Glauke Fountain

Glauke Fountain. . English Text:, The fountain of Glauke, a large cubic mass of limestone, was formed when the surrounding bedrock was quarried away. Originally, the fountain was contained within a long limestone ridge running west from Temple Hill. Pausanias, who described his visit to Corinth ca. A.D. 150, reports that the fountain received its name from Glauke, daughter of Creon the King of Corinth and the second wife of the hero Jason. Medea, Jason's first wife, in a fit of jealousy presented Glauke with a cloak infused with poison. After putting on the cloak, Glauke threw herself into the fountain in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the poison from burning her., Similar to the Fountain of Peirene, Glauke consists of four large reservoirs fronted by three draw basins and an architectural facade. Although this facade is now largely gone, still visible are the cuttings into which was inserted the parapet which formed the front of the draw basins. The deep cut through the center of the steps provided a means of removing the stone from digging the reservoirs and would have been filled in when the fountain became operational. Directly to the north of Glauke at the foot of the steps was a small courtyard paved with tiles in the Roman period., Unlike all other fountains in Corinth, Glauke does not exploit a natural spring but instead is fed by water piped in from a source somewhere to the south. This fact, along with several other considerations, suggests that the fountain may not date to the Archaic period as was originally thought but perhaps belongs to the Hellenistic period.