Corinthian Matters

Category: Religion, Churches

  • Did a tsunami destroy ancient Lechaion?

    In early July, Andreas Vött and his colleagues announced that sometime in the 6th century AD, a tsunami destroyed ancient Olympia, the famous site of pan-Hellenic athletic contests.   In considering recent scholarship on historical tsunamis in the Gulf of Corinth, I pondered here at Corinthianmatters whether there was any evidence for tsunamis in the Corinthia. …

  • Corinth – Paul, People, and Politics

    Macquarie University has posted a description and schedule for a conference on May 14 called “Corinth – Paul, People and Politics,” sponsored by the Society for the Study of Early Christianity.  The abstract for the conference: In Paul’s letters to the Corinthians we see an early Christian society dealing with factionalism arising from varied interpretations…

  • St. Leonidas and the Seven Virgins, Martyrs, April 16

    On the eve of the start of Holy Week in both western and eastern churches, it is appropriate to highlight the life of Leonidas and companions, martyred for their faith in Corinth while celebrating Pascha sometime in the mid-third century AD. The Synaxarion of the Orthodox Church notes April 16 as the day commemorating the martyrdom…

  • St. Kodratos and Company

    March 10 marks the feast day of a third century martyr named Kodratos, a Christian poorly known today but evidently important for the church communities of Late Antique and Byzantine Corinth.  This Kodratos (aka Codratus / Quadratus) is not to be confused with the famous Kodratos of Athens, the bishop and apologist of the second century.…

  • Dissertating Corinth

    The American School of Classical Studies’ website has a nice piece on Angela Ziskowski’s recently defended dissertation The Construction of Corinthian Identity in the Early Iron Age and Archaic Period. As Angela describes her work there: My work on this topic focused on whether or not archaeological remains and literary testimonia from the city and…

  • From Corinth, with love

    The choices for Valentine’s Day were anecdotes about courtesans and Aphrodite or some love verses from St. Paul.  I felt that 1 Corinthians 13 had a bit more substance.  Some images of the modern church of the Koimesis in the village of Ancient Corinth with more available in the photo gallery.

  • Three new papers on the Roman Corinthia and Isthmus

    A new book on Hellenistic to Roman Corinth called Corinth in Contrast: Studies in Inequality is now in the works.  The volume is edited by Friesen, James, and Schowalter and is based on the conference in Austin in early October which brought together archaeologists, historians, and New Testament scholars to discuss the topic of inequality and contrast…

  • More Corinth in Contrast

    On Monday I posted a general overview of the conference Corinth in Contrast and today I want to comment on a few of the specific papers that focused on material culture.  Defining which papers fit into the category of material culture is not straightforward.  Most of the papers, including those by New Testament scholars, made…