​The first dance recalls how the god Apollo started out as the prophet at Delphi. Looking for priests to serve him there, Apollo reroutes a ship full of sailors from Crete. He appears to them in the form of a dolphin to explain their new duties. As they march from the shore up to Delphi in the foothills of mount Parnassus, the sailors perform a Paean—a processional dance in tribute to Apollo.

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The second dance is a Chorea, a circle or ring dance. The Chorea was a traditional part of the Pythian Games, a music festival that was held at Delphi to atone for Apollo having killed the python that had preceded him as prophet there. In this dance, the muses hold hands as they turn in a circular formation to the accompaniment of Apollo himself playing the harp-like lyre.

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The third dance opens up the realm of divine inspiration, whereby the priestess Pythia—named after the snake—receives Apollo’s visions and then communicates them verbally to those who seek advance knowledge of future events. To become inspired, Pythia enters a kind of altered state that the ancient Greeks called enthusiasmos or ekstasis, perhaps aided by a daemon, or spirit.