- Delphi was the most influential sanctuary of ancient Greece, dedicated to Apollo and home to his oracle, the Pythia, for over a thousand years.
- Among its most unique pieces is the statue of Antinous, the young beloved of Emperor Hadrian, deified and honored in the sacred precinct of Apollo.
- The mythology associated with Apollo, the patron god of Delphi, includes love for Hyacinthus, one of the most well-known love stories between men in Greek tradition.
- It is the second stop on the Classical Greece trip by Apollo Travel, in collaboration with Revista Rainbow — with a €50 discount using the code RAINBOW50.
Revista Rainbow and Apollo invite you to discover Greece, and there are few places where history, religion, and myth intertwine like in Delphi. It is the second destination of the Classical Greece trip, and also one of the places that holds the most direct links to the memory of love between men in Antiquity — something that deserves to be told with the same rigor as any other chapter of Greek history.
The sanctuary where Greece asked questions
Founded in the 8th century BC by priests from Crete, Delphi became the great panhellenic sanctuary of Apollo: a place where cities, rulers, and individuals came to consult the Pythia, the priestess who conveyed the god’s oracles. According to tradition, she would enter a trance by inhaling gases that emanated from a crack in the ground, and her words — incomprehensible to those who heard them — were interpreted by the priests of Apollo.
Delphi reached its peak influence between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, when the Pythian Games were held there every four years, and the Greeks considered the place the omphalos, the navel of the world: a symbolic center of unity and decision. The cult remained active for over a millennium, until Emperor Theodosius prohibited pagan worship in 393-394 AD. The ruins were then left under a Christian village until French excavations brought them to light starting in 1892.
Apollo and Hyacinthus: one of the great love stories between men in Greek mythology
Apollo, the god to whom the entire sanctuary of Delphi is dedicated, features in mythology one of the most well-known love stories between men in Greek tradition: that of Hyacinthus, a young Spartan prince of extraordinary beauty whom, according to ancient sources, Apollo fell in love with.
The legend tells that, while they were practicing discus throwing, the west wind, Zephyr — jealous of Apollo’s love for Hyacinthus — diverted the discus, which struck the young man in the head and killed him. Apollo, unable to save him, transformed him into a flower — the hyacinth — and inscribed on its petals the lament “AI, AI”. In Sparta, Hyacinthus’s homeland, an annual festival, the Hyacinthia, was instituted in his honor, dedicated to both him and Apollo, indicating that the young man came to be worshipped as a hero in his land.
Antinous, the young man whom Hadrian turned into a god in the very sanctuary of Apollo
But the most tangible link between Delphi and this memory is not in the myth, but in one of the pieces preserved in the Delphi Museum, a stop included in the trip: the statue of Antinous.
Antinous was a young Greek of Bithynian origin, of great beauty, who became the companion and great love of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. He died under circumstances that have never been fully clarified, drowned in the Nile, and Hadrian — a passionate admirer of classical Greek culture and benefactor of the oracle of Delphi — reacted to his death by deifying him: he commissioned statues of him throughout the empire and instituted games in his memory.
The statue of Delphi was erected around 130 AD and is one of the most beautiful and impressive representations of Antinous that are preserved. Archaeologists found it standing on its pedestal, next to the wall of a brick chamber, near the sacred temple; Roman coins suggest that the piece bore the epithet “Propylaeus”, indicating that it was originally placed at the entrance of the sanctuary. It can now be visited in the Archaeological Museum of Delphi.
It is important to say this precisely: the practices and relationships of ancient Greece responded to a cultural framework of their own, distinct from the modern concept of LGTBIQ+ identity, and it is not advisable to project contemporary categories onto them without nuance. But as historical memory, love between men was a visible and honored part of this culture — to the extent of being worshipped in one of the most important sanctuaries of the ancient world — and it is a thread that deserves to be told when visiting Delphi.
Delphi, on the Classical Greece trip
In the itinerary of the Classical Greece trip by Apollo Events & Trips, Delphi is the stop on day 2: ascent along the Sacred Way to the Temple of Apollo, visit to the theater and the museum of the sanctuary — where the statue of Antinous is located —, welcome lunch and dinner in Athens at night.
The complete trip, from October 8 to 12, 2026, also covers Athens and the Argolid in five days, in a small group of a maximum of 20 people, with accommodation at the Alassia Hotel (Athens), transfers, breakfasts, several meals, entrance to the main archaeological sites — including the archaeological site of Delphi — and basic travel insurance, starting from €990 per person in a shared double room (+€80 for the single supplement, subject to availability). Flights, the tourist tax, and entry to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens are not included in the price.
The reservation begins with a deposit of €200 at apoloeventstrips.com; the balance of €790 is due before September 15, 2026. This collaboration does not guarantee spots or availability, which is confirmed by Apollo Events & Trips.
With the code RAINBOW50 you get a €50 discount on the trip price, booking at apoloeventstrips.com or via WhatsApp at +34 677 824 364.
