The Letter E at Delphi

  • The Temple of Apollo at Delphi was inscribed with 147 Maxims, but in particular, a mysterious letter ‘E’.
  • The ancient Greeks themselves did not understand its significance, and puzzled over its meaning.

Plutarch

  • Plutarch (46-c.120 BCE) was a Greek Historian and Priest at the Temple of Delphi, and he was also a friend of the Pythea, Priestess of the Oracle.
  • The Greek letter E, known as ‘EI’, was the fifth letter in the Greek Alphabet and represented the number ‘five’, the word ‘If’ and the phrase ‘To be’ or ‘Thou art’.

Plutarch’s seven explanations of the Letter E:

  1. The letter E was the second of seven vowels in the Greek Alphabet, (each representing the Seven Classical Planets.  It represented the second planet which was the Sun, represented by Apollo, God of the Sanctuary.
  2. The Letter E means ‘If’, used by visitors who would ask the Oracle ‘If’ the future held this or that direction.
  3. The Letter E was used in prayer, also using the meaning ‘If’ as in making a wish, ‘If this could only be made to happen’.
  4. The Letter E used as ‘If’ is the key in Logic to make a Syllogism.
  5. The Letter E used as the number 5, is important in Mathematics.
  6. The Letter E used as the number 5, by the Wise Men to indicate that they were five Sages and not Seven Sages of Greece
  7. The Letter E used as ‘Thou art’ is used when addressing the God Apollo.
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