Know thyself · 23 September 2026 · Charlotte Himsworth
Know Thyself: The Words Carved at Delphi
Two words at the entrance to Apollo’s temple, older than Socrates, still sit at the heart of every true change.
On the slopes of Mount Parnassus, at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, two words greeted every visitor: gnōthi seauton, know thyself. Tradition credits the maxim to the Seven Sages of Greece in the sixth century BCE. Plato records them dedicating it at Delphi, so the words were already ancient wisdom when Socrates made them the heart of his philosophy.
The navel of the world
Greek myth tells that Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the world, and where their flights met he marked its centre with a sacred stone, the omphalos. People travelled for centuries to consult Apollo’s priestess, the Pythia. Yet before they asked their question, the temple had already given its first answer: begin with yourself.
Written in the summer sky
There is a lovely echo overhead. On summer evenings, Altair and Vega shine high in the sky, their Arabic names meaning “the flying eagle” and “the swooping eagle”. With Deneb they form the Summer Triangle, and between them swims Delphinus, the dolphin. A poetic reading, offered for wonder rather than proof.
Why it still matters
Every lasting change begins with self-knowledge. We cannot change a pattern we cannot see, or move towards a goal we have not truly chosen. Whether you are working on your thinking or caring for your body, the first step is the same: honest, gentle attention to who you are and what you want.
In later centuries a promise was often added to the maxim: know thyself, and you will know the universe and the gods. Whatever we make of that promise, the journey inward rarely disappoints.
A practice
Sit quietly with one question each morning this week: What do I truly value, beneath what I have been told to want? Write whatever arrives, without editing. By the end of the week, you may know yourself a little better than when you began.