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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Aggro At Acrocorinth

John Elkington · 14 March 2020 · Leave a Comment

Post 5 of 7

Looking across Roman ruins of Ancient Corinth
A palpable sense of power, overlooking the Gulf of Corinth
Euphorbia, or tree spurge, I’m pretty sure. I discovered from Wikipedia that the botanical name Euphorbia derives from Euphorbos, the Greek physician of king Juba II of Numidia (52–50 BC – 23 AD), who apparently married the daughter of Anthony and Cleopatra.
A staggering, in multiple senses, set of walls wreaths the entire mountain
Later, further along our way, an ancient quarry

Arriving at the fence of the Romans centre of Ancient Corinth, I was particularly interested to look across to the ruin where (St.) Paul was invigilated. Here he had worked as a tentmaker, before he gave up trying to pitch Christianity to the Jews and decided, instead, to focus in future on the gentiles. A truly momentous moment in world history.

But I confess that throughout I cast a constantly covetous eye at the massive, castle-crowned mountain beyond the site. Acrocorinth. Before arriving, I hadn’t even realised it existed, but now I wanted to get as close to it as possible.

Shortly afterwards, we were wending our way up and up, until we were right in front of the gates. What an extraordinary defensive system.

One name strongly associated with Acrocorinth is Leo Sgouros. A profoundly unpleasant and violent man, aggro incarnate. He would lead a brave five year resistance to the Franks, who laid siege to the acropolis. In the end, it is said, he committed suicide by jumping off the cliffs on his horse.

Apparently the people who find this story hardest to bear are the British. They feel sorry for the horse.

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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