Delphi Forum Launches Campaign to Promote Greece’s Delphic Maxims

The Municipality of Athens and the Delphi Economic Forum have joined forces for the launch of a campaign to promote Greece’s Delphic maxims – the ancient aphorisms inscribed at Delphi – around the world.

On occasion of the 5^th Delphi Economic Forum in March, which will welcome 600 speakers from 35 countries to Delphi, a campaign will launch on February 19 at Athens’ metro stations and OASA buses, featuring a set of posters that will deliver the messages of the following Delphic maxims in both English and Greek:

Μηδὲν ἄγαν – nothing to excess; γνώθι σαυτόν – know yourself; χρόνου φείδου – use time sparingly; σοφίαν ζήλου – long for wisdom; πρᾶττε δίκαια – practice what is just.

“Athens and Delphi, two of the most significant Greek cities of antiquity, renew their bond that was created 2,500 years ago… and remind us of the reasons that made them the most popular political and religious centers of history,” the organizers of the Delphi Economic Forum said in an announcement.

The Delphic maxims* are a set of 147 aphorisms inscribed at Delphi. Originally, they were said to have been given by the Greek god Apollo’s Oracle at Delphi, Pythia, and therefore were attributed to Apollo. The 5th century scholar Stobaeus later attributed them to the Seven Sages of Greece.

Contemporary scholars, however, hold that their original authorship is uncertain and that most likely they were popular proverbs, which tended later to be attributed to particular sages.

“Five of the most popular remnants of the Seven Sages of antiquity, which were carved on the walls of the Delphi oracle… will deliver their timeless message and remind us of their significance,” the organizers underlined.

The five Delphi maxims will also be available at select locations in Delphi and Arachova, from March 4, in time for the 5^th Delphi Economic Forum which will open its doors on March 5, and will run until March 8.

*Source: Wikipedia