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If you look at a map of Greece, you see that the mainland is attached to Europe. The lower portion, however, sticks out into the Mediterranean. This is called the Peloponnese and it's where I'm headed next. The narrow Isthmus of Corinth connects the two together.
In ancient times, sailors wanted to save the trouble of going all the way around. There were several attempts to create a canal (including the Roman emperor Nero). It was too big of a task, so each ended in failure. The second best option was to beach the ships, put them on rollers, then drag them across the land. Sure, it was a bit clunky, but it worked. It had a side benefit of making the city of Corinth very rich. Why? They were the ones who controlled the diolkos, or the “boat road.” More on Corinth next.
It took modern machinery to complete the canal in 1893. It’s about 4 miles long and allows ships to now easily pass through. No more diolkos.
Here's a photo below, along with an activity that's definitely not recommended.
The next stop was the city of Corinth. Many things you're already familiar with originated there. For example: columns, helmets, and Black figure pottery. Also, you may immediately connect to this:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
Many people hear readings like the above one each Sunday. It’s important to remember that those happened to real people in real places. Corinth was one of those places. Paul visited here to help establish a Christian church. A modern mosaic is below showing his conversion on the road to Damascus.
Why Corinth? The city was equivalent to the ancient Las Vegas. Do you recall the diolkos? When rowdy sailors waited for their ships to be transported, they spent their time in the city. That included paying tribute to the main goddess: Aphrodite. What happened in Corinth, stayed in Corinth, if you know what I mean. Paul knew those folks were primed for some Jesus.
The twelve apostles spoke Aramaic and were most likely illiterate. Paul, on the other hand, spoke Greek, which was the lingua franca of the time. It allowed him to more easily spread the Good News around the Mediterranean...and eventually the world.
My next stop was the hilltop fortification of Mycenae.
As we discussed before, this was one of the first major settlements, around 1750-1100 BCE. That was about a thousand years before classical Greece! It was was a huge, well-organized palace. The leaders commanded legions of followers, shown through complex construction, far-reaching trade networks, and elaborate tombs. This is the famous entrance known as the "Lion Gate".
Mycenae itself would take pages to discuss. However, most people recognize it through one connection: the Trojan War.
If you believe you don't know much about the war, you may be surprised. The story has been woven through our culture with phrases like "Achilles' heel," "Trojan horse," and "I fear Greeks bearing gifts." For context, let's get a refresher on what happened. I promise to make it brief.
Once upon a time, there was a prince. A goddess gave him an award of the most beautiful woman in the world. However, there was a slight snag. Helen was already married to a Greek king. That didn’t stop the prince. He abducted (persuaded?) Helen, then carried her off to his hometown of Troy.
The Greeks were understandably upset, and they launched a rescue operation. Beautiful Helen became "the face that launched a thousand ships." The war between the Greeks and Trojans was evenly matched and it dragged on for ten years. There were many fierce battles including one where mighty Achilles fell due to a vulnerability at his heel.
Something needed to break the stalemate. The Greeks pretended to retreat, then left a large wooden horse as an offering. The Trojans brought the prize into the city to celebrate their victory. Instead, destruction ensued as concealed Greek soldiers rushed out and sacked the city.
After the pillaging of Troy, the Greeks had difficult journeys home.
What does the Trojan War have to do with where we are today? The commander of the Greeks was the king of Mycenae. His name was Agamemnon. The image below is what remains of the throne room, called a megaron.
Yeah, I know. It's yet another pile of rocks. Let's spark our imagination with a recreation of what it looked like in antiquity. The image below is from artist Piet de Jong who worked with archaeologist Carl Blegen from the University of Cincinnati.
It shows a different megaron (Pylos), but it will give you a good idea of the elaborate decorations and the images of power that once decorated the room. If the premise of the war is true, that pile of rocks would have been the exact spot where heroes like Achilles, Odysseus, Nestor, and Agamemnon planned the expedition to Troy.
As if that wasn't enough, one of the most famous artifacts in the world was discovered here. Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann believed in the historical accuracy of the Homeric epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey. To prove it, he began projects at both Troy and Mycenae in the late 1800s. He uncovered a large circular structure just inside the Lion Gate.
It contained deep graves with the remains of a ruling dynasty. 19 burials were uncovered with a rich collection of artifacts.
Golden funeral masks were carefully placed over some of the skulls. There was one that stood out from the others. Schliemann excitedly telegraphed the news: "I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon!"
Did Schliemann really find the legendary leader? While his efforts and discoveries were amazing, he committed the mortal sin of science: confusing a hypothesis with a conclusion. He assumed the remains were Agamemnon before all of the evidence was collected and analyzed. Archaeologists now know the burials were from hundreds of years before the Trojan War. If Agamemnon was real, he probably would have been buried in one of the tholos tombs which dot the landscape around Mycenae. These were closer to his time.
Sadly, they were all looted long ago, so we're probably never know.
Even without the connection to the war, Mycenae is a place of paramount importance. It wasn't the only one of its kind. There were similar palaces throughout the region stretching from west coast to Athens itself. Some even speculate it was the first real empire.
For the last stop of the day, I visited Epidaurus. It’s recognized as having the best preserved Greek theater in the world.
While the other tourists climbed the stairs and tested the acoustics, I left all of them behind. There was something I needed to do, and it was far from the crowds.
Snakes were sacred to the Greeks, blessed with divine wisdom. Long ago, one silently approached a sleeping man named Asclepius and whispered secret knowledge into his ear. From that day, he transformed into a master of medicine and eventually into a god. The rod with a snake became the universal symbol of healing.
I walked some distance to reach the very place where hundreds of thousands of ancient pilgrims had been before me. Prior to Lourdes and Fátima, there was the Sanctuary of Asclepius.
People with every kind of sickness made the journey, offered a sacrifice, then stayed the night in a special building called the Enkoimeterion. If the god willed it, a snake would visit their dreams and whisper a cure. The Enkoimeterion is below.
Many unusual artifacts have been uncovered here like a marble foot, a plaster hand, and a clay head. They were from grateful pilgrims who gave the god a representation of what he had healed.
My long-time friend and business partner has an ailment in his chest and in his arm. I visited the Enkoimeterion today in his honor. I don't often ask much of the gods, but I did today. Asclepius, please send a serpent to his dreams, and bring something with it: hope.
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