apollo and the archaic temple at corinth - The American School of

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APOLLO AND THE
HESPERIA 73 (2004)
Pages 40z-426
ARCHAIC TEMPLE AT
CORINTH
ABSTRACT
After a detailed examination of the literary,e pigraphic,a nd archaeological
evidence, the authors argue that the prominent Archaic Doric temple at
Corinth was dedicatedt o Apollo. It is this temple with its bronze statue that
Pausanias( 2.3.6) saw on his right as he left the areao f the forum, taking the
road to Sikyon. In furthers upporto f this identification,t he authorsp resenta
previously unpublished Archaic terracottap inax, possibly inscribed with a
dedication to Apollo. The plaquew as found duringe xcavationsa t Corinth in
1902 and is now, apparentlyl, ost.
The Archaic Doric temple that stands on the hill above the Roman forum
at Corinth is the single most imposing monument to that city's earlyg reat-
ness.' Visible since the middle of the sixth century B.C.w hen it was built,
the temple has served as a beacon and focus for early travelers, the first
excavatorso f Corinth, and visitors to the site. Nevertheless, the identifica-
tion of this major monument has remained a matter of debate.2
In 1886, the first excavatorW, ilhelm Dbrpfeld, stated that the temple's
dedication was unknown, although some had attributedi t to Athena Chali-
nitis.3 In the earliest excavation reports of the American School of Classi-
cal Studies at Athens, it appearsa s the "Old Temple."4W ith the discovery
of the theater in 1897 and the Fountain of Peirene in 1898, however, the
excavated site of Corinth could be related to the description of Pausanias,
and by 1898 Rufus B. Richardson had identified the Old Temple as the
Temple of Apollo.5 It was published as such by Richard Stillwell6 and, in
1. We areg ratefutlo Benjamin Scahillf orh elpw ith the plans;a nd of nomenclaturteh ant hato f the old
Millis,E lizabethG . PembertonC, hris- KarenS oterioua ndM artinS edaghat temple at Corinth."A centuryo f
topherP faff,H elenC . StroudR, udolf fort heird rawingos f Figs.4 and5 , scholarshiph as yet to effect a satisfac-
Wachtera, ndC harlesK .W illiamsI I respectivelAy.l l translationasr eb y tory cure.
for readinga n earlierd rafto f thisp aper R. S. Stroud. 3. D6rpfeld 1886, p. 305.
ands ubstantialliym provinigt . Com- 2. Fora usefuld iscussiono f the his- 4. Richardson1 897.
mentsf romt he two anonymouHs es- toryo f thisp roblems,e e Powell1 905, 5. Richardson1 898, p. 236.
peria readersh ave also been very help- p. 44, who observedt hat, "No ruin in 6. CorinthI , pp. 115-134.
ful.W e thankJ amesH erbsta ndD avid Greece has sufferedm ore on the score
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402 NANCY BOOKIDIS AND RONALD S. STROUD
1905, Benjamin Powell asserted that "subsequente xcavations have made
this [identification] practically certain and from the evidence given by
Dr. Richardson we may rest assured that this was truly the Temple of
Apollo."'7T his statement, however, has not found universal assent.8A re-
cent rediscovery of an inscribed clay plaque from the 1902 excavations
takes on greater significance as possible additional evidence for the identi-
fication of the temple.
Before presenting this important new find, we first review the literary,
epigraphic, architectural,a nd archaeological evidence for the identity of
the Archaic temple, which, as far as we know, has never been thoroughly
examined in one
place.9
LITERARY EVIDENCE
We begin with the particularp assage in Pausaniast hat relates to this issue,
2.3.6-2.4.5. Here, and elsewhere in his description of Corinth, the perie-
getes10u ses the word &dyopofodr the large, open, paved area to the south of
Temple Hill, which we will call the "forum"o f the Roman city of Corinth.
'Eeo'Pcv8~ X E? CX&yopoCZ-SYT7 Vt ELX0COVeOpXCo jlvotSGL Va StLV
Ev 3s(cid:127)@ -i0 6806 vcx6;x cxi0 yCycxXhX opxoiv 'AT6?hXX0vxoc;i 6XL-
yov -r;ainpcxot pqveX aCXoyotuvv yop -cowa6r-k'vp pytnv
rFoad,6xl"
-
oxCixqI v, ;XyoUom, -cov Mr-s(cid:127)xa FScOoOaLC paxp0CXCov 68bop
voEtipo Goao iblCtco. 7c(cid:127)Q za6ztn) v TcoeroqaTcL- Va xtvelv xolen xac bon0-
11vov 'Q0E?ov,7 0CpO3Co COO'Z Cvi64 t6C oa-CL-CMOrL1;s 80F;xTqc owtv....
[2.3X.7p] oooafv-urooep Oo0 ule(cid:127)t i -craoo Cfoi (cid:127)(cid:127)~TLo0L X0~oYCGqoCV
xoritA. s4toCt (cid:127)h-irCOf. oniro tav t 1 xOaCS; hrsL Xl -coat, yuova -
xob ier to epov o6vl 7_otYLesv .... [2.4.1]B -cobcp dv qizo
B~es- vt oip orf36(cid:127)pmctes o Xrai tcvtheso;n' A0ov&ie~ 6v.... [2.4.5] -6 ~ spoi6v
Tcf 'AO-qv&c; Xcc;Xtv6CtoL 7c p6g c oupqotv oa-cv.
;. Or6-upq.
Upon leaving the agora by another road, the one toward Sikyon, 7. Powell 1905, p. 53.
it is possible to see on the right of the road a temple and a bronze 8. The observationo f Frazeri n his
statue of Apollo and a little further on a fountain named for Glauke. first edition of 1897, basicallyu n-
For it was into this fountain that she threw herself, as they say, changed in the second edition of 1913,
believing that its water would cure Medea's poisons. Beyond this vol. 3, p. 37, "There is absolutelyn o
fountain has also been constructed what is known as the Odeion. evidence to what deity or ratherd eities
the temple was dedicated,"a nd his
Beside it is a memorial to the sons of Medea.... [2.3.7] In response omission of any mention of a temple
to the god's oracle, they (the Corinthians) established annual sac- and statue of Apollo from his commen-
rifices to them and a monument ofTerror was erected. This in fact tary on Pausanias2 .3.6 have to be seen
still survives to our day, an image of a woman of dreadful appear- in light of the fact that he wrote with-
out any referencet o the excavationso f
ance.... [2.4.1] Not far from the monument is the Sanctuary of
the American School.
Athena Chalinitis.... [2.4.5] The Sanctuary of Athena Chalinitis is 9. Reichert-Siidbeck2 000, pp. 183-
near their theater. 205, has a valuabled iscussiono f the
evidence as it pertainst o the worship
This passage follows Pausanias'sd escription of the monuments in the fo-
of Apollo at Corinth.
rum (2.2.6-3.1) and those along the road leading to the harboro f Lechaion 10. We apply this nontechnical,
(2.3.2-5). In 2.3.6, he returns to the west end of the forum and leaves on a descriptivet erm to Pausaniasi n light of
road leading to Sikyon. Here he finds a temple and bronze statue of Apollo the excellent discussionb y Jones (2001).
APOLLO AND THE ARCHAIC TEMPLE AT CORINTH 403
Figure 1. Plan of Corinth,
on the right side of the road.A little beyond this is the Fountain of Glauke,
ca. A.D.1 50:A . Fountaino f Glauke;
B. Odeion;C . Theater;D . TempleG ; which has probably survived as the prominent rock-cut structure at A in
E. TempleK ;F . Periboloso fApollo; Figure 1. The Odeion (Fig. 1:B), which is firmly identified, lies beyond
G. Templeo f Apollo. C. K.W illiamIsI , Glauke, still on the road toward Sikyon. Another conspicuous structure,
CorintEh xcavations the theater (Fig. 1:C), indicates that all the monuments described in this
passage by Pausanias must have been located between it and the gate by
which he leaves the northwest corner of the forum. Convincing identifica-
tions for the memorial to Medea's children, the statue of Terror, and the
Sanctuary of Athena Chalinitis have yet to be established, although many
theories have been proposed." We return to this passage below.
Further evidence for an image of Apollo in Roman Corinth is pro-
vided by Pausanias in 2.2.8, where he mentions a statue of KlarianA pollo
in the forum near a fountain of Poseidon. A possible representationo f this
statue exists on a coin of Septimius Severus from Corinth.12 The proto-
type of the god seated, semidraped, on a throne with his lyre next to him
11. For the mnema,s ee Anth. Pal. chora,w e prefert o follow the view of Jones (2003) has well explainedt hem,
7.354. For an introductiont o the Papachatzis( 1976, p. 75), that Pausa- we are not preparedt o follow Osanna
problemso f the monument of Medea's nias'sv erb e'reCo (2.3.7) ties the (2001, p. 198), who rejectst he seven
children and the statue of Terror,w ith statue to the mnte.lme at hat is located next topographicd esignationsi n this
citation of sourcesa nd earlierb ibliogra- to the Odeion and not far from the passage and arguest hat the organizing
phy, see Johnston 1997, who, however, Sanctuaryo f Athena Chalinitis. On principle here is a kind of thematic
errs in stating (pp. 46, 48) that Pausa- the latter,s ee Novaro-Lefevre2 000, associationo f legends rathert han "una
nias placed these monuments "in the pp. 60-62. On the mnema,s ee also guida, topograficamentec oerente."
agora."R egardingh er proposal( pp. 49, Bookidis, forthcoming. 12. Imhoof-Blumer and Gardner
60) that the statue of Terrors tood in While alert to recent interest in 1964, p. 156, no. 25, pl. FF:14.
the Sanctuaryo f Hera Akraia in Pera- Pausanias's" principleso f choice,"a s
404 NANCY BOOKIDIS AND RONALD S. STROUD
apparentlyg oes back to the first half of the second century B.C.13F lashar's
association of a corresponding figure on Augustan monuments celebrat-
ing the victory at Actium might give some support for an Augustan date
for the statue at Corinth. In his suggestion that this statue was housed in
Temple G (Fig. 1:D), Charles K. Williams II definitely set it in the Ro-
man period.14S cranton attempted to place the statue of Apollo Klarios in
Temple K (Fig. 1:E), which he then identified as the Temple of Apollo
from Pausanias2 .3.6 (see below, p. 414).15A connection between Corinth
and the Oracle of Apollo at Klarosi s attested in an inscription from Klaros
that records a delegation of 10 Corinthian hymnodois ent to Klaros in the
reign of Hadrian.16I t is important to distinguish the small Roman temple
in Pausanias's agora that housed the statue of Apollo Klarios from the
Temple of Apollo in 2.3.6 that stood outside the agora on the right side of
the road leading toward Sikyon.
Another reference to Apollo at Corinth is found in Pausanias 2.3.3,
where he mentions a statue of the god next to the Fountain of Peirene. A
nearby peribolos (Fig. 1:F), on the east side of the Lechaion Road, in
which Pausanias saw a painting of Odysseus and the suitors may also have
been consecrated to Apollo, although there seems to be nothing in the
archaeologicalr ecord to associate it with this god. We note also that Pausa-
nias does not refer to a temple in this precinct in the Roman period."
The only other temple dedicated to Apollo mentioned at Corinth by
Pausanias cannot be related to the Archaic structureo n Temple Hill, for it
was outside the city walls on the road from Corinth to Sikyon and lay in
burned ruins at the time of his visit. The relevant passage (2.5.5) reads as
follows:
Ex oS8k x E? o6ycyCxv&r OLCxc7 v Exvcva ioaot
vc Kopov=07opuY IEVO?TGVoM0T 7C69GT C7-Mf C 6(cid:127)c X.'tc& op0, Wv; 1) C ,
E(cid:127)(cid:127)VS
-" 6o80. yey66wVx oaL 6v2 , 3 xo.i iXi ooL 7epot c(cid:127)pt -61vK opLv0CWxv
xod 7CEJ9 ,cX#OV tV --C6 os"iX Xx&OoCix tx~ci LLEi tP-OC 1 F'5(_ ) ixoU0
&kx -rob-'6yvse 6v vcxv 'AT6c6?ovo EEvcoXc eyouat xc).
y 6"CUL6 Ppoo
xccxcxtoioesv 6 'AX o;g o6rc6v.X (pp 6v) aoc8xpc'oiv i xoUcx
iik0o -o6dvSE,, 60;o i KoplvOLtoA Ll7 rCot0LoXro 'OXo0?u -r;v v(v"b
xc(tX6) x(cid:127)p~rTvP7VcY6 ro0Ev r(cid:127)1oEv tL0CLC0PEaL(Ex-Vd 6v.
Going fromC orinth,n ot alongt he inlandr oad,b ut on the one
leadingt o Sikyont herei s a burnedt emplen ot farf romt he city on
the left side of the road.C ertainlyt hereh aveb een a numbero f
13. See Flashar1 992, pp. 147-157; name,P eriboloos f Apollo,h asb een peribolosw as laid out in the later first
Marcade 1994, pp. 448-450. acceptedw ithl ittleh esitationo, n the century A.D., it is unlikely that worship
14.W illiamsa ndF isher1 975, basiso f the commento f Pausanias of the Greek deity would have con-
pp.2 7-28; cf.M ustia ndT orelli1 986, (II, 3, 3).... The existenceh, owever, tinued. Reichert-Siidbeck( 2000,
pp.2 17-220;R eichert-Siidbec2k0 00, of sucha statueo f Apollos uggests p. 189) is in essential agreementw ith
pp. 188-189. thatt he buildingsm ayh aveb een this view. For the identificationo f the
15. Corinth1 .3, p. 71. consecratetdo thatg od,p ossiblyin market,s ee Williams 1993, pp. 39-40;
16. Macridy 1912, pp. 54-55, Greekt imesa sw ell as in the timeo f Corinth1 .2, plan I. For Williams's
no. 27. Pausanias."I n view of the fact that a previousw ork in the peribolos,s ee
17. Corinth1 .2, pp. 1-54. H. E. fish marketw as built over the temenos Williams 1968, p. 134.
Askew, in Corinth1 .2, p. 1: "The of the Hellenistic temple before the
APOLLO AND THE ARCHAIC TEMPLE AT CORINTH 405
other wars in the region of the Corinthia and understandably
houses and sanctuarieso utside the city wall have been put to the
flame. This temple, however, they say was that of Apollo and that
Pyrrhos the son of Achilles burned it down. At a later time, I heard
another version to the following effect, that the Corinthians con-
structed the temple for Olympian Zeus and that a sudden and
unexpected fire destroyed it.
We turn now to potentially relevantl iterarye vidence for Apollo in the
Greek city of Corinth that may be useful in identifying the Archaic temple.
The earliest belongs to the reign of Periander,6 26/5-586/5 B.c. As part of
his struggle against his rebellious son, Lykophron, the tyrant issued a proc-
lamation recorded by Herodotos 3.52 as follows: -riXo 3* 6
xjuyca ixoMioroo, S Iv oxqlolo 06n os~rccm gov uifp lEopo03(cid:127)a(cid:127)gvXpo6o0 ,
tip v l -roZiv6 -ov -C 'Arnd6Xov6CPe theLv,6 oav 8q sTCOC"Fagin. allyP eriander
issued a proclamation to the effect that whoever either should receive him
[Lykophron] in their houses or converse with him should be liable to a
fine consecrated to Apollo, and in fact he stated the sum." Later, when
Periander himself conversed with his son, the latter reminded his father
that he ip(cid:127)pv vl(.lv 6peqiLEtv Tc(o 0F6 ou-cz ;X6yoUog6 Lux6[ESvov, "had
incurred the fine consecrated to the god by entering into conversation
with him." The relevance of this passage for our present purposes was
aptly noted by Heinrich Stein in his commentaryt o Herodotos:" Strafgelder
flossen entweder in die Staatskasse oder, wie hier, in dem Tempelschatz
einer Gottheit.""sA part from the "folk-tale"e lements of this story, we
believe that it is safe to infer that contemporaryw ith Periander there was
a depository for fines consecrated to Apollo at Corinth and that its most
probable location was in a temple of this god.19
Further evidence for the importance and, indeed, for the size and lo-
cation of the temple and sanctuaryo f Apollo at Corinth is found in Plutarch,
Aratos 40.20 In 225/4 B.C.t he Corinthian cXe0og,i n anger at Aratos, the
general of the Achaian League and commander of the garrison on Acro-
corinth:
uovapagdlV6TEo ;v SEti6 zoTo' Arc6XhXvog Epd6v, tbv
(cid:127)tETreTegtcovro
"Apac-ov, VExEV(cid:127)y oU apey 7rOc 6 &-c oo raos CyvCxodrsg.
6 8' XE iV al6Tr6qgp Sx6slvog tzv XXov, c &qoX6cxT )oV i06'
07on7oTE6CvVC, avaccTcYgriCoaT~vSv T oXXcGvx cacX oLtopoouivov aoCz-CU
18. Stein 1893, p. 59. xat xca-qyopo6VTcwVE, 7C;g xaOCsoeT&r-Ccc)t 7r poa3rco -6 Xdyy)
19. For a convenientc ollection xO(cid:127)a.
of evidence for this function of cgpCog ?XEEUEX CCoiLGXO[Oo l t P(cid:127)oT3ozc V & XTzGOi~gG T&TOC&,x XCX ctL
Greek temples, see Hollinshead 1999, zoig CEQp0i6 poo OVToCEC5 LO0)T cCptisVXCCLo ti oD0O' o~C?i yowv xES S
pp. 209-213. For the featuret enta- SrdICV& )S O(p~TOpCC&ZTOvOiZ vO V7 ICTCOOVio. T)g 8' 7inEx86g, xa'CT oLq
tively identified as a treasuryb ox in xTcavzGoLtz ov Kopov0(ov 60op6f3p q 8Ltaqy6LEvog xctcLX EXE6ov
btheelo2 sw0ix., tp Ah. -4mc1eu2nc.t hu bryrB ie.cfe. tre,v marpilaen, stve eer - yuvpdbgg6 Ez6v o'gA,r coVXCXCcov(cid:127)ntCioOvY 'Pito 3go CiELTstOhVy~d, gn SoXv OOxOErcC cK lo hoonvr &zu6 zpRui zx-p o(i pXov-u
T (
sion, in which Aratos assemblest he Qg Qpoopca 6taxhXEuoo sEVOgS yXpcczTGSp XzzTTELV,d xc9T7EEUoCv
Corinthiansi n the Bouleuterion, ESg LxoVC)VO... . (cO6dEpsvot8 ' oi Koplv0to [LET6' M1yov- uAv
appearsi n Plut. Cleom.1 9. Cf also &xdic6pccovc aXUo) xccX8 tigL(avTEg, )g o xc4cT3 pov, , [ETEi;T~o)4Ovo
Polyb2.. 52.2-3.
Thv KkEOLivYI xaOC CrXapioCav Zv dh Xv.
406 NANCY BOOKIDIS AND RONALD S. STROUD
And so rushing together into the sanctuary of Apollo, they kept
summoning Aratos, having decided either to do away with him
or arresth im before their revolt. He, however, came of his own
accord, leading his horse behind him, and betraying no signs of
distrust or suspicion; but when many of them had leapt up and
were reviling and casting accusations at him, with a calm, com-
posed expression on his face and with a gentle voice, he ordered
them to sit down and not to stand up and keep shouting in an
unruly way, but also to let those who were around the gates ap-
proach. And all the time he was saying these things he was gradu-
ally withdrawing as if he were going to hand his horse over to
some one. Slipping out in this way, he calmly conversed with those
Corinthians he encountered, bidding them to make their way to
the Apollonion, until he secretly got near the citadel. Leaping
upon his horse and ordering Kleopatros the garrison commander
to keep a secure watch, he rode away to Sikyon.... When the
Corinthians perceived his escape shortly thereafter and gave chase
without being able to catch up to him, they summoned Kleomenes
and handed the city over to him.
It is obvious from this passage,p robablyt aken by Plutarchf rom Aratos's
own report in his Memoirs, that the sanctuary of Apollo was capacious
enough to accommodate the large and unruly mob that had summoned
Aratos. Also, his admonition for them to sit down is meaningless if there
was not room for such a large crowd to do so. Moreover, it is an essential
point of the story that he was able to lead his horse into the sacred area,
and that Apollo's shrine had gates, around which Corinthians crowded in
an attempt to get in and join the assembly and through which Aratos and
his horse were able to exit slowly and calmly.T hese gates must also have
been easily accessible to a road leading to Acrocorinth. As he withdrew,
still on foot, in the direction ofAcrocorinth, Aratos urged the Corinthians
he met to gather at the Apollonion. It was only when he had almost reached
the citadel that he leapt on his horse and rode off to Sikyon.
We do not believe that the large sanctuaryr equiredb y this passage is
plausiblya ssociatedw ith either the small temple dedicatedt o KlarianA pollo
in the Roman forum or with the Roman "Peribolos of Apollo" on the
Lechaion Road. Nor does anything in Plutarch's text suggest that these
events took place outside the city to the west, where Pausaniass aw a burned
temple to Apollo (2.5.5). We cannot rule out the possibility that another
large, centrallyl ocated temenos of Apollo at Corinth, otherwise unattested
in literary sources, has eluded the excavators of Corinth for more than a
century.I n fact, only a single inscription on a votive krateri nforms us that,
in its original form in the Archaic period, the Sanctuary of Asklepios,
lying at the northern edge of the city and described by Pausanias (2.4.5),
was dedicated to Apollo as a healing god.21B y the late fifth century B.c.,
however, long before the time of Aratos, Asklepios was recognized as the
patron deity of that sanctuary. 21. CorinthX IV, pp. 15-16, 152-
We propose tentatively that the topographic requirementso f the story 159; Wachter 2001, p. 117, no. COR
in Plutarch, Aratos 40 are best met by the temenos on Temple Hill. Its GR 23.
APOLLO AND THE ARCHAIC TEMPLE AT CORINTH 407
central location in the Hellenistic city would have been a suitable venue
for the unruly political protest meeting described by Plutarch. Even with
its temple and possible subsidiaryb uildings, the temenos was large enough
to have accommodated the crowd in question and to enable some of them
to have found seating. It is spacious enough for Aratos to have led his
horse into the sanctuary,r ather than leave it outside, and for him to have
withdrawn slowly enough to create the impression that he was about to
hand over his mount to someone else. Its location on the old Classical
road that exited the northwest corner of the later Roman forum also gave
it close access to a nearby route to Acrocorinth, for by proceeding to the
south from this corner one passed along the road that skirted the west end
of the South Stoa and led directly up to the citadel. In the opposite direc-
tion, that is, the north, along this same road could have come some of the
Corinthians with whom Plutarch says Aratos calmly conversed, urging
them to proceed to the Apollonion.
The absence of gates into the existing temenos presents a possible
difficulty with this proposed identification. One ancient approach,r evealed
by excavation, was by means of a broad, stone stairway at the southeast
corner of Temple Hill. It is unlikely that this would have been the only
way into the sanctuary,h owever, since building blocks (including the enor-
mous monolithic columns of the Archaic temple), statues, and dedications
would have to have been hauled up this steep ascent. While it appearst hat
ancient buildings and the vertical cutting away of Temple Hill made ac-
cess difficult on the east and north sides, the situation may have been dif-
ferent on the west side, where the slope is gentler. Extensive quarryingi n
Byzantine times has removed all evidence of earlier levels here, but topo-
graphically a main entrance into the temenos on Temple Hill in antiquity
on this side makes the most sense. Large objects could have been moved
most easily into the sanctuaryf rom the west and hypothetical gates there
would have given readya ccess to the road to Sikyon mentioned by Pausanias
(2.3.6), which, as noted above, also leads south to Acrocorinth. It is im-
portant to remember that, according to Plutarch, Aratos did not immedi-
ately ride off to Sikyona fterh e left the Apollonion.H e walkedt oward
Acrocorintha ndn ot untilh e had approachedth e heightsa ndg iveno rders
to the commander of the fortress did he jump on his horse and flee.
This identificationm ust remainh ypotheticalb, ut we are persuaded
by Odelberg'sa ssociationo f the Apollonioni n this storyw ith the site of
the templet reasuryo f Apollo impliedi n Herodotos3 .52 and the temple
and bronze statue of Apollo seen by Pausanias (2.3.6) outside the north-
west corner of the Roman forum on the road to Sikyon.22
We next examine a fourth passage from literaturet hat may be helpful,
one that has seldom played a role in studies of Corinthian topography.
Among the epigrams attributedt o Simonides in the GreekAnthology6 .212
is the following:
xjsXEooo iS K6-&Ov0, s6v
BAqpOLCo, X&O8(cid:127) Jp~VoCC
22. Odelberg1 896,p . 36. Reichert- A o~TrolV, XyopYIg xaklX6dpOu rcp6-avtv,
Siidbeck(2 000,p . 201) alsop lacest he XoGrnETp O SLVGETvEo xv~ tLo L vaOOUGKL6 pov0ov
storyi n Plut.A rat.4 0 on TempleH ill. oClvovS XESLX,a PLT&i)(VSG 7OTC,
TOg OTSCE(cid:127)XVOL
408 NANCY BOOKIDIS AND RONALD S. STROUD
Pray, Kyton, that your gifts give as much delight to the divine son
of Leto, prytanis of the fair-dancing agora, as the praise you have
from foreigners and those who dwell in Corinth, lord of delights,
by reason of your crowns.
In his detailed study of this poem, D. L. Page23r ejected the attribution to
Simonides, dated it in "the Hellenistic period, not early within it," pro-
nounced the name Kyton "novel and unconvincing," and defended the
integrity of the text in line 4 and the above translation of XapTzov 80o-
While recognizing problems with the date, attribution, and text
7Coz-C.24
of this poem, we nevertheless believe that the following inferences can be
drawn. The epigram was most likely intended as an inscription to ac-
company gifts to Apollo at Corinth dedicated by a victor who had won
crowns in the games that had brought him praise from both foreigners
and his [fellow] Corinthians. Page aptly remarked that "the distinction
between foreigners and residents in Corinth is particularlyw ell suited to
the occasion of the [Isthmian] Games." Moreover, Apollo's epithet "pry-
tanis of the fair-dancing agora"i s especially appropriate at Corinth since
the chief magistrate and probably the eponymous annual official, under
the Bacchiadai at least, was the tcp6zOCVtT.2h5e appropriatenesso f Apol-
lo's presidency over dances in the agora becomes greater if the shrine
where this inscription was meant to be displayed was itself in or near the
agora. In Pausanias's time the forum was certainly to the south and be-
low Temple Hill, but the location of the agora of Greek Corinth is un-
certain. No clear evidence for it has been found beneath the Roman fo-
rum. Williams has therefore proposed that it was not beneath the Roman
forum but lay to the northeast of Temple Hill.26 We suggest that it is
likely that the agora of the Greek city lay close to its central and domi-
nating Doric temple. On the other hand, Page's attempt to identify the
sanctuary in the poem with the temple to Klarian Apollo mentioned by
Pausanias (2.2.8) in the Roman forum is improbable on chronological
grounds. There is no evidence, literary or archaeological, to suggest that
this temple was earlier than the Roman period. For the famous prize ary-
ballos depicting a dancing competition found on Temple Hill, see be-
low, page 413.
A final piece of literary evidence for Apollo comes from Hesychios,
Latte 265, s.v. 'ArndchXovv Koplv0q. We do not know how
Zcozeoy-cl"
this passage can be associated with any of the attested shrines of Apollo at
Corinth.
Accordingly,w e think it much more likely that the sanctuaryo f Apollo
describedi n the GreekAntholog6y. 212 was that of Herodotos 3.52, Plutarch,
Aratos 40, and Pausanias 2.3.6, located just outside the northwest corner
23. Page 1981, pp. 284-285. vol. 3, p. 1179; Page 1981, p. 285) and Corinth or Isthmia?S ee Schol. T,
24. We accept Bergk'se menda- K6&0vv. Hom. II. 6.507 (c.) II. 217 (Erbse);
tion (1867, vol. 3, p. 1179, Simonides 25. Page 1981, p. 284; Diod. Sic. Campbell 1991, no. 235.
no. 164) of -ot to oo?;in line 1. The 7.9.6 and Paus.2 .4.4; Salmon 1984, 26. Williams 1970, pp. 32-39; 1978,
editors of LGPNIIIA, s.v. K6-cov,a lso pp. 56-57. Could Stesichoros'se pithet pp. 18-19, 38-39. Reichert-Siidbeck
question this name. Possible emenda- for Poseidon, xolXcov6yx co(cid:127)rvu v rpD6- (2000, p. 191) discussesA pollo's con-
tions include K6AXo(vB ergk 1867, zcvXv, also be appliedt o his role at nection to the dance at Corinth.
APOLLO AND THE ARCHAIC TEMPLE AT CORINTH 409
of the Romanf orum.I t seemst o haveb een the most importants hrineo f
this deity in centralC orinth.I ts templep erhapsc ontaineda sacredt rea-
sury.I t was an appropriatpel acef or dedicationso f a prominentw innero f
crowns.F inally,t he size and locationo f the temenoso n TempleH ill sat-
isfy the topographicarle quirementosf the episoded escribedin Plutarch's
Life ofAratos.27
EPIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE
Epigraphice videncef romt he Corinthe xcavationcs ans heds omel ight on
the identificationo f the Archaict emple,a lthoughi t is obliquea nd often
withoutp articularfo cus on the god Apollo himself.A ll of it comes from
TempleH ill andh elpst o characterizteh e naturea ndf unctiono f the temple
and its precinct.O ne of the earliesti nscriptionsf rom Corinthi s a frag-
mentarys acredc alendarin scribedin the epichorica lphabetb, oustrophedon,
on two adjacentf aces of a cornerb lock of porost hat lists sacrificesin (at
least)t he montho f oLvL[--a-]n di ncludes" fourp igs."2H8 enryS . Robinson
associatedt his fragmentw, hichw as foundo n TempleH ill in 1898,w ith a
piece from his excavationso n TempleH ill in 197029a nd suggestedt hat
these fragmentsb elongt o a blockt hat formedp arto f the exteriorw all of
the EarlyA rchaict emplew, hichw asd estroyedc a.5 80-570 B.c.3No o names
of deities have survivedi n this fragmentaryte xt and, as we shall see, at-
tempts to infer the identityo f the divine occupanto f the EarlyA rchaic
templeo n the basiso f this inscriptiona rem ethodologicalluy nsoundT. he
inscriptiond oes show,h owever,t hat the sanctuaryo n Temple Hill was
importante nough to have had an earlya nd lengthy sacrificiacl alendar
inscribedi n large,p rominentl etters.S ince most such sacredd ocuments
were erectedb y the polis,t his sanctuaryta keso n addeds ignificance.
In the same excavationso n Temple Hill, Robinsonf ound a second
exampleo f a similarA rchaics acrificiacl alendari ncised,b oustrophedon,
in the epichoricC orinthiana lphabett,h is time on a fragmentarlye adt ab-
let. On this tiny piece,n ail holes arep reservedfo r mountingi t on a wood
or stone backer.A ll that survivesi, n letters ca. 0.01 m in height, is the
probablem entiono f an offeringo f an ox, possiblyt o Athena Polias,S EG
XXXII 359. Again this inscription,a s Robinsonr ecognized,i s "ap ublic
one,"a nd mayh aveb een kept insidea s parto f a templea rchive.3I1t helps
to establisht he sanctuaryo n TempleH ill as possiblyt he mainr epository
for state religious documents. No other inscribed sacrificialc alendarsh ave
been found elsewhere at Corinth. Parenthetically, it should be stressed
27. Forf estivalsa ndc ultc eremo- 1976a,p . 230, n. 90, inv.n o.1 -70-4. chieflyo f mudbrickb ut doesn ot men-
nieso f the Greekp eriodh eldi n the 30. Robinson1 976a,p p.2 30-231; tion the inscribedp orosb lock.
areal atero ccupiedb y the forum 1976b,p p.2 49-251.F orl aterr esearch 31. We havee xaminedth is inscrip-
of the Romanp eriods, ee Broneer on thisi nscriptions,e e SEGX XXII tion in the CorinthM useumi,n v.n o.
1942. 358. Stillu sefuli s Dow's( 1942)e xcel- MF-75-86,w hichr emainus npub-
28. IG IV 1597;C orinthV III.1, lent analysisF. ora recentr econstruc- lished.F ora photographs,e eA upert
no. 1 (1-1). tion of the EarlyA rchaicte mple,s ee 1976,p . 600.
29. SEGX XVI3 93;R obinson Rhodes2 003,w ho restorews alls
410 NANCY BOOKIDIS AND RONALD S. STROUD
that state sacrificial calendars do not necessarily provide evidence for the
location of sanctuariesc onsecratedt o the individuald eities listed on them.32
Other epigraphic finds from Robinson's excavations on Temple Hill
are relevant to our present inquiry. Against the background of a dearth
of surviving inscriptions from Corinth before 146 B.C., aptly termed by
Jean Pouilloux "la grande misere de l'6pigraphie corinthienne,"33i t is
striking that Robinson discoveredi n the northeastq uartero f Temple
Hill fragments of at least 11 decrees of the Greek city. This represents
the largest concentration of official documents from any one place in the
pre-Roman city. Clearly the sanctuaryo n Temple Hill was, like the Acrop-
olis of Athens, a prominenta nd importantl ocation for the displayo f
state documents.34
Another find from this part of Corinth that might be relevant is the
fluted poros shaft of the Archaic period inscribed with the name of the
dedicator,' Ap-rmxo[---].I t was found just to the east of Temple Hill, in a
late context. If Williams is correct in interpreting this small column as
part of a support for a tripod,35s imilar to those dedicated to Apollo at
Ptoon, its association with a sanctuary of Apollo on Temple Hill would
not be out of the question. Williams prefers, however, to connect it with
other tripod bases from the Sacred Spring.
We do not believe that the dedication to Apollo Kynneios, once cop-
ied by Pouqueville at the Teneatic Gate of Corinth and now lost, can be
linkedw ith Apollo on TempleH ill.36T he readingo f Apollo'sn ame on a
fragmentary revetment slab, Corinth VIII.3, no. 372, line 2, also seems
very uncertain, despite the fact that the stone was found between the Foun-
tain of Glaukea nd the Odeion.
Finally, we note the often published and much discussed Latin in-
scription on an Ionic architraveb lock that mentions a temple and a statue
of Apollo Augustusa nd 10 tabernae( decemta bernas).3G7e orge Wheler
saw the block reused in a Turk'sh ouse located on the right side of the road
on the way to Sikyon," al ittle way out of the Town [Corinth]"h; e copied
32. Hence, Wiseman (1979, p. 530) val in this inscriptionh ad nothing to Consider,f or instance,t he large num-
was right to rejecta ttemptst o infer a do with Athena, but was dedicatedt o ber of deities from far-flungs hrines
possible connection between Apollo Adonis. See also Morris and Papado- listed in the Attic calendaro f sacrifices
and the word on Corinth poulos 1998. We must also resist the found in the deme of Erchia, SEG XXI
)otwv[---]
VIII.1, no. 1, as evidence for identify- attempt to infer from the probable 541.
ing the building on Temple Hill as presenceo f Athena Polias on the lead 33. Pouilloux 1966, p. 366. On this
a temple of Apollo. Salmon (1984, sacrificialc alendar,S EG XXXII 359, point, see also Dow 1942, p. 69; Stroud
p. 219), in turn, had little troublei n that the Archaict emple on Temple 1972, p. 198.
rejectingW iseman'so wn attempt,o n Hill was consecratedt o this goddess. 34. These fragments,w hich still re-
the basis of an alleged connection Equallyu npromisingi s Reichert-Stid- main unpublished,a re potential sources
between the word Phoinikaiosi n the beck'so bservation," Phoinixb edeutet of informationo n the poorly docu-
same inscriptionw ith Athena, to argue Palme, ein Baum, der vor allem dem mented constitution of the Greek city.
that the shrine on Temple Hill be- Apollo bzw. der Trias heilig war"( 2000, 35. CorinthV III.1, no. 27 (1-176);
longed to this deity and that the ridge p. 200, n. 108). To drawt opographic Williams 1970, pp. 27-31.
on which this temple and the Fountain inferencesa bout a single deity from 36. CIGI 1102; IG IV 363. Rei-
of Glaukew ere constructedw as the the findspot of a sacrificialc alendar chert-Stidbeck( 2000, p. 186) suggests
PhoinikaionH ill; Steph. Byz., s.v. in which that god is named is funda- that it was a privated edication.
Robertson( 1982, pp. 340- mentallyt o misunderstandt he essential 37. CIL III 534; CorinthV III.2,
3F4o2M) avr?gxuoeadct ohva.t the Phoinikaiaf esti- charactero f this genre of inscriptions. no. 120 (1-37).