Corinth and Perachora

Ancient Greeks offered copies of whatever ailed them to the gods. These copies were so good that doctors were able to look and them and offer a potential diagnosis. There were copies of legs with displaced knees, arms, hands with arthritis, feet, breasts and male reproductive organs. Breasts could be difficulty with lactating or cancer. The male reproductive organs most likely were due to fertility problems.

The girls and boys doing the sorority squat in front of the temple at Corinth.

The fountain house and other remains at Corinth.

Rachel, Cassandra and I in front of the beautiful waters of Perachora

Look at how pretty the water is! If you look closely, you can see the sea urchins. But you want to stay away from them, since they are prickly.

This is the bema where Paul spoke to the Corinthians.

Firday we visited Corinth and Perachora. This day was especially interesting since it gave us such good insight into the career of archaeology. That day we were allowed to go on-site where they were digging. This is also riveting since Corinth is longest continually excavated site. The dig began in 1890. Guy Sanders, a famous archaeologist trained at Princeton and Harvard, gave us a tour and a talk. What was especially entertaining about Guy Sanders' talk was when he was talking about the bodies they excavated. For example, in one area they found an abundance of older men. Therefore, they labeled that as a graveyard behind a monastery. The most intriguing body he discussed was marked with thick, bowlegged legs (indicates he was a horsemen), wear on the right shoulder (fought with his right arm), and his fingers cut off. This means he probably died in battle and put his hands up in defense. It sounds like a fun job to interpret these findings, kinda like forensic anthropology. Guy Sanders also informed us how they figured out the plan of the town. For example, they determined one shop was a fast food joint of sorts because the abundance of chicken bones.

Another archaeologist gave us a tour. This archaeologist focused more on buildings and pottery. He told us more about the lay of the land in relation to the plans of the city. My favorite part was seeing the bema, where supposedly Paul addressed the Corinthians! Our professor walked us around the site, and then onto another musuem. This one was interesting because it showed artifacts of copies of human reproductive organs, legs, arms, feet, hands etc.. Apparently, ancient greeks offered copies of what ailed them and offered them in gods in asking for healing. Then in Perachora, we saw the temple of Hera Liminea.

After our day trip, we returned to Athens. My room mates Justine, Anita and I went out on the town for dinner that night. Anita (who is Indian) brought up how she missed Indian food. We then decided how good Indian food sounded. After some googling, a trip on the metro and walking about, we found the restaurant. We had parathas ( a type of Indian bread) with chutney in three different flavors including tomato, onion and ginger (my favorite since it was sweet). We had chicken curry for our entree. There was also hummus as an appetizer. For dessert, we went to get gelato. I had hazelnut and caramel gelato.

Side note: While I am on the topic of food. The next day we had the best pork souvlaki ever at Savas Cafe at the end of Mitropoleos St. Soooo good. Also, that day I had watermelon and mint gelato. Interesting combination, but I'm always a fan of gelato :)

Next blog: features the stadium, theaters, lysicrates monument, slopes of the Acropolis and the Pnyx.

I can't believe I only have three more days in Athens!