Omphalos
conceptThe navel stone at Delphi believed to mark the centre of the world, placed where two eagles sent by Zeus from the ends of the earth met.
The Myth
Zeus wished to determine the exact centre of the earth, so he released two golden eagles from the eastern and western edges of the world. The eagles flew toward each other and met at Delphi, and Zeus marked the spot with a sacred stone called the omphalos. The stone was kept in the inner sanctum of Apollo's temple at Delphi, near the chasm from which the Pythia delivered her oracles. It was draped with a net of fillets and flanked by two golden eagles. According to some accounts, Cronus had swallowed the omphalos stone thinking it was the infant Zeus, wrapped in swaddling clothes by Rhea. After Cronus disgorged it, the stone was placed at Delphi and anointed daily with oil. The omphalos connected the upper world of the Olympians to the Underworld below.
Parents
Symbols
Fun Fact
The word "omphalos" gives us "navel" metaphors in dozens of languages. Jerusalem, Rome, Cusco, and Beijing all claimed to be the "navel of the world" — but Delphi was first. The original omphalos stone survives in the Delphi Archaeological Museum, still carved with its knotted net pattern after 2,500 years.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
Apollo (Light)
godApollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and...
Apollo Loxias
godAn epithet of Apollo meaning "the Oblique One," referring to the deliberately ambiguous nature of...
Cronus
titanKronos (Cronus) overthrew his father Uranus and ruled the Golden Age, but devoured his own children...
Delphi
placeThe most important oracle in ancient Greece, where the Pythia delivered Apollo's prophecies. The...
Delphi Treasury of Athens
placeThe marble treasury built by Athens at Delphi from Marathon spoils, the best-preserved building on...
Olympia
placeOlympia was the sanctuary in the Peloponnese where the ancient Olympic Games were held every four...
Rhea
titanMother of the Olympian gods and wife of Kronos. Rhea saved the infant Zeus from being devoured by...
Underworld
placeThe Underworld was the vast subterranean realm where all mortal souls went after death — a...
Zeus
godSupreme ruler of the Olympian gods and lord of the sky. Zeus overthrew his father Kronos and...
Zeus (King)
godZeus was the king of the Olympian gods, ruler of the sky, wielder of the thunderbolt — the supreme...
Zeus Xenios
godAn epithet of Zeus as guardian of guests and the sacred law of hospitality (xenia), whose violation...