July 21 Ancient Corinth

 

Yesterday we took a bus trip to visit the ancient town of Corinth where St Paul lived and preached. On the way we had a quick photo stop at the Corinth Canal and also at the ruins of the old port on the Aegean side of Corinth from where sailors would haul their boats across the narrow neck of land to the Ionian Sea. Would that we could have dived into that turquoise water as the day was blisteringly hot. The Corinth Canal was built as a joint venture between Greece and Hungary 1881 to 1893. Just over 6 km (20-odd metres wide) the Canal reduced the distance between the ports of the Aegean and the Ionian Seas  by 131 nautical miles (almost 250km).

Evidently the wild boars come down out of the surrounding mountains and have been seen on the road.

Above us helicopters were carrying water to the bushfires in the surrounding area.

Corinth Canal was built as a joint venture between Greece and Hungary 1881 to 1893. 

Yes people do bungy jump into the canyon of the Canal

The ruins of the old port in the Aegean where the sailors hauled their boats ashore and dragged them overland to the Ionian Sea (in fact the slaves did the work!)

We reached the ruins of the old city of Corinth and hurried between patches of shade to look at the remains of the ancient agora (market) and other crumbled reminders of a very distant past. We were told wonderful stories which were a mixture of hisotry and myth often from Homer's tales who in turn had drwan on more ancient poems, songs and tales. One that I thought typical of the Greek tradegy is about the Fountain of Glauke. The fountain, a large cubic mass of limestone, evidently received its name from Glauke, daughter of Creon, the King of Corinth, and the second wife of the heroic Jason from the myth of the search for the Golden Fleece told in Argonautica, a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the C3 BC. But to this story - Medea, Jason’s first wife, in a fit of jealousy presented Glauke with a cloak infused with poison. After putting on the cloak, Glauke threw herself into the fountain in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the poison from burning her.  Those were the days!

Standing stark against the burnt blue-sky, is what remains of the C6 BC Temple of Apollo

C6 BC Temple of Apollo

The Fountain of Glauke

We dashed between patches of shade to get some respite from the burning sun

Some of the excavated ruins of the extensive agora

Through this hole in a plinth can be seen the worn insides of acolumn resemble the trabeculae of bones

I found the fragments of these sculptures quite beautiful -
Demeter and her daughter, Kore or Persephone. 

A figurine of dancers arranged around a flautist

We were forrtunate to visit the on-site museum - it closed immediately after our short visit because of the very high temperatures.  It was well worth the visit as the displays were extensive and beautifully presented with excellent signage. For instance, outside the city walls of Corinth, a sanctuary was found with votive offerings. My favourite was a figurine of dancers arranged around a flautist. It reminded me of a tiny sculpture by Camille Claudel which I think was called ‘Chinese Whispers’. They say that the sanctuary might have been dedicated to the faunlike god Pan and the Nymphs, who danced with him in the wild. But it is also likely that at this sanctuary, young women offered their gifts before marriage. Whatever it was the votives were delightful. and the detail in many of the marble sculptures left me in wonder. As an amateur clay sculptor I can only marvel at the skill of those ancient scupltors. 

Central panel from a tessellated floor from a Roman Villa circa C2-3 AD

The detail in these mable scultures is incredible.