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48-618: The library is one of the two belonging to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (along with the Blegen Library ). Its main founder was the Greek diplomat and bibliophile Joannes Gennadius (1844–1932), who initially donated part of his collection to the newly founded National Library of Greece . Returning to Athens a few years later he was distraught to discover they had no reference to his donated items, and so he resolved to find

96-628: A better home for his collection. While attending the Washington Naval Treaty , American scholars showed interest in founding a dedicated facility in Greece. A dedicated neoclassical building was built, with financial support from the Carnegie Corporation , to house the 26,000 volumes donated by Gennadius. The building was designed by the New York firm of Van Pelt and Thompson, in the style of

144-861: A bodyguard and died a natural death. Aristotle reports that "Cypselus of Corinth had made a vow that if he became master of the city, he would offer to Zeus the entire property of the Corinthians. Accordingly, he commanded them to make a return of their possessions." The city sent forth colonists to found new settlements in the 7th century BC, under the rule of Cypselus (r. 657–627 BC) and his son Periander (r. 627–587 BC). Those settlements were Epidamnus (modern day Durrës , Albania ), Syracuse , Ambracia , Corcyra (modern day town of Corfu ), and Anactorium . Periander also founded Apollonia in Illyria (modern day Fier , Albania) and Potidaea (in Chalcidice ). Corinth

192-637: A campus in Athens, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens is one of the leading American research and teaching institutions in Greece, dedicated to the advanced study of all aspects of Greek culture, from antiquity to the present. Founded in 1881, the School is a consortium of nearly 200 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. It was the first American overseas research center, and today it

240-589: A classical temple with gardens. The library opened on 23 April 1926 and was named in honour of Gennadius' father, George Gennadius (1786–1854). Since 1999 the library has been expanded and modernised with air conditioning, a new auditorium, and an east wing. These were inaugurated in 2005 with new offices and storage areas for the Gennadeion Archives and the rest of the collection. These works were largely funded through fund raising in America, with Lloyd Cotsen as

288-458: A descendant of the god Zeus . However, other myths hold that it was founded by the goddess Ephyra , a daughter of the Titan Oceanus , thus the ancient name of the city (also Ephyra). It seems likely that Corinth was also the site of a Bronze Age Mycenaean palace-city, like Mycenae , Tiryns , or Pylos . According to myth, Sisyphus was the founder of a race of ancient kings at Corinth. It

336-497: A group, governing the city by annually electing a prytanis (who held the kingly position for his brief term), probably a council (though none is specifically documented in the scant literary materials), and a polemarchos to head the army. During Bacchiad rule from 747 to 650 BC, Corinth became a unified state. Large scale public buildings and monuments were constructed at this time. In 733 BC, Corinth established colonies at Corcyra and Syracuse . By 730 BC, Corinth emerged as

384-669: A highly advanced Greek city with at least 5,000 people. Aristotle tells the story of Philolaus of Corinth, a Bacchiad who was a lawgiver at Thebes. He became the lover of Diocles , the winner of the Olympic games. They both lived for the rest of their lives in Thebes. Their tombs were built near one another and Philolaus' tomb points toward the Corinthian country, while Diocles' faces away. In 657 BC, polemarch Cypselus obtained an oracle from Delphi which he interpreted to mean that he should rule

432-442: A leading benefactor. Some of the original Gennadius collection has been digitized and placed on-line, including his scrapbooks and ephemera. 37°58′47.4″N 23°44′55.2″E  /  37.979833°N 23.748667°E  / 37.979833; 23.748667 American School of Classical Studies at Athens The American School of Classical Studies at Athens ( ASCSA ; Greek : Αμερικανική Σχολή Κλασικών Σπουδών στην Αθήνα )

480-505: A privately funded, nonprofit educational and cultural institution. The School's academic programs and research facilities are supervised by an academic advisory body known as the Managing Committee, which consists of elected representatives from a consortium of more than 190 North American colleges and universities. The Board of Trustees, composed of distinguished women and men from the world of business, law, philanthropy, and academia,

528-660: Is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens , Greece . It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federation of independent overseas research centers that promote advanced research, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, with focus on the conservation and recording of cultural heritage and the understanding and interpretation of modern societies. With an administrative base in Princeton , New Jersey , and

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576-623: Is quoted as saying: " non licet omnibus adire Corinthum " ("Not everyone is able to go to Corinth"). Corinth was also the host of the Isthmian Games . During this era, Corinthians developed the Corinthian order , the third main style of classical architecture after the Doric and the Ionic . The Corinthian order was the most complicated of the three, showing the city's wealth and the luxurious lifestyle, while

624-608: Is responsible for the management of the School's endowment, finances, and property, and has legal responsibility for the ASCSA. The ASCSA has been involved in a large number of archaeological projects, as well as a major program of primary archaeological publications. It is responsible for two of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, the Athenian Agora and Ancient Corinth . The Corinth Excavations commenced in 1896 and have continued to present day with little interruption, and

672-498: Is the largest of the eighteen foreign institutes in Athens. It also provides the opportunity for students and scholars from around the world to explore the full range of scholarly resources in Greece. The American School operates excavations in the Athenian Agora and Ancient Corinth, two distinguished libraries, an archaeological science laboratory, and a publications department. The School remains, as its founders envisioned, primarily

720-672: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens have revealed large parts of the ancient city, and recent excavations conducted by the Greek Ministry of Culture have brought to light important new facets of antiquity. For Christians , Corinth is well known from the two letters from Paul the Apostle in the New Testament , the First Epistle to the Corinthians and the Second Epistle to

768-627: The Athenian Agora excavations first broke ground in 1932. At both sites, the ASCSA operates important museums and extensive facilities for the study of the archaeological record. Excavation records and artifacts are made available to wider audiences via ASCSA.net Other archaeological projects with ASCSA involvement, past and present, include surveys in the Southern Argolid , in Messenia and at Vrokastro ( Crete ) and excavations at Olynthus ( Greek Macedonia ), Samothrace ( North Aegean ),

816-556: The Battle of Thermopylae and the subsequent Battle of Artemisium , which resulted in the captures of Euboea , Boeotia , and Attica , the Greco-Persian Wars were at a point where now most of mainland Greece to the north of the Isthmus of Corinth had been overrun. Herodotus, who was believed to dislike the Corinthians, mentions that they were considered the second best fighters after

864-647: The Long Walls of Corinth in 392 BC. In 379 BC, Corinth, switching back to the Peloponnesian League , joined Sparta in an attempt to defeat Thebes and eventually take over Athens. In 366 BC, the Athenian Assembly ordered Chares to occupy the Athenian ally and install a democratic government. This failed when Corinth, Phlius and Epidaurus allied with Boeotia . Demosthenes recounts how Athens had fought

912-662: The Athenian renegade Alcibiades , the Spartans agreed to send troops to aid the Sicilians. In 404 BC, Sparta refused to destroy Athens, angering the Corinthians. Corinth joined Argos , Boeotia , and Athens against Sparta in the Corinthian War . Demosthenes later used this history in a plea for magnanimous statecraft, noting that the Athenians of yesteryear had had good reason to hate the Corinthians and Thebans for their conduct during

960-580: The Athenians. In 458 BC, Corinth was defeated by Athens at Megara . In 435 BC, Corinth and its colony Corcyra went to war over Epidamnus . In 433 BC, Athens allied with Corcyra against Corinth. The Corinthian war against the Corcyrans was the largest naval battle between Greek city states until that time. In 431 BC, one of the factors leading to the Peloponnesian War was the dispute between Corinth and Athens over Corcyra, which possibly stemmed from

1008-563: The Bacchiad kin and usurped the power in archaic matriarchal right of his mother. According to Herodotus , the Bacchiadae heard two prophecies from the Delphic oracle that the son of Eëtion would overthrow their dynasty, and they planned to kill the baby once he was born. However, the newborn smiled at each of the men sent to kill him, and none of them could bear to strike the blow. Labda then hid

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1056-620: The Bacchiadai Prytaneis and reinstituted the kingship, about the time the Kingdom of Lydia (the endonymic Basileia Sfard ) was at its greatest, coinciding with the ascent of Basileus Meles, King of Lydia. The Bacchiadae, numbering perhaps a couple of hundred adult males, took power from the last king Telestes (from the House of Sisyphos ) in Corinth. The Bacchiads dispensed with kingship and ruled as

1104-540: The Corinthians . Corinth is also mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as part of Paul the Apostle 's missionary travels. In addition, the second book of Pausanias ' Description of Greece is devoted to Corinth. Ancient Corinth was one of the largest and most important cities of Greece, with a population of 90,000 in 400 BC. The Romans demolished Corinth in 146 BC, built a new city in its place in 44 BC, and later made it

1152-489: The Corinthians were unhappy with their rulers. Cypselus was polemarch at the time (around 657 BC), the archon in charge of the military, and he used his influence with the soldiers to expel the king. He also expelled his other enemies, but allowed them to set up colonies in northwestern Greece. He also increased trade with the colonies in Italy and Sicily . He was a popular ruler and, unlike many later tyrants, he did not need

1200-608: The Doric order evoked the rigorous simplicity of the Spartans, and the Ionic was a harmonious balance between these two following the cosmopolitan philosophy of Ionians like the Athenians. The city had two main ports: to the west on the Corinthian Gulf lay Lechaion , which connected the city to its western colonies (Greek: apoikiai ) and Magna Graecia , while to the east on the Saronic Gulf

1248-512: The Peloponnese, including messengers and traders. In classical times , Corinth rivaled Athens and Thebes in wealth, based on the Isthmian traffic and trade. Until the mid-6th century, Corinth was a major exporter of black-figure pottery to city-states around the Greek world, later losing their market to Athenian artisans. In classical times and earlier, Corinth had a temple of Aphrodite ,

1296-512: The Peloponnesian War, yet they bore no malice whatever. In 395 BC, after the end of the Peloponnesian War, Corinth and Thebes, dissatisfied with the hegemony of their Spartan allies, moved to support Athens against Sparta in the Corinthian War . As an example of facing danger with knowledge, Aristotle used the example of the Argives who were forced to confront the Spartans in the battle at

1344-643: The Saronic Gulfs. He abandoned the venture due to the extreme technical difficulties that he met, but he created the Diolkos instead (a stone-built overland ramp). The era of the Cypselids was Corinth's golden age, and ended with Periander's nephew Psammetichus (Corinthian tyrant)  [ de ] , named after the hellenophile Egyptian Pharaoh Psammetichus I (see above). Periander killed his wife Melissa. His son Lycophron found out and shunned him, and Periander exiled

1392-455: The Spartans in a great battle near Corinth. The city decided not to harbor the defeated Athenian troops, but instead sent heralds to the Spartans. But the Corinthian heralds opened their gates to the defeated Athenians and saved them. Demosthenes notes that they “chose along with you, who had been engaged in battle, to suffer whatever might betide, rather than without you to enjoy a safety that involved no danger.” These conflicts further weakened

1440-523: The area was very sparsely inhabited in the period immediately before the Mycenaean period . There was a settlement on the coast near Lechaion which traded across the Corinthian Gulf; the site of Corinth itself was likely not heavily occupied again until around 900 BC, when it is believed that the Dorians settled there. According to Corinthian myth as reported by Pausanias , the city was founded by Corinthos ,

1488-457: The baby in a chest, and the men could not find him once they had composed themselves and returned to kill him. (Compare the infancy of Perseus .) The ivory chest of Cypselus was richly worked and adorned with gold . It was a votive offering at Olympia , where Pausanias gave it a minute description in his 2nd century AD travel guide. Cypselus grew up and fulfilled the prophecy. Corinth had been involved in wars with Argos and Corcyra , and

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1536-399: The city. He seized power and exiled the Bacchiadae. Cypselus or Kypselos ( Greek : Κύψελος ) was the first tyrant of Corinth in the 7th century BC. From 658–628 BC, he removed the Bacchiad aristocracy from power and ruled for three decades. He built temples to Apollo and Poseidon in 650 BC. Cypselus was the son of Eëtion and a disfigured woman named Labda . He was a member of

1584-409: The goddess of love, employing some thousand hetairas (temple prostitutes) (see also Temple prostitution in Corinth ). The city was renowned for these temple prostitutes, who served the wealthy merchants and the powerful officials who frequented the city. Lais , the most famous hetaira, was said to charge tremendous fees for her extraordinary favours. Referring to the city's exorbitant luxuries, Horace

1632-489: The inhabitants started to use silver coins called 'colts' or 'foals'. 550 BC: Construction of the Temple of Apollo at Corinth (early third quarter of the 6th century BC). 550 BC: Corinth allied with Sparta . 525 BC: Corinth formed a conciliatory alliance with Sparta against Argos. 519 BC: Corinth mediated between Athens and Thebes . Around 500 BC: Athenians and Corinthians entreated Spartans not to harm Athens by restoring

1680-726: The islet of Mitrou ( Central Greece ), Halai ( Phthiotis ), Isthmia , Kenchreai , Nemea , Sicyon (all in Corinthia ), Lerna , Argos , Franchthi cave and Halieis ( Argolid ), Mt. Lykaion (Acadia), Nichoria and the Palace of Nestor at Pylos ( Messenia ), Haghia Irini ( Keos ), as well as Azoria , Mochlos , Gournia , Kavousi and Kommos on Crete . ASCSA publishes the peer-reviewed journal Hesperia quarterly as well as monographs for final reports of archaeological fieldwork conducted under School auspices, supplements to Hesperia, Gennadeion monographs; and miscellaneous volumes relating to

1728-690: The port of Kenchreai served the ships coming from Athens, Ionia , Cyprus and the Levant . Both ports had docks for the city's large navy. In 491 BC, Corinth mediated between Syracuse and Gela in Sicily. During the years 481–480 BC, the Conference at the Isthmus of Corinth (following conferences at Sparta) established the Hellenic League, which allied under the Spartans to fight the war against Persia . The city

1776-600: The provincial capital of Greece. Neolithic pottery suggests that the site of Corinth was occupied from at least as early as 6500 BC, and continually occupied into the Early Bronze Age , when, it has been suggested, the settlement acted as a centre of trade. However, there is a huge drop in ceramic remains during the Early Helladic II phase and only sparse ceramic remains in the EHIII and MH phases; thus, it appears that

1824-437: The sea and the sun. His verdict was that the Isthmus of Corinth , the area closest to the sea, belonged to Poseidon, and the acropolis of Corinth ( Acrocorinth ), closest to the sky, belonged to Helios. The Upper Peirene spring is located within the walls of the acropolis. Pausanias (2.5.1) says that it was put there by Asopus , repaying Sisyphus for information about the abduction of Aegina by Zeus. According to legend,

1872-419: The son to Corcyra . Periander later wanted Lycophron to replace him as ruler of Corinth, and convinced him to come home to Corinth on the condition that Periander go to Corcyra. The Corcyreans heard about this and killed Lycophron to keep away Periander. 581 BC: Periander's nephew and successor was assassinated, ending the tyranny. 581 BC: the Isthmian Games were established by leading families. 570 BC:

1920-453: The traditional trade rivalry between the two cities or, as Thucydides relates - the dispute over the colony of Epidamnus. The Syracusans sent envoys to Corinth and Sparta to seek allies against Athenian invasion . The Corinthians "voted at once to aid [the Syracusans] heart and soul". The Corinthians also sent a group to Lacedaemon to rouse Spartan assistance. After a convincing speech from

1968-548: The tyrant. Just before the classical period, according to Thucydides , the Corinthians developed the trireme which became the standard warship of the Mediterranean until the late Roman period. Corinth fought the first naval battle on record against the Hellenic city of Corcyra . The Corinthians were also known for their wealth due to their strategic location on the isthmus, through which all land traffic had to pass en route to

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2016-455: The winged horse Pegasus drank at the spring, and was captured and tamed by the Corinthian hero Bellerophon . Corinth had been a backwater in Greece in the 8th century BC. The Bacchiadae (Ancient Greek: Βακχιάδαι Bakkhiadai ) were a tightly-knit Doric clan and the ruling kinship group of archaic Corinth in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, a period of expanding Corinthian cultural power. In 747 BC (a traditional date), an aristocracy ousted

2064-586: The work of the School. These books range in format from large hardbacks to slim paperback guides. 37°58′46″N 23°44′53″E  /  37.97944°N 23.74806°E  / 37.97944; 23.74806 Ancient Corinth 37°54′19″N 22°52′49″E  /  37.9053455°N 22.8801924°E  / 37.9053455; 22.8801924 Corinth ( British English : / ˈ k ɒr ɪ n θ / KORR -inth , American English : / ˈ k ɔːr ɪ n θ / ; Ancient Greek : Κόρινθος Korinthos ; Doric Greek : Ϙόρινθος ; Latin : Corinthus )

2112-513: Was a city-state ( polis ) on the Isthmus of Corinth , the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnese peninsula to the mainland of Greece , roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta . The modern city of Corinth is located approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of the ancient ruins. Since 1896, systematic archaeological investigations of the Corinth Excavations by

2160-531: Was a major participant in the Persian Wars, sending 400 soldiers to defend Thermopylae and supplying forty warships for the Battle of Salamis under Adeimantos and 5,000 hoplites with their characteristic Corinthian helmets ) in the following Battle of Plataea . The Greeks obtained the surrender of Theban collaborators with the Persians. Pausanias took them to Corinth where they were put to death. Following

2208-633: Was also in Corinth that Jason , the leader of the Argonauts , abandoned Medea . The Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad lists the Corinthians amid the contingent fighting in the Trojan War under the leadership of Agamemnon . In a Corinthian myth recounted to Pausanias in the 2nd century AD, Briareus, one of the Hecatonchires , was the arbitrator in a dispute between Poseidon and Helios , respectively gods of

2256-453: Was also one of the nine Greek sponsor-cities to found the colony of Naukratis in Ancient Egypt , founded to accommodate the increasing trade volume between the Greek world and pharaonic Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Psammetichus I of the 26th Dynasty . He ruled for thirty years and was succeeded as tyrant by his son Periander in 627 BC. The treasury that Cypselus built at Delphi

2304-472: Was apparently still standing in the time of Herodotus, and the chest of Cypselus was seen by Pausanias at Olympia in the 2nd century AD. Periander brought Corcyra to order in 600 BC. Periander was considered one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece . During his reign, the first Corinthian coins were struck. He was the first to attempt to cut across the Isthmus to create a seaway between the Corinthian and

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