La cité des Delphiens
Une communauté politique à l'ombre d'Apollon (VIe-Ier siecle av. J.-C.)
By (author) N. Kyriakidis
Qui n’a entendu parler du sanctuaire de Delphes, de l’oracle d’Apollon Pythien et de sa prophétesse, la Pythie? Beaucoup moins connue est la cité-État (<i>polis</i>) des Delphiens, communauté politique indépendante, dont Apollon Pythien était également la principale divinité civique. Durant toute l’histoire du sanctuaire, les Delphiens, organisateurs du culte et de l’oracle, ont tenu un rôle fondamental dans le fonctionnement d’un des centres religieux et culturels du monde grec et méditerranéen, soit directement, soit par délégation des autres pouvoirs présents à Delphes. Outre une meilleure compréhension des modalités de fonctionnement de l’un des sanctuaires «communs» des Grecs, l’étude de la cité de Delphes nous offre l’opportunité d’accéder aussi à la vie civique d’une «petite cité». En effet, alors que l’histoire des cités grecques s’écrit souvent à partir de quelques grandes <i>poleis</i> atypiques, la situation exceptionnellement favorable de Delphes d’un point de vue documentaire nous permet d’entrer dans la vie d’une communauté de taille restreinte, de cette catégorie de cités qui étaient les plus nombreuses et qui demeurent à ce jour les plus mal connues. Nous pouvons ainsi découvrir, dans les pas d’Aristote qui lui avait consacré un traité, le fonctionnement institutionnel et social d’une petite communauté souveraine, les constructions identitaires qui assuraient son unité et légitimaient son droit à l’existences, les stratégies qu’elle mit en place pour conserver un rôle de premier plan dans son sanctuaire. Espérons donc que ce livre contribue à ne plus laisser écrire l’histoire de Delphes sans les Delphiens! <br /><br />Who has not heard of the sanctuary of Delphi and its oracle? Much less well known is the city-state (<i>polis</i>) of the Delphians, an independent political community whose principal civic deity was Apollo Pythian. Throughout the history of the sanctuary, the Delphians played a fundamental role in the functioning of one of the major religious and cultural centers of the Greek and Mediterranean world. Yet, the significance of this study extends far beyond the Delphic context alone. While the history of Greek city-states is often written based on a few large, atypical <i>poleis</i>, documentation exceptional in its nature and abundance offers us the opportunity to access the ideological, institutional, social, and political horizon of a “small city”, one of that category of communities that were the most numerous and remain, to this day, the least known. Thus, we can discover, following in the footsteps of Aristotle, who devoted a treatise to it, the identity and socio-political functioning of a small sovereign community, as well as the strategies it adopted to maintain a preeminent role in its principal sanctuary. Let us hope, therefore, that this book contributes to ensuring that the history of Delphi is no longer written without that of the Delphians!
- By (author) N. Kyriakidis
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