The main objective of the thesis is to investigate how the Delphic Oracle, in its capacity as both a physical site and an oracular institution, forms a significant field of study for analysing the tension between speech, inscription and space. The starting point of this investigation lies in the crucial role of the Delphic sanctuary in ancient Greek history, where it may be understood as one of the most intense manifestations of the politics of sacred space. It operated as a Panhellenic and international centre, constituting an ideal location-network of communication that united geographical distances through political interactions among city-states in the ancient world.Derrida’s deconstructive method, as articulated in Of Grammatology, serves here as an instrument for analysing the tension between speech, inscription and space in the Oracle at Delphi. This enquiry reveals that the opposition between speech and writing is not as clear-cut as commonly assumed. The exploration includes an analysis of the shift from orality to literacy and leads to an understanding of where writing ‘cuts into’ speech through the concepts of arche-writing, trace and différance. Examining the nature of the oracular utterance and its relation to divination, the thesis also turns to Plutarch’s Pythian Dialogues, especially as a source for prophetic inspiration, the simplification of oracular language and the architectural landscape of Delphi.The thesis finally examines the ongoing evolution of writing in space through the inscriptions found across the sanctuary on steles, statue bases, retaining walls, treasuries, votive monuments and the Temple of Apollo. It concludes by arguing that writing is not simply located in space, but is itself productive of spatiality.

Dorette Panagiotopoulou studied at the AA, graduating from Diploma Unit 14 in 2013, and later completed a master’s degree in Cultural and Intellectual History at the Warburg Institute. She went on to complete her PhD at the Architectural Association, where she also taught in History and Theory Studies. She has worked at Hopkins Architects, contributed to the Re-Activate Athens project with Urban-Think Tank and collaborated with Forensic Architecture and the National Technical University of Athens.