272 THE ISLES AND SHRINES OF GREECE
in the view. On days exceptionally clear, from Upper
Corinth one may see Upper Athens forty-five miles
away. The white houses of the new Corinth are set
on the plain below, amid fields of red and green and
dark olive groves. Many a fierce conflict, Greek
with Greek, Greek with Roman, Turk or Venetian,
has been fought on this citadel. As on the Acropolis
of Athens, the debris of centuries is here beneath our
feet.
Did Paul come up here? There is nothing in his
letters to show it. But that he saw the temples and
the idols, and that he had to deal with practical ques-
tions, such as eating meat offered in sacrifice to idols,
his epistles plainly show. If the apostle could find here
to-day little to recall the ancient pagan worship but
the seven columns on the plain, he would find in the
modern town but little to remind him of the church
he planted. It is not likely when he wrote these two
letters to the Corinthians that he thought they would
be known in all Christendom, or that the thirteenth
chapter of the first letter might well compare in
elevation of sentiment and beauty of diction with any-
thing in the range of literature.
Leaving Corinth we took the train to Nauplia and
spent the night. The next morning we rose at five
o'clock, and in six carriages drove from Nauplia to
Epidaurus, renowned in ancient days as the sanctuary
of ^Esculapius, and containing a temple, sanitarium
and other buildings. As a centre of miracle or faith
healing, the place has a special interest. But our
curiosity had been stimulated most of all to see the
theatre, partly by its importance in modern discussion
and partly from the enthusiasm of Pausanias in regard
in the view. On days exceptionally clear, from Upper
Corinth one may see Upper Athens forty-five miles
away. The white houses of the new Corinth are set
on the plain below, amid fields of red and green and
dark olive groves. Many a fierce conflict, Greek
with Greek, Greek with Roman, Turk or Venetian,
has been fought on this citadel. As on the Acropolis
of Athens, the debris of centuries is here beneath our
feet.
Did Paul come up here? There is nothing in his
letters to show it. But that he saw the temples and
the idols, and that he had to deal with practical ques-
tions, such as eating meat offered in sacrifice to idols,
his epistles plainly show. If the apostle could find here
to-day little to recall the ancient pagan worship but
the seven columns on the plain, he would find in the
modern town but little to remind him of the church
he planted. It is not likely when he wrote these two
letters to the Corinthians that he thought they would
be known in all Christendom, or that the thirteenth
chapter of the first letter might well compare in
elevation of sentiment and beauty of diction with any-
thing in the range of literature.
Leaving Corinth we took the train to Nauplia and
spent the night. The next morning we rose at five
o'clock, and in six carriages drove from Nauplia to
Epidaurus, renowned in ancient days as the sanctuary
of ^Esculapius, and containing a temple, sanitarium
and other buildings. As a centre of miracle or faith
healing, the place has a special interest. But our
curiosity had been stimulated most of all to see the
theatre, partly by its importance in modern discussion
and partly from the enthusiasm of Pausanias in regard