59 The Famous Liar and the Apostolic Truth ERKKI KOSKENNIEMI The words Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται, κακὰ θηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί in Tit 1:2 are traditionally attributed to Epimenides, and, for example, Nestle – Aland27 (ad locum) refers to his work “de oraculis / περὶ χρησμῶν”. However, we can only discern a shadow of the man, a pre-Socratic philosopher, or of several men. We do not have his works, and a work περὶ χρησμῶν is never mentioned in ancient sources. Clement of Alexandria mentions Epimenides, but not his work; Jerome is the first who certainly attributes the work to Epimenides. This article proposes a new reconstruction of the history of the tradition. In the beginning was the proverb that the Cretans were famous liars, and in the second stage, this reputation was used to construct a logical paradox. In the next stage, Epimenides, the famous Cretan philosopher, was involved in the paradox. It is thus not correct to claim that Tit refers to Epimenides’ work περὶ χρησμῶν: Epimenides is only ahistorically involved in this paradox. Consequently, the verse does not prove that the writer knew Classical literature well. Keywords: Epistle to Titus; Liar-paradox; Epimenides; Περὶ χρησμῶν; De oraculis; The Problem Many early Jewish writers eagerly quoted Greek authors in their works, either approving or rejecting their words. When all these quotations are collected and analyzed, it is possible to conclude something about their attitude to Classical culture1. The New Testament only contains a few obvious quotations from Greek literature. The genuine Pauline letters only have one, the verse quoted in 1 Cor 15:33. The Antilegomena do not add much to the evidence. However, in Tit “Paul” writes: 1 I have analyzed Philo’s and Josephus’s way of dealing with Classical texts in three articles: “Philo and Classical Drama”, in Ancient Israel, Judaism, and Christianity in Con- temporary Perspective: Essays in Memory of Karl-Johan Illman (eds. JACOB NEUSNER, ALAN J. AVERY-PECK, ANTTI LAATO, RISTO NURMELA, and KARL-GUSTAV SANDELIN) (Lanham 2006) 137-152; “Philo and Greek Poets” (JSJ, 41(2010)301-322); and “Josephus and Greek Poets”, The Intertextuality of the Epistles, BRODIE; Sheffield 2006) 46-60. Philo’s and Josephus’ works reveal a drastically different background: Whereas Philo quotes Classical poets often and from memory, Josephus had apparently never received a formal Greek education, in which Classical poets were studied. Filología Neotestamentaria - Vol. XXIV - 2011, pp. 59-70 Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - Universidad de Córdoba (España)