Canary in the Coal Mine - Day

2:27AM

6:57PM

In 427 B.C., a plague ravaged Athens, killing a quarter of its population, including the great leader Pericles. In desperation, the Athenians sent a delegation to Delos, to entreat Apollo's oracle to beg the god to spare their lives. The oracle returned with the god's demand: Apollo wanted the Athenians to double the size of his temple on the island. The Athenians quickly set to work. They doubled the length, the width, and the height of the Athenian temple to Apollo. They decorated it opulently and lavished it with gifts, and soon the Athenian temple on Delos was the most magnificent on the island, or perhaps anywhere. The delegation returned to Athens with great hope, expecting that the god would now lift the curse. But the plague continued to ravage the city. So a second delegation left Athens for Delos. When its members met with the oracle, he surprised them by saying: "You have not followed Apollo's instructions!" The oracle continued: "You have not doubled the size of the god's temple, as he demanded of you. Go back and do as he had commanded you to do!"( ... tālāk ... )