Delphic Maxims
conceptThe 147 moral precepts inscribed at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, including the famous "Know Thyself" and "Nothing in Excess."
The Myth
The Delphic Maxims were a collection of aphorisms inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, traditionally attributed to the Seven Sages of Greece including Thales of Miletus, Solon of Athens, and Pittacus of Mytilene. The two most famous — "Know Thyself" (Γνῶθι Σαυτόν) and "Nothing in Excess" (Μηδὲν Ἄγαν) — were inscribed on the temple's pronaos. Apollo, through his oracle and his maxims, taught mortals the limits of human knowledge and the dangers of hubris. The maxims covered every aspect of life: "Rule your wife" sits beside "Respect yourself" and "Fear deceit." A complete list of 147 maxims was discovered inscribed on a stele at Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan — a Greek colony founded by Alexander the Great's successors — proving how far these words travelled. The maxims formed the ethical backbone of Greek education alongside Homer and Hesiod.
Symbols
Fun Fact
"Know Thyself" — two words inscribed on a Greek temple — became the foundational command of Western philosophy. Socrates made it his life's mission. Descartes' "I think, therefore I am" is a response to it. The fact that the same inscription was found carved in stone in Afghanistan, 4,000 kilometres from Delphi, proves that Greek colonists carried these words as far as the Hindu Kush — making "Know Thyself" history's most widely distributed philosophical graffiti.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
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