures. Remarkable finds like the bronze Charioteer are stashed in the first Museum of Delphi.

Meanwhile in America, two debutantes dream of a new world influenced by ancient ideals. Young lovers Eva Palmer and Natalie Barney Clifford meet in 1893. During their trips abroad, they exchange hundreds of handwritten love letters. Palmer then meets and marries poet Angelos Sikelianos and later moves to Greece. Entertained by her new life, she cuts ties with Barney, and on one rainy day, leaves her collection of letters on Barney’s doorstep, as a tribute to their love.

Settling in Delphi, Palmer Sikelianos weaves her own robes and dresses in ancient attire. In 1927, she and her husband host the Delphic Festivals, a three-day celebratory affair including archaeological tours, folk exhibitions, athletic games and theatrical performances attended by an international crowd.

Pouring her heart, soul and inheritance into two such events, Palmer’s story includes a divorce and move back to the US where she promotes the Delphic Idea through the arts in a period between two world wars. She visits Delphi again in 1952, where she leaves her last breath. Palmer is buried there on the very sacred grounds that inspired her life’s passions. The poet, who had passed away the year prior, was buried in the Athens First Cemetery, there along with many others who left their bold mark in the history of modern Greece...there among the likes of pioneer archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann and neoclassical architect Ernst Ziller.

As for those fancy love letters, they were scattered, making their way to various museum collections. One stash, however, was kept hidden from the eyes of the public by request of Sikelianos’ second wife until in 2009, a curious professor of Modern Greek, Dr. Artemis Leontis, managed to gain access. The result of her own 10-year journey is the first biography of Eva Palmer Sikelianos (2019), threading together the elements of the life of a woman who, through her passion, inspired a Delphic revival epitomizing Philhellenism.  

And what is our existence, our wishes and efforts, if anything, but a fabric of interconnected threads woven together through the annals of time? We are tradition. We are culture. And soon enough, we are history. What we create in our lifetime is the foundation of future curiosity and discovery.
 

Enjoy!

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- Anthe Mitrakos

Founder & Editor