Pythian Games

Delphi, Greece. The festival of Apollo, second in prestige among the Panhellenic Games

Overview

Held at Delphi in honor of Apollo, the Pythian Games were reorganized as a Panhellenic festival in the early 6th century BC and staged every four years, two years after each Olympic festival. Unlike Olympia, the program gave pride of place to music and poetry contests alongside athletics and chariot racing. Victors received a crown of laurel, the plant sacred to Apollo, and the festival endured into the Roman era.