Life Epimenides of Crete (Ἐπιμενίδης ὁ Κρής) was a semi-legendary seer and purifier active in the late 7th or 6th century BCE. Ancient sources report he purified Athens of a religious pollution following the Cylonian affair, employing novel rites [1][2]. His life is heavily mythologized, including tales that he slept in a cave for decades, awakening with prophetic powers, and that he lived an extraordinarily long life [1][2]. He is often grouped with other archaic mystic figures and was sometimes counted among the Seven Sages [1][2].

Works All works attributed to Epimenides are lost and considered spurious. Ancient testimony credits him with several theological and theogonic writings in prose, such as a Theogony, On Sacrifices and the Cretan Constitution, and On Minos and Rhadamanthys [1][2]. He was also credited with oracular verses, most famously the line quoted in the New Testament (Titus 1:12): "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons" [1][2].

Significance Epimenides represents the pre-philosophical wandering religious expert (kathartēs) in Greek tradition [2]. His legendary purification was a foundational story for Athenian civic religion. He is remembered in logic for the "Cretan liar" statement, a classical antecedent to the Liar Paradox [1].

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Epimenides. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epimenides/ 2. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Epimenides (c. 7th – 6th Centuries BCE). https://iep.utm.edu/epimenides/