# Epimenides of Crete — The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers character guide

> Epimenides of Crete in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Epimenides the Cretan

**First appearance:** 0013-epimenides

## Snapshot

A Cretan prophet and purifier who slept in a cave for decades, woke with strange knowledge, and cleansed Athens of a plague without ever explaining how.

## Who they are

Epimenides belongs to the borderland between philosopher and holy man: he purifies cities, interprets oracles, and reportedly lives far longer than any man should. His famous paradox—that Cretans are always liars, spoken by a Cretan—captures the self-consuming quality of his wisdom. He matters because he shows the early Greek imagination treating philosophy and prophecy as the same dangerous gift, and because his long sleep becomes a template for every later story of the thinker who returns changed.

## In the story

### [Book I: The Origins and Divisions of Philosophy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/book-i)

Epimenides is addressed in a letter from Solon, discussing the limitations of laws and divine intervention in governing a city.

### [Solon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/solon)

Recipient of a letter from Solon discussing the limitations of lawgivers and divine aid.

### [Epimenides](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/epimenides)

Central figure of the chapter; Cretan philosopher, prophet, and purifier of Athens.

### [Pythagoras](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/pythagoras)

Accompanied Pythagoras into the Idaean cave in Crete.

### [Xenophanes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/xenophanes)

Xenophanes also attacked Epimenides.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/characters/epimenides
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/characters