Titus 1:12

12. The fictions of these errorists have a congenial soil in the character of the Cretan population, as attested by a prophet of their own. The poet Callimachus, mentioning that it was said that the tomb of Jupiter was in Crete, responded, “The Cretans are always liars.” But the real prophet who first uttered the words quoted by St. Paul was Epimenides, born in Crete about the year 600 B.C. He was held to be a prophet in the literal sense of the word as predictor of future events. So says a Roman writer, Apuleius, “Cretan Epimenides, a renowned fore-teller and poet.” Cicero speaks of those “who by a certain excitement of the mind, and with a liberated and free movement, predict future events, as Baris the Beotian, and Epimenides the Cretan.” His biographer, Diogenes Laertius, gives instances of his predictions, and says, that “some say that the Cretans sacrifice to him as to a god.” He was invited to Athens to purify the city after its pollution in the case of Cylon. He is said to have lived to an extreme old age, and to have been buried at Lacedemon.

The Cretians The generally profligate character of the Cretins was proverbial. To Cretanize was to be a liar, as to Corinthianize was to be a debauchee. See our vol. iv, page 9. They had a rival in roguery in the islanders of AEgina, and the proverb was, “A Cretan against an AEginetan.” The three worst K’s were said to be “Krete, Kappadocia, and Kilicia.”

Always liars Suidas, the lexicographer, says, “Kretanize refers to Cretans, for they were liars and deceivers.”

Evil beasts Referring to roughness and ferocity. The island once ruled by the just Minos became a piratical nest, and Polybius and Strabo tell us that the Cretans were unrivalled in making incursions by land and sea. Cretan soldiers were often mercenaries in foreign service.

Slow bellies Whose god was their belly. Philippians 3:14. Slow implies sluggishness and stupidity, arising from gluttony.