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The Misidentification of Lerna Fountain at Corinth: Implications for Interpretations of the Corinthian Idol-Food Issue (1 Cor 8:1–11:1)

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The Misidentification of Lerna Fountain at Corinth: Implications for Interpretations of the Corinthian Idol-Food Issue (1 Cor 8:1–11:1) THE MISIDENTIFICATION OF LERNA FOUNTAIN AT CORINTH: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CORINTHIAN IDOL-FOOD ISSUE (1 COR 8:1–11:1) John Fotopoulos In their archaeological excavations of Corinth, F. J. de Waele and Carl Roebuck identified the Asklepieion of the city, as well as an adjacent spring, dining rooms, and peristyle court which they further identified as the fountain called Lerna by Pausanias. Many New Testament scholars have accepted de Waele’s and Roebuck’s iden- tifications of the sites, and some scholars doing detailed investigations of Paul’s instructions on idol-food (1 Cor 8:1–11:1) have made par- ticular use of these identifications for their interpretations and recon- structions of the Corinthian idol-food issue. Consequently, some exegetes have alleged an ambiguous relationship between the Asklepieion and the nature of the food (sacrificial or non-sacrificial food?) that was consumed in these dining rooms. However, reconsideration of the archaeological record and consideration of newly discovered archaeo- logical evidence such as the Fountain of the Lamps in this study show that de Waele and Roebuck misidentified the Asklepieion spring/ dining room complex as Lerna. Therefore, this study will demonstrate that the adjacent spring and dining rooms were facilities of the Asklepieion and that diners at the site would have known that only sacrificial food was consumed there, while Lerna should be properly identified with the nearby Fountain of the Lamps. 1. Excavations and Identification of the Corinthian Asklepieion and Lerna Fountain In 1929 Ferdinand Joseph de Waele first investigated the northern periphery of ancient Corinth after a local villager, Athanasios Tsourapis, had found several Greek sherds in his field.1 Exploratory trenches 1 Noted in the first of F. J. de Waele’s reports of the site’s excavations, “The Sanctuary of Asklepios and Hygieia at Corinth,” AJA 37 (1933): 417–51. 38 j. fotopoulos were dug in 1930 and systematic excavations began in the area in 1931 and continued into 1934.2 Certainly the most significant find in the area was the sanctuary dedicated to Asklepios and an adja- cent spring that was identified by de Waele as Lerna Fountain. Pausanias, in his travelogue of Corinth, had described a temple of Asklepios and fountain called Lerna in his route northward from the city’s theater to the gymnasium area. Pausanias writes: ToË yeãtrou d° §sti toËde oÈ pÒrrv gumnãsion tÚ érxa›on ka‹ phgØ kaloum°nh L°rna. K¤onew d¢ •stÆkasi per‹ aÈtØn ka‹ kay°drai pepo¤hntai toÁw §selyÒntaw énacÊxein Àra y°rouw. PrÚw toÊtƒ t« gumnas¤ƒ nao‹ ye«n efisin ı m¢n DiÒw, ı d¢ ÉAsklhpioË. Tå d¢ égãlmata ÉAsklhpiÚw m¢n ka‹ ÑUge¤a leukoË, tÚ d¢ toË DiÚw xalkoËn §stin. Not far from this theater is the ancient gymnasium and a spring called Lerna. Columns stand around it and seats have been made to refresh those who enter during summer time. Near this gymnasium are tem- ples of the gods, the one of Zeus and the other of Asklepios. With regard to the statues, Asklepios and Hygeia are of white stone, while that of Zeus is of bronze.3 The temple of Asklepios that Pausanias mentioned was positively identified by de Waele based on the hundreds of terracotta votive offerings of cured body parts found at the site4 which testify to the popularity of the god’s cult in Corinth dating from “the last quar- ter of the fifth century and the end of the fourth”5 century B.C.E. De Waele identified the spring adjacent to the Asklepieion as Lerna Fountain based on the extensive water system found at the site, the presence of kl¤nai (couches), and “a large square...surrounded by porticoes and a peristasis of columns.”6 Although de Waele recognized that there was some difficulty in identifying the kl¤nai found at the site with the kay°drai mentioned by Pausanias, he insisted that this was the site described by the periegete Pausanias.7 De Waele writes: 2 F. J. de Waele, “The Fountain of Lerna and the Early Christian Cemetery at Corinth,” AJA 39 (1935): 352–359. 3 Pausanias, 2.4.5. 4 De Waele, “The Sanctuary of Asklepios,” 422–23. 5 Carl A. Roebuck, Corinth: Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. XIV, The Asklepieion and Lerna (Princeton, NJ: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1951), 113. 6 De Waele, “The Sanctuary of Asklepios,” 432. 7 De Waele, “The Sanctuary of Asklepios,” 432..
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