Delphi - The Bronze bull of the Corcyraeans
3) The Bronze bull of the Corcyraeans
Period: First half of the 5th c. B.C.
Entering the Temenos*, on the right, a large rectangular stone pedestal can be seen, which is parallel to the Sacred Way.
This is where the Corcyraeans (islanders of Kerkyra -Corfu-) dedicated the monumental Bronze Bull, a power symbol, after their victory against the Syracuse (490-470 B.C.). The statue was made by the sculptor Theopropus from Aegina.
According to Pausanias there is another story about the Bull of the Corcyraeans:
A bull in the island of Corfu, every day abandoned the fields and headed towards a certain sea-coast, moaning. The herdsman followed him, and found out that the sea, in this particular spot, was full of fish. He averted his fellow citizens and they rushed to the seashore, but they couldn’t get hold of the fish. Then, they sent an envoy to the Delphic oracle and, following its advise, they sacrificed a bull to Poseidon and then the caught the fish.
The rectangular stone pedestal
Corcyraeans dedicated two statues of the bull (the second, at the Sanctuary of Olympia), with the tithe of their revenues.
The Bronze bull of the Corkyrans - a modern reconstruction
Temenos: In Ancent Greece the temenos was a piece of land assigned as an official domain for or dedicated to the gods.
support us - buy the map!
The reconstruction map of Delphi, by the Archaeological Guide of Greece
Designed and produced for a convenient and handy use in site and at home, it will assist you to visualize the Sanctuary of Apollo, where theOracle of Delphi was, the Ancient Theater, the Stadion, the Gymnasion of Delphi and the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia.
price: 20€
