CRETE. 



331 



Crete, the beauty of the climate, had settled here from all 

 ■""V""*' parts of the Grecian continent. Homer, in the Odys- 

 sey, enumerates four distinct nations inhabiting Crete 

 besides the natives, all using different dialects, and all 

 ajiparently free: 



There is a lime 1 , amid the sable flood 



Called Crete; fair, fruitful, circled by the sta, 



Numerous are her inhabitants, a race 



Not to be summ'd, and ninety towns she boasts. 



Diverse their language is; Achaians some, 



And some indigenous are ; Cydonians there, 



Crest-shaking Dorians, and Pelasgians dwell. 



Cowpeh's Homer's Odt/saey. 



According to Eusebius, the first king of the island 

 was called Ores, from whom it received its name. He 

 is said to have been one of the Curetes, and was the 

 author of many useful discoveries, which contributed 

 to the happiness of his people. Of his successors, how- 

 ever, little is known. Their names and their actions 

 are equally lost in allegory ; and it would be but un- 

 profitable labour to attempt to draw them from their 

 obscurity, llhadamanthus and Minos alone deserve to 

 be named ; the former as being the first legislator of 

 the Cretans, and as having laid the foundation of their 

 admirable polity ; and the other as having many ages 

 after raised the superstructure with such wisdom and 

 success. 



The system of laws, of which they are supposed to 

 have been the authors, are well-known through tlie 

 fame of Sparta; and while the history of the Cretans 

 has been lost, a general account of their polity has been 

 handed down to us by the most respectable authorities. 

 It is considered as the general fountain of Grecian ju- 

 risprudence and legislation; and, according to Plato, 

 " was founded upon those solid principles which can- 

 not but render the people who are subject to them 

 flourishing and happy." t The Cretan laws had all a 

 reference to war. To cultivate among his subjects a 

 spirit of unanimity and patriotism, and to inspire them 

 with a love of liberty and military glory, seem to have 

 been the principal objects of the legislator. Courage 

 and noble actions were the only road to honour, and 

 vice was invariably stigmatised with hatred and dis- 

 grace. It was not, however, by a multitude of legal 

 enactments, or by the arm of power, that Minos at- 

 tempted to accomplish Ids purpose. He had too just a 

 knowledge of the human heart to suppose that these 

 were sufficient to restrain the heedless impetuosity of 

 youth, or the confirmed depravity of manhood ; and 

 he therefore endeavoured, by a wise system of educa- 

 tion, to destroy the very knowledge of vice, as an ob- 

 ject that was to be shunned and despised, by training 

 the infant mind to the love and the practice of vir- 

 tue. 



The Cretans were divided into two classes ; that of 

 the youths who had attained their seventeenth year, 

 and were called Agetas (companies), and that of the 

 men of mature age, named Andreia. As freemen, 

 they were all considered as equal. A community of 

 .meals was established at the public expence, where 

 they all partook of the same diet, and were habituated 

 to sobriety and temperance. There the rich and the 

 poor were seated together. They knew no distinction 

 but that of virtue ; and we are told that a woman pre- 

 sided at each table, and publicly distributed the best 



of every tiling to these who had distinguished them- 

 selves by their courage in war, or their wisdom it) coun- 

 cil. This honour from the hand of beauty was greatly 

 prized by all, and excited emulation in every breast, 

 to render themselves worthy of the same reward. When 

 the repast was finished, the old men discussed the af- 

 fairs of the state, discoursed of the history of their 

 country, celebrated the actions and virtues of their 

 great men, recounted the battles in which they had 

 been engaged, extolled the exploits of the brave, and 

 exhorted the youth to similar deeds. It was in thos;- 

 assemblies that tlie young men were first inspired with 

 the love of virtue and fame. The Cretan boy, at seven 

 years of age, was admitted into the society of the men: 

 and seated on the ground, and clad in a simple garb, 

 he listened in silence to their conversation and counsels. 

 There the patriot and the hero were depicted in such 

 glowing colours, as excited his youthful admiration. 

 He longed to emulate their conduct ; and having the 

 most eminent examples of wisdom, justice, and mode- 

 ration continually before his eyes, he was led to cherish 

 the love of virtue before he had contracted any of the 

 habits of vice. From their infancy the Cretans were 

 inured to deprivations and hardships. They were ac- 

 customed to be content with little, to suffer hunger and 

 thirst, and to disregard the rigour of the seasons — to 

 climb mountains and precipices, to bear with resolution 

 the blows or wounds they might receive in the gym- 

 nastic exercises ; and to make a dexterous use of the 

 bow, the sling, and the sword. They were also taught 

 to commit to memory, and to sing to a particular air, 

 the laws of Minos, which were written in verse, and 

 to repeat hymns and poems in praise of their heroes, 

 or in honour cf their gods. At seventeen they were 

 received into the class of the youths, whose exercises 

 were more difficult and severe. They now employed 

 themselves in running, wrestling, and fighting in mock 

 combat, while martial airs were played upon the lyre, 

 to which they were obliged to keep time. These 

 combats, according to Strabo, % were not without dan- 

 ger, as they often made use of iron weapons. But 

 the most common exercise, and in which they were 

 most ambitious to excel, was the Pyrrhic dance. The 

 dancers wore the warlike dress, which consisted of a 

 light jacket that descended to the knee, and was fas- 

 tened with a girdle that went twice round the waist; and 

 completely armed, they imitated various military evo- 

 lutions to the sound of instruments. This exercise, 

 which was strictly enjoined by the laws, they consi- 

 dered almost as dishonourable to neglect as to quit their 

 post in the day of battle. 



When their young men had completed their educa- 

 tion, and had attained the proper age, they were re- 

 ceived among the Andreia, by which they .became en- 

 titled to vote in the national assemblies, and might be 

 chosen to any employment of the state. At this period 

 they were obliged to many ; and even this institution 

 was regulated by the laws. The Cretan married not 

 for himself, but for the state. His bride was chosen by 

 the magistrate, who was guided entirely by a reference 

 to the security of the nation. The stout and handsome 

 youths were joined to young women who resembled 

 them in constitution and figure, without any regard to 

 passion, opulence, or poverty, but merely that a robust 

 race might be produced, that would defend and do ho- 

 nour to their country. Thus by making every iastitu- 



Cfcte. 



"f Plato de Legibus, lib. i. 



Strabo, lib. ss 



