Erkki Koskenniemi, «The Famous Liar and the Apostolic Truth» filologia-neotestamentaria, Vol. 24 (2011) 59-69 page 61

Vol 24 (2011)

Erkki Koskenniemi, «The Famous Liar and the Apostolic Truth», Vol. 24 (2011) 59-69

The words Kretes aei pseustai, kaka theria, gasteres argai. in Tit 1:2 are traditionally attributed to Epimenides, and, for example, Nestle – Aland27 (ad locum) refers to his work “de oraculis / peri kresmon”. 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 peri kresmon 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 peri kresmon: Epimenides is only ahistorically involved in this paradox. Consequently, the verse does not prove that the writer knew Classical literature well.

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The Famous Liar and the Apostolic Truth 61 tion of the writer.7 If we ask where the verse quoted is taken from, the state of the research is surprisingly confusing. NESTLE – ALAND27 briefly attributes the quota- tion to “Epimenides, de oraculis / περὶ χρησμῶν”. Such brief comments are perhaps allowed in a text edition. However, a first glance over the commentaries already reveals the words as being problematic. Joachim Jeremias, for his part, attributes the quotation to the work “ ‘Theogonia’ (Genealogie der Götter)”8. According to DIBELIUS the quotation origi- nates from the Theogony or from the Chresmoi9. A work de oraculis / περὶ χρησμῶν is sometimes mentioned in modern research, but several scholars are rather skeptical10. We have all reason to investigate the verse from different angles: Who was Epimenides, from which work was the verse allegedly taken and how and why was it used? Moreover, why is Epimenides – or the author of the verse – called a prophet? Epimenides and his works The traditions of Epimenides’ life and works11 were collected and critically investigated by H. DIELS and W. KRANZ in Fragmente der Vor- sokratiker early on12. Because a work named Κρητικά which apparently has dealt with the Cretan history or their constitution13, is attributed to him, F. JACOBY included Epimenides in his famous Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker (Nr. 457), and essentially expanded the material. However, some important pieces of evidence must still be added to the material. Generally, we only know a little about the pre-Socratic philosophers, and Epimenides, the famous man from Crete, is not an exception. It is problematic to briefly refer to a work attributed to him. Our main source on the traditions on Epimenides is the passage in Diogenes Laer- 7 K.L. SCHMIDT “Paulus und die antike Welt”, Vorträge der Bibliothek Warburg, Vorträge 1924-1925 (Leipzig 1927) 46. 8 J. JEREMIAS, Die Briefe an Timotheus und Titus (NTD 9; Göttingen 1981) 70. 9 M. DIBELIUS, Die Briefe des Apostels Paulus: An Timotheus I – II: An Titus (Tübingen 1913) 207 10 See below p. 123-124. 11 On Epimenides, see KERN, ”Epimenides“, PRE 6 (1909)173-178; R. PARKER, “Epime- nides”, DNP 3 (1997) 1144. 12 H. DIELS and W. KRANZ, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker 1-3. 12th ed. Dublin / Zürich 1966) 31–37. 13 Eratosthenes, (Catast. 27) writes on the work as follows: 'Επιμενίδης ὁ τὰ Κρητικὰ ἱστορῶν.