Tripods - from the Greek 'tripous', meaning 'three footed' - were often awarded as symbols of achievement, status, and hospitality. In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey they were a token of friendship between host and guest, and were given as prizes for winning in games. In the Classical period, vases show that they continued to be awarded as prizes for athletic competitions.
The tripod is associated with Apollo, god of oracles and prophecy. In Apollo's sanctuary in Delphi, his priestess, the Pythia, would sit in the bowl of a tripod and inhale laurel fumes before delivering her prophetic utterances.