Editing Epimenides (section)

===''Cretica''===
Epimenides' ''Cretica'' (Κρητικά) is quoted twice in the [[New Testament]]. Its only source is a 9th-century [[Syriac language|Syriac]] commentary by [[Isho'dad of Merv]] on the [[Acts of the Apostles]], discovered, edited and translated (into Greek) by Prof. [[J. Rendel Harris]] in a series of articles.<ref name="RendelHarris1906">{{cite journal |last1=Rendel Harris |first1=J. |title=The Cretans always liars |journal=The Expositor |series=Seventh Series |date=Oct 1906 |volume=2 |pages=305–17 |url=https://archive.org/details/expositor190602coxs/page/304/mode/2up/ |access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="RendelHarris1907">{{cite journal |last1=Rendel Harris |first1=J. |title=A further note on the Cretans |journal=The Expositor |series=Seventh Series |date=April 1907 |volume=3 |pages=332–337 |url=https://archive.org/details/expositor190703coxs/page/336/mode/2up |access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rendel Harris |first1=J. |title= St. Paul and Epimenides|journal=The Expositor |series=Eighth Series |date=April 1912 |volume=4 |pages=348–353}}</ref>

In the poem, Minos addresses [[Zeus]] thus:

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: J. Rendel Harris' ''hypothetical'' Greek text:<ref name="RendelHarris1907" />
Τύμβον ἐτεκτήναντο σέθεν, κύδιστε μέγιστε,<br />
Κρῆτες, ἀεὶ ψευδεῖς, κακὰ θηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί.<br />
Ἀλλὰ σὺ γ᾽ οὐ θνῇσκεις, ἕστηκας γὰρ ζοὸς αίεί,<br />
Ἐν γὰρ σοὶ ζῶμεν καὶ κινύμεθ᾽ ἠδὲ καὶ ἐσμέν.<br />
|
: Translation:
They fashioned a tomb for you, holy and high one,<br />
Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies.<br />
But you are not dead: you live and abide forever,<br />
For in you we live and move and have our being.<br />
|}

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 the ''Hymn to Zeus'' of [[Callimachus]]. The fourth line is quoted (with a reference to one of "your own poets")  in [[Acts of the Apostles]], <cite>[[Acts 17#Verse 28|chapter 17, verse 28]]</cite>.

The second line is quoted, with a veiled attribution ("a prophet of their own"), in the [[Epistle to Titus]], <cite>[[s:Bible (King James)/Titus#1:12|chapter 1, verse 12]]</cite>, to warn Titus about the Cretans. The "prophet" in [[Titus 1#Verse 12|Titus 1:12]] is identified by [[Clement of Alexandria]] as "Epimenides" (''[[Stromata]]'', [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/02101.htm i. 14]). In this passage, Clement mentions that "some say" Epimenides should be counted among the seven wisest philosophers.

[[Chrysostom]] ([http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/23083.htm Homily 3 on Titus]) gives an alternative fragment:
:For even a tomb, King, of you
:They made, who never died, but ever shall be.