Corinthian Matters

Category: Periods, Modern

  • Histories of Peirene

    There are no monuments of ancient Corinth more famous and iconic than the Fountain of Peirene.  Any modern visitor who has wandered among the ruins will likely have shot a photo like the one below of the Roman spring facade and court.  And anyone who walks into a tourist shop will have seen plenty of…

  • More Extreme Sports at the Isthmus

    There is something fitting about staging extreme sports at the Isthmus today.  Perhaps it has something to do with ancient attempts to canalize the Isthmus, or drag ships over it, or build big fortification walls across it—all heroic and incredible feats.  Or perhaps it has something to do with the associations with the Pan-Hellenic festival…

  • Corinthiaka

    The latest Corinthiaka appearing in my google alerts and blog subscriptions The American School of Classical Studies has posted a save-the-date for a C.K. Williams lecture on Corinth next may. From Athens News: Wildfires in Achaia, Corinth A new Corinth entry published in About.com that could be expanded to incorporate more archaeological evidence. The best…

  • Corinthiaka

    I take a break from uploading images of the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey to drop some Corinthiaka that have come through my feed in the last month.  Matt Malcolm at cryptotheology has recent posts on John Chrysostom and 1 Corinthians, part 1 of a review of Barnett’s The Corinthian Question (with comments), and the interpretation…

  • Kouroi arrive in Corinth

    When I was in Corinth in early June, a news item going around the village was the imminent arrival of Archaic-period kouroi to the archaeological museum at Corinth.  The statues, depicted in the images below (from Greek Reporter and Athens News), were found in Klenies (see map below), a village of the southern Corinthia near…

  • Whales in the Corinthian gulf

    I have sometimes heard that sharks roam the Corinthian Gulf (the Blue Guide description of Perachora notes their presence in the deep waters there) but whales must be very uncommon.  This video captures a trapped whale some 12 meters long swimming recently near Porto Germeno northeast of Corinth.  Watch out swimmers.

  • Bungee into the Abyss

    If it looks unsafe, it probably is.  That’s what I have often thought while watching extreme sport types jump 80 meters head first into the Corinth Canal.  For 60 Euro you can pay Zulu Bungy to jump from the old national road bridge and hang suspended above the canal for a couple of minutes.  It…

  • Temple of Apollo Photographs at the Benaki Museum

    A recent article from the Greek Reporter highlights the photographic exhibition of James Robertson at the Benaki Museum: James Robertson was one of the first prominent traveler-photographers to depict scenes of mid-nineteenth century Greece. Of Scottish descent, he has been identified as the engraver James Robertson, who worked in London around 1830. He first settled…

  • “Letter to the Corinthians – Yes we can”

    This Reuters article came through my feed last week describing how the modern village of ancient Corinth is dealing with Greece’s economic crisis.  The author seems to me to be painting an overly dramatized view of the drop in tourism in the village.  In my 15 summers of visits to the Corinthia, I don’t recall…

  • The Feasts of Peter and Paul, Apostles, June 29

    Photo by Kate Pettegrew (June 29, 2007) Photo by Kate Pettegrew (June 29, 2007)   The troparion and kontakia for June 29 from the website of the Orthodox Church of America: ************** First-enthroned of the apostles,teachers of the universe:Entreat the Master of allto grant peace to the world,and to our souls great mercy! ************** O…