- For other items with the name Delphi, see: Delphi (disambiguation).
Delphi is a Colonial city on Caprica with a large spaceport and military base, and is situated in the same general region as Caprica City.
General
Delphi is encircled by an rolling temperate rain forest and is located fairly close to a mountain range. It is on one of these mountains that the Caprica Buccaneers pyramid team survived the Cylon attack while undertaking high-altitude training.
One of the tallest structures in Delphi is the Telamont Building. When he reaches Delphi, Helo recognizes the city by this building.
Another major landmark is the Delphi Museum of the Colonies. This massive archaeological complex contains the Arrow of Apollo, an artifact that holds clues to the general whereabouts of Earth. After seeing visions of a city on the planet Kobol, President Roslin becomes convinced that Colonial scriptures hold real-world significance. She overrides Commander Adama's plans to destroy a basestar orbiting Kobol by means of a captured Cylon Raider, and persuades Kara Thrace to take the craft to Delphi in order to recover the Arrow. Successfully jumping to Caprica, Thrace lands near the Delphi Museum and manages to retrieve the artifact ("Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I" and "Part II").
Prior to the attack, Kara Thrace owned a studio apartment in Delphi. Overlooking a parking lot, the apartment is in complete disarray, having inoperative air-conditioning, faulty heating and a broken toilet. The living room is littered with paintings of her own creation, some on canvas, one particular painting on the wall (complete with a poem) and a tiny cache of her customary cigars. Thrace isn't very enthusiastic about the place, and merely returns to collect an old jacket, a personal memento, and to retrieve the keys to her old military truck so she and Helo won't have to walk anymore (Valley of Darkness).
The Delphi Union High School is located in the forested area outside of Delphi and used as base of operation by the Caprica resistance (Resistance).
Cylon Use
Following the Cylon attack, Delphi is used by the Cylons as their primary base of operations. When Athena and Helo reach Delphi after months of traveling the surrounding wilderness, they notice heavy Cylon activity in and around the city ("Flesh and Bone", "The Hand of God", "Colonial Day").
The Cylons gradually re-settle Delphi - the humanoid Cylons appropriate apartments, restore the landscaping and open a restaurant and other facilities. After she is resurrected, Sharon Valerii returns to the apartment she had lived in prior to the Fall of the Colonies for a time.
Delphi, as with the rest of the Colonies, is allegedly abandoned as the Cylons leave to find the last remnants of humanity in order to find a way to co-exist with them (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II)
Notes
- The location of Delphi is one of many of the series’ influences by ancient Greek mythology and history. In antiquity, the Greek city of Delphi was home to the Delphic Oracle, a Sibyl who made predictions, delivered in song or verse, which may have been inspired or influenced by the breathing of vapors emitted from the ground. The Oracle was originally a Pythian priestess (named for the python, killed by Apollo). Over time, she became known as The Pythia.
- Initially, the Oracle was associated with Gaia, who became the foundation of the Olympian Gods. However, with the founding of a temple to the god Apollo, Delphi became more closely associated with him. This relationship between Delphi and Apollo is reflected in Delphi on Caprica being the home of the Arrow of Apollo.
- The University of British Columbia's Koerner Library was used as the Delphi base on Caprica in the episode "Colonial Day" (Source: The Official Companion).
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