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Epimenides ofKnossos (orEpimenides ofCrete) (/ɛpɪˈmɛnɪdiːz/;Ancient Greek:Ἐπιμενίδης) was a semi-mythical 7th- or 6th-century BCGreekseer andphilosopher-poet, fromKnossos orPhaistos.
While tending his father's sheep, Epimenides is said to have fallen asleep for fifty-seven years in aCretan cave sacred toZeus, after which he reportedly awoke with the gift of prophecy (Diogenes Laërtius i. 109–115).Diogenes Laërtius relates that when a pestilence raged in Athens, the Pythonicoracle told the Athenians to bring Epimenides from Crete to give advice. When he came, he set sheep onMars Hill and where they lay down had altars erected "to the suitable god", explaining the existence of these anonymous altars. One of these was apparently mentioned bySaint Paul in his speech on that hill (Acts 17).[1]Plutarch writes that Epimenides purifiedAthens after the pollution brought by theAlcmeonidae, and that the seer's expertise insacrifices and reform of funeral practices were of great help toSolon in his reform of the Athenian state. The only reward he would accept was a branch of the sacred olive, and a promise of perpetual friendship between Athens andKnossos (Plutarch,Life of Solon, 12;Aristotle,Ath. Pol. 1).
Athenaeus also mentions him, in connection with the self-sacrifice of theerastes anderomenos pair ofAristodemus and Cratinus, who were believed to have given their lives in order to purify Athens. Even in antiquity there were those who held the story to be mere fiction (The Deipnosophists, XIII. 78–79). Diogenes Laërtius preserves a number of spurious letters between Epimenides andSolon in hisLives of the Philosophers. Epimenides was also said to have prophesied atSparta on military matters.
He died in Crete at an advanced age; according to his countrymen, who afterwards honoured him as a god, he lived nearly three hundred years. According to another story, he was taken prisoner in a war between the Spartans and Knossians, and put to death by his captors, because he refused to prophesy favourably for them.Pausanias reports that when Epimenides died, his skin was found to be covered withtattooed writing. This was considered odd, because the Greeks reserved tattooing forslaves. Some modernscholars[who?] have seen this as evidence that Epimenides was heir to theshamanicreligions ofCentral Asia, because tattooing is often associated with shamanicinitiation.[citation needed] The skin of Epimenides was preserved at the courts of theephores inSparta, conceivably as a good-luck charm.
According to Diogenes Laërtius, Epimenides metPythagoras in Crete, and they went to theCave of Ida.[2]
Several prose and poetic works, now lost, were attributed to Epimenides, including atheogony, an epic poem on theArgonautic expedition, prose works on purifications and sacrifices, acosmogony, oracles, a work on the laws of Crete, and a treatise onMinos andRhadymanthus.
Epimenides'Cretica (Κρητικά) is apparently quoted twice in theNew Testament. Prof.James Rendel Harris found a passage in aNestorian Scriptural commentary inSyriac, quite possibly written byTheodore of Mopsuestia, on Acts 17:18 saying:[1][3][4]
"In Him we live and move and have our being." The Cretans used to say of Zeus, that he was a prince and was ripped up by a wild boar, and he was buried : and lo ! his grave is with us. AccordinglyMinos, the son ofZeus, made over him apanegyric and in it he said :"A grave have fashioned for thee, 0 holy and high One, the lying Kretans, who are all the time liars, evil beasts, idle bellies ; but thou diest not, for to eternity thou livest, and standest ; for in thee we live and move and have our being."
Rendel Harris argued that this was in fact based on the poem of Epimenides, and that therefore both the phrase "in Him we live and move and have our being" in Acts and the phrase "Cretans, always liars..." in Titus are based on Epimenides. He offered the following suggestion for the original Greek:
Τύμβον ἐτεκτήναντο σέθεν, κύδιστε μέγιστε, |
They fashioned a tomb for you, holy and high one, |
The "lie" of the Cretans is that Zeus was mortal; Epimenides considered Zeus immortal. "Cretans, always liars," with the same theological intent as Epimenides, also appears in theHymn to Zeus ofCallimachus. The fourth line is quoted (with a reference to one of "your own poets") inActs of the Apostles,chapter 17, verse 28.
The second line is quoted, with a veiled attribution ("a prophet of their own"), in theEpistle to Titus,chapter 1, verse 12, to warn Titus about the Cretans. The "prophet" inTitus 1:12 is identified byClement of Alexandria as "Epimenides" (Stromata,i. 14). In this passage, Clement mentions that "some say" Epimenides should be counted among the seven wisest philosophers.
Chrysostom (Homily 3 on Titus) gives an alternative fragment:
TheEpimenides paradox refers to a saying attributed to Epimenides: "Cretans are always liars" («Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται»). This statement creates a paradox ofself-reference similar to theliar paradox. This quote is referenced in theNew TestamentEpistle to Titus, which indirectly alludes to Epimenides as a "prophet" of the Cretans.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Epimenides".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 694.
Laërtius, Diogenes."The Seven Sages: Epimenides" .Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:1. Translated byHicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.
