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Paul and the Pagan Cults at Isthmia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2011

Extract

When the Apostle Paul came to Corinth, probably in the year 50, the Roman colony Laus Iulia Corinthiensis was a flourishing center of trade and industry and a vital link of communication between Italy and the eastern provinces of the empire. It was still in the process of rebuilding after the thorough destruction by the Romans in 146 B.C., followed by a century of virtual abandonment. The Isthmian Games, which the Sikyonians had taken over and had presumably transferred to Sikyon, were again celebrated on the site where they had been held for more than a half millennium. Since Paul remained in Corinth for eighteen months on his first visit, he would have been there in the spring of 51, when the games were held at Isthmia. If, as I believe, the biennial Isthmian festival played a contributing, if not decisive, role in his choice of Corinth as the chief base of his missionary work in Greece, he would have come to the Isthmus for the occasion, and this gave him the opportunity to become familiar at first hand with the pagan rites that formed an integral part of the festival.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1971

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References

1 The date of Paul's sojourn in Corinth is fixed by the proconsulship of Gallio, who entered upon office probably in July of the year 51. Paul remained in Corinth for “a good many days” (ἠμέρας ίκανάς) after his appearance before Gallio at the Bema. This episode came near the end of his stay in the city, and this would make it likely that he arrived before the end of the year 50. On the date of Gallio's proconsulship see Adolf Deissman, Paul, A Study in Social and Religious History, Appendix I, 261–86; cf. F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles, 346; Emil G. Kraeling, Bible Atlas, 445.

2 A Latin inscription from Corinth in honor of L. Castricius Regulus shows by implication that the Isthmian Games were returned to the Isthmus during his agonothesia, which fell “somewhere between the years 7 B.C. an d A.D. 3.” See John H. Kent, Corinth VIII, Part III, The Inscriptions, 72. The pertinent passage, p. 70, reads:agonotheteiSTHMION • ET • CAESAReonquiisthmIA • AD • ISTHMVM • EGIT • primussubcuraM • COL • LAVD • IVL • COR etc. The phrase, ad Isthmum, which the editor passed over without comment, can only mean, i t seems to me, that the Isthmian Games had previously been held elsewhere, i.e., at Sikyon. See also note 42.

3 See Broneer, O., The Apostle Paul and the Isthmian Games, Biblical Archaeologist 25 (1962), 131CrossRefGoogle Scholar; reprinted in Biblical Archaeologist Reader, II, 393–420.

4 “A la grande surprise des observateurs, ce qu'ils (fetishes and similar objects) ‘representent’ semble n'être que très vaguement défini dans l'esprit des primitifs.” P. Wirz, L'expérience Mystique et les Symboles chez les Primitifs, 197; quoted by W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods, 16. Nock, A. D., HTR 37(1944), 158CrossRefGoogle Scholar, speaking of holocausts and the reasons for them says: “Any neat general formulation is almost certain to do violence to the facts.”

5 Pausanias, II, i, 6.

6 Broneer, O., Klio 39(1961), 251CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 A preliminary study of the Temple of Poseidon appeared in Xαριστήριoν εἰς 'Aναστάσιoν K. 'Oρλάνδoν, Λ, 61–85. This is now superseded by the definitive publication, Isthmia I, Temple of Poseidon, published in 1971 by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. In Appendix I of that volume, 174–81, I have presented the reasons for accepting the existence of a foot length of 0.3204 m. for the period prior to Alexander the Great.

8 I. G., IV, 203, II. 8–25.

9 Broneer, O., Hesperia 22(1953), 189–91CrossRefGoogle Scholar, Pl. 59, a, b.

10 Pausanias, II, i, 7–9.

11 This has been assumed on the basis of the myth that Jason brought the Argo to the Isthmus, where he dedicated it to the god of the sea and was crowned as winner in the games. Apollodorus, The Library, I, ix, 27; Diodorus, IV, 53, 2; Dio Chrysostom, XXXVII, 15. The last quotes a dedicatory inscription which he attributes to Orpheus:

'Aργῶ τò σκάφoς εὶμὶ, θεῷ δ'ὰνέθηκεν 'Iάσων,

'‘Iσθμια καλλικóμoις (or καì Nεμέoις) στεϕάμενoν πίτυσιν. See Carl Robert, Die Griechische Heldensage, III, 865, note 3. However, in the extant victor lists boat races are not mentioned. The most recently published (Hesperia 39[1970], 79–93), by W. R. Biers and D. J. Geagan, which is dated in the year A.D. 127, lists all the events (some titles are restored), but the list does not include boat races.

12 Hesperia 24(1955), 135–36, Pl. 53; and 27(1958), 30–31, No. 35, Pl. 14, a.

13 Hesperia 27(1958), 24–27, Pls. 10, a, b, and 11, a.

14 See O. Broneer, “Xαριστήριoν εlς ‘Aναστάσιoν K. 'Oρλάνδoν, Λ, 82–83; and Isthmia I, Temple of Poseidon, 55–56, 100. At Megara, Pausanias (I, xli, g) tells us, pebbles instead of barley were sprinkled on the victims in sacrifices to Tereus. In the Nekyomanteion at Ephyra, S. I. Dakaris found piles of stones of larger size which he thought were used ritually. See ”Eργoν τῆς 'Aρχαιoλoγoικῆς ‘Eταιρίας Kατά τò 1961, p. 120.

15 On the discoveries made in the Palaimonion see Broneer, O., Hesperia 28 (1959) 312–19Google Scholar; Klio 39(1961), 268–70; andBiblical Archaeologist 25(1962), 11–12, 29–30. A detailed study of the Palaimonion and its appurtenances will appear in a second volume of theIsthmia series, now in preparation. It will include definitive publication of all the buildings at Isthmia except the Temple of Poseidon and the Theater.

16 See E. Will, Korinthiaka, 169, note 3, where the pertinent literature is cited regarding the identity of Melikertes and the incorrectness of identifying him with Melqart.

17 Pausanias, I, xliv, 7–8; II, i, 3.

18 It was formerly assumed that the cult of Palaimon at Isthmia was of very high antiquity, even earlier than that of Poseidon; see E. Will, op. cit., 177. This view is not supported by the excavations in the Palaimonion, which produced no pre-Roman remains. The only indication of early date is an inscription on a jumping weight (halter), dedicated to Inoïs (if the restoration is correct), i.e., son of Ino. See Hesperia 28(1959), 322–23Google Scholar, Fig. 4, and Pl. 73, a. References to the cult of Palaimon in ancient literature are all of Roman times; this is shown by Hawthorne, John G., TRAPA (1958), 9596Google Scholar.

19 Pausanias, II, ii, 1.

20 Hesperia 27(1958), 32–33, Nos. 44, 45, 49, 50, Pl. 15, b, c. Lamps of related, if not quite similar, form are known from Roman sites in Switzerland. See Siegfried Loeschke, Lampen aus Vindonissa, Type XIV, 312–19.

21 The distinction was not as strictly observed as is commonly supposed; see Nock, Arthur D., HTR 37(1944), 141–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar. He lists some heroes, Herakles, Amphiaraos, Trophonios, et al., who received sacrifices appropriate to Olympian gods. Palaimon is not included among them. The excavations have shown that holocausts were offered to him; and Philostratos, Imagines, II, xvi, 3, speaks of the enagismata and secret rites in the cult of the boy.

22 See Hesperia 31(1962), 47Google Scholar, Pls. i, c, 2, 3.

23 Regarding the disposal of water used for ritual washing of hands, see S. Eitrem, Opferritus und Voropfer, 119–32. On similar arrangement found in early Christian churches see Demetrios I. Pallas, θάλασσα τῶν 'Eκκλησιῶν, 75. Martin P. Nilsson, Eranos 53(1955), 30, comments on the prescription relating to dishes used in sacrificial acts. The similarity with Jewish practices regarding handling of dishes and dish-water is obvious.

24 The Greek title is τò κoινòν τῶν τῶν περὶ Λεχνιτῶν τῶν ὲξ 'Iσθμoῦ καὶ Nεμέας, Ditt. Syll.3 457, 690, 704/5 B. There is an extensive literature on the nature and functions of Greek religious organizations, conveniently presented by Marcus N. Tod, Sidelights on Greek History, 71–93; and cf. W. S. Ferguson, The Attic Orgeones, HTR 37(1944), 61–140.

25 iii, 4.

26 Fragments of Attic Comedy, I, 194–95, 44, a, b.

27 I.G., IV, 203.

28 Hesperia 27(1958), 24Google Scholar, Pl. 9,e.

29 Hesperia 24(1955), 121–22Google Scholar, Pl. 47, a, c.

30 The snake vase is illustrated in Hesperia 24(1955Google Scholar), Pl. 52, d. On the use of water as a rite of initiation in pagan mysteries see K. Kourouniotes, ‘Eλενσὶς, ‘Oδηγòς τῶν Aνασκαφῶν τoῶ Moυσείoυ 19, Fig. 7. Cf. Euripides, Iph. Taur., 1193, θάλασσα κλύζει πάντα τὰνθρῶπων κακά The question of the use of water in Christian churches and its relationship to similar rites among the pagans is extensively discussed by D. I. Pallas in the book cited in note 23.

31 Pausanias, II, ii, 2.

32 Strabo, C, 379; cf. Georges Roux, Pausanias en Corinthie, 129.

33 I.G., IV, 203, II. 15–23.

34 Caskey, John L., Hesperia 29(1960), 168–76Google Scholar, Pls. 54, 55.

35 Broneer, O., Hesperia 28(1959), 323CrossRefGoogle Scholar, No. 3, Pl. 66, b.

36 Pausanias, II, ii, 3.

37 Chrysoula Kardara, AJA 65(1961), 261–62, has identified the settlement as that of a textile industry. On p. 262 she mentions the shrine, but does not describe it. Some of the vases found there are shown in an excavation report in Hesperia 24(1955Google Scholar), Pls. 47, b, and 52, c. In a later study published in ‘Aρχαιoλoγικὰ 'Aνάάλεκτα ἐξ 'Aθηνῶν’ III (1970), 95–97, Miss Kardara identifies the shrine, which she dates at about 375 B.C., as one of Athena Phoiniki, who was elsewhere worshiped under the cult name Ergane.

38 On the hippodrome at Olympia, which appears to have been swept away by the waters of the Alpheios river, see Ludwig Drees, Olympia, Gods, Artists and Athletes, 96–100, and K. Schneider, R.E., VIII, Col. 1739. The reconstructed plan in Drees’ publication (frontispiece) is not based on actual remains, since none were found. The hippodrome of the Pythian Games was in the plain at Kirrha (Pausanias, X, xxxvii, 4), a considerable distance, ca. 12 km. by road, from the other agonistic buildings. On Mt. Lykaion (Pausanias, VIII, xxxviii, 5) in Arcadia, remains of a hippodrome have come to light, but it is only partly uncovered, and no detailed study has been made.

39 Did the Stoa of Agnaptos at Olympia, which was close to the hippodrome, contain seats for the judges? The restored plans (neither the Stoa nor the hippodrome have been found) do not indicate any such relationship, yet there must have been, at Olympia as in every hippodrome, a structure serving such a purpose.

40 Pausanias, who seems to have taken special interest in these devices for frightening horses, says (X, xxxvii, 4) that the hippodrome at Delphi had none. There was no Taraxippos in the Nemean hippodrome, but there a red rock above the turning point frightened the horses; see Pausanias, VI, xx, 19.

41 Allen B. West, Corinth VIII, Part II, Latin Inscriptions, 54: “The association of the Isthmian games with Caesarea and games in honor of individual emperors had made the Isthmus an important center of the imperial cult.”

42 In the year 51, L. Rutilius was agonothetis and his son, C. Rutilius, was isagogeus, a lesser official of the “Greater Isthmia” and of the Imperial Games, which by then had been added to the program. See John H. Kent, op. cit., 31; Allen B. West, op. cit., 66–69, No. 82; and cf. Daniel J. Geagan, Notes of the Agonistic Institutions of Roman Corinth, GRBS 9(1968), 71–75.

43 On the administration of Corinth under the empire, see John H. Kent, op. cit., 17–31, especially 23–28.

44 AJA 64(1962), 259–63.

45 Pausanias, II, i, 4.

46 Olympian 3, 27; Isthmian 2, 19, d.

47 AJA 66(1962), 261, Pl. 67, Fig. 1.

48 I Cor.9: 25.

49 H. A. Harris, Greek Athletes and Athletics, 129–35.

50 II Cor. II: 23–27.

51 To Paul, the Hellenist, applies the observation of W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods, 28: “One of the most remarkable things about the Greek genius, at least as manifested in religion, is the way in which it preserved the old alongside of the new.” This is especially evident in the modern Greek panegyria. See Guthrie, op. cit., 269–70. Even now many ancient Greek conceptions of religion, inextricably interwoven with the beliefs of Christianity, live on in superstitions and practices of Greek village life. An illuminating chapter on this subject is found in Patrick Leigh Fermor's book, Mani, an extraordinary journey through the most remoteand the wildestregion of Greece, Chapter 13, 171–200.