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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

IntroIndex©

ACROCORINTH*

Massive, precipitous hilltop 1,886 feet (575 meters) above sea level to the south of the ancient city of Corinth. It overlooked the Isthmus of Corinth and controlled land traffic between central Greece and the Peloponesus, as well as sea traffic from Italy passing to the east through the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf.

The temple of Aphrodite on the summit was unjustly notorious in antiquity. The geographer Strabo (c. AD 20) said that 1,000 prostitutes served at the temple during Greece’s golden age. The Athenians may have perpetuated the myth of Corinthian licentiousness. “Not every man’s ship is bound for Corinth” was a common saying among the ancient Greeks. Modern scholars tend to discount Strabo’s statement, though it still influences interpretation of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. It is possible that the Corinthians were no less moral than the residents of other cities of mainland Greece. Even Strabo could find only a small temple of Aphrodite, of which there are virtually no archaeological remains.