Sacred City
City of Wealth, Love & Cunning
Corinth occupied one of the most strategically important positions in the ancient world, controlling the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese. This location made it fabulously wealthy from trade, and its reputation for luxury, commerce, and pleasure was legendary. The city was sacred to Aphrodite, and her temple on the Acrocorinth (the towering citadel above the city) was one of the most famous religious sites in Greece.
Corinth's mythological founder was Sisyphus, one of the most cunning mortals in Greek mythology. He cheated death twice. The first time, he trapped Thanatos (Death) himself in chains, so that no one on earth could die until Ares freed him. The second time, Sisyphus instructed his wife not to perform proper burial rites, then convinced Persephone to let him return to the living to punish his wife's impiety. Once back among the living, he refused to return. When he finally died of old age, Zeus condemned him to the most famous punishment in mythology: eternally rolling a boulder up a hill in Tartarus, only for it to roll back down every time he neared the top.
Corinth was also the setting for the myth of Bellerophon and Pegasus. The hero Bellerophon found the winged horse Pegasus drinking from the spring of Peirene in Corinth. With the help of a golden bridle given by Athena, he tamed Pegasus and rode him into battle against the Chimera. Corinth was proud of this connection, and Pegasus appeared on Corinthian coins for centuries.
Cross-referenced with multiple classical sources for accuracy.