Acrocorinth

Aphrodite was the goddess of love.

And this temple was on top of the Acrocorinth, which was the mountain that the city of Corinth was built around.

This mountain was about 1,800 feet high, not really big for a mountain, but very steep, and was a noticeable landmark because as ships would come in, they would identify the Acrocorinth, and they knew exactly where they were coming into because that mountain guided the way.

On top of that mountain was the temple to Aphrodite, and it is written by even some Greek historians, some historical figures in Greek history, it is written about that temple that it employed 1,000 priestess prostitutes.

So essentially what a person would do going into the temple to Aphrodite and sacrificing to that goddess, it meant that they would have sex on a pagan altar.

During the day, my young wife and our baby of a year sat most of the time in the courtyard until my day's work was done, and then the three of us would go to the Acropolis with our picnic supper and walk among the great ruins and look out over the magnificent scene.

One evening, I was sitting on a stone on the western summit of the Acropolis, looking out across the Bay of Salamis with the tip of Acro Corinth on the far distant horizon.

I had in my hands one of the ancient Greek historians, and I was reading the account of the Battle of Salamis.

For beneath us on that blue water had been fought one of the decisive battles of the world's history.

Chapter 45 The league being thus materially increased in extent and power, the Aetolians, owing to that unprincipled passion for aggrandizement which is natural to them, either out of envy or rather in the hope of partitioning the cities, as they had partitioned those of Acarnania with Alexander and had previously proposed to do regarding Achaea with Antigonus Gonatas, went so far as to join hands with Antigonus, then regent of Macedonia and guardian to Philip, who was still a child, and Cleomenes, king of Sparta.

They saw that Antigonus was undisputed master of Macedonia and at the same time the opened and avowed enemy of the Achaeans, owing to their seizure by treachery of the Acrocorinthus, and they supposed that if they could get the Lacedaemonians also to join them in their project, exciting first their animosity against the league, they could easily crush the Achaeans by attacking them at the proper time all at once and from all quarters.

This indeed they would in all probability soon have done, but for the most important factor which they had overlooked in their plans.

They never took into consideration that in this undertaking they would have Aratus as their opponent, a man capable of meeting any emergency.

Aratus had private information from Nicophanes of the king's favorable inclination towards the league and himself, and was much gratified to find that his project had not been futile and that he had not, as the Aetolians had hoped, found Antigonus entirely alienated from him.

He considered it a great advantage that the Megalopolitans had readily consented to approach Antigonus through the Achaians, for, as I said above, what he chiefly desired was not to be in need of asking for help, but, if it became necessary to resort to this, he wished the appeal to come not only from himself personally, but from the league as a whole.

For he was afraid that, if the king appeared on the scene and, after conquering Cleomenes and the Lacedaemonians, took any measures, the reverse of welcome regarding the league, he himself would be universally blamed for what happened, as the king would seem to have justice on his side, owing to Aratus's offense against the house of Macedon in the case of the Acrocorinthus.

Therefore, when the Megalopolitans appeared before the general council of the league and, showing the king's letter, assured them of his friendly sentiments, at the same time begging the Achaians to ask for his intervention at once, and, when Aratus saw that this was the inclination of the Achaians also, he rose, and after expressing his gratification at the king's readiness to assist them and his approval of the attitude of the meeting, he addressed them at some length, begging them, if possible, to attempt to save their cities and country by their own efforts, that being the most honorable and advantageous course, but, should adverse fortune prevent this, then, but only when they had no hope left in their own resources, he advised them to resort to an appeal to their friends for aid.

The League being thus materially increased in extent and power, the Aetolians, owing to that unprincipled passion for aggrandizement which is natural to them, either out of envy or rather in the hope of partitioning the cities, as they had partitioned those of Acarnania with Alexander and had previously proposed to do regarding Achaea with Antigonus Gonatas, went so far as to join hands with Antigonus, then regent of Macedonia and guardian to Philip, who was still a child, and Kleomenes, king of Sparta.

They saw that Antigonus was undisputed master of Macedonia and at the same time the opened and avowed enemy of the Achaeans, owing to their seizure by treachery of the Acrocorinthus, and they supposed that if they could get the Lacedaemonians also to join them in their project, exciting first their animosity against the League, they could easily crush the Achaeans by attacking them at the proper time all at once and from all quarters.

This indeed they would in all probability soon have done, but for the most important factor which they had overlooked in their plans.

They never took into consideration that in this undertaking they would have Aratus as their opponent, a man capable of meeting any emergency.

Aratus had private information from Nicophanes of the king's favourable inclination towards the league and himself, and was much gratified to find that his project had not been futile and that he had not, as the Aetolians had hoped, found Antigonus entirely alienated from him.

He considered it a great advantage that the Megalopolitans had readily consented to approach Antigonus through the Achaeans, for, as I said above, what he chiefly desired was not to be in need of asking for help, but, if it became necessary to resort to this, he wished the appeal to come not only from himself personally but from the league as a whole.

For he was afraid that, if the king appeared on the scene and, after conquering Cleomenes and the Lacedaemonians, took any measures, the reverse of welcome regarding the league, he himself would be universally blamed for what happened, as the king would seem to have justice on his side owing to Aratus's offence against the house of Macedon in the case of the Acrocorinthus.

Therefore, when the Megalopolitans appeared before the general council of the league and, showing the king's letter, assured them of his friendly sentiments, at the same time begging the Achaeans to ask for his intervention at once, and, when Aratus saw that this was the inclination of the Achaeans also, he rose, and after expressing his gratification at the king's readiness to assist them and his approval of the attitude of the meeting, he addressed them at some length, begging them, if possible, to attempt to save their cities and country by their own efforts, that being the most honourable and advantageous course, but, should adverse fortune prevent this, then, but only when they had no hope left in their own resources, he advised them to resort to an appeal to their friends for aid.

And they said that they chose Mycenae as the scene, more or less, or they were going to choose Mycenae, sorry.

But rather than filming at Mycenae, for Mycenae, they chose Acrocorinth.

And you can tell it's Acrocorinth once you're like, yes, I know that place.

But the reason he picked it is because apparently, according to, again, this extra, is that Mycenae was not monumental enough.

which to me as someone who has worked at Mycenae and still can't get over the grandeur every time that I'm there is like, what do you mean? It's not magnificent.

Greece, Messenia.

also the Acrocorinth.

There were some shots that I even nudged you at one point and said, I think that's Sunian, remember? Oh, right, right, right, yeah.

That may not have been Sunian because it's not mentioned here, but there were many, many sites there that I thought, if I haven't been at that very location, I've been somewhere pretty close.

"'Just opposite to us, on the left, "'stood our old friend of the morning, Erymanthus, "'while away down to the south "'glittered a fourth snow-peak, Lycaon, "'sacred to Pan, and, as some say, "'the nursing-place of Zeus himself.' perhaps nothing in the whole of our journey made one realize so clearly as did this panorama the smallness of greece who for instance would have supposed that parnassus was visible from zacynthus and ithaca when the map shows us that it is separated from either place by a distance of at least 100 miles.

Footnote, a similar surprise awaited us when we found that the Acrocorinthus could be seen from the Athenian Acropolis.

End footnote.

About half past five, we rode into Catacolo Bay, and at last set foot in Real Hellas.

So in Corinth, it sits in the shadow of a fortress called the Acro-Corinth.

and high atop Corinth on a mountaintop is the Acrocorinth.

It's an ancient fortress that for centuries has been this fortified establishment to guard and protect this region.

And so no doubt, Paul is... whole reason that he is talking about destroying this fortress is he's using something that they already know about.

Something that they're known for.

The Acrocorinth.

Now let's look at the the men who have built this other fortress, this figurative fortress, men that have come in to this church and attempted a takeover.

One commentary... refers to them as unnamed certain ones.

I'm sorry, of Corinth.

With Acrocorinth, you've got the rock that...

There's this huge rock with a temple on top of it, uh, that you can see from anywhere, pretty much, in Corinth.

I talked about that when I, I did, earlier, I think it was yesterday, a class on Corinth.