Meaning & Analysis
Literally, it claims that people from Crete are congenital liars. The attached phrase, 'Use craft against Cretans', advises that one must therefore use cunning and deceit when dealing with them.
Insights
Strategic Deception
The proverb serves as a metaphor for dealing with any dishonest individual or group. It posits that when confronted with duplicity, one must abandon straightforwardness and adopt a similar level of cunning to avoid being exploited.
The Nature of Stereotyping
It functions as a broader commentary on the nature of stereotypes. The 'Cretan' can represent any 'out-group' that has been labeled with a negative trait, illustrating how prejudice is formed and then used to justify reciprocal hostility or mistrust.
Moral Relativism
The proverb explores the idea that context dictates morality. The advice to 'use craft' suggests that ethical principles like honesty are not absolute but should be adapted based on the character of the person one is dealing with, a form of situational ethics.
Biblical and Classical Authority
The proverb's authority is massively amplified by its citation in the New Testament (Titus 1:12), where the Apostle Paul quotes the Cretan prophet Epimenides. This biblical endorsement cemented a classical stereotype into a piece of moral and religious wisdom for centuries in the West.
The Liar's Paradox
This saying is the foundation of the Epimenides paradox, a famous logical puzzle. If a Cretan states 'All Cretans are liars', is the statement true or false? This philosophical dimension elevates the proverb from a simple ethnic slur to a subject of enduring logical and linguistic debate.
Historical Prejudice
The proverb is a stark example of historical ethnic prejudice, reflecting ancient Greek views of Cretans as untrustworthy. Its persistence into the Renaissance, as shown in the quotations, illustrates how stereotypes are transmitted and used to justify morally ambiguous behavior like deceit.
Psychology of Adaptation
The proverb provides a psychological justification for mirroring negative behavior. It suggests that in a corrupt environment, adopting the local 'craft' or deceit is a necessary survival strategy, revealing a cynical view of human interaction and a rationale for ethical flexibility.
Rhetorical Devices
Ethnic Generalization
The core of the proverb is a sweeping, unconditional generalization about an entire ethnic group, which makes the statement provocative and memorable but also inherently prejudicial.
Allusion
The saying is a direct allusion to a well-known passage from both classical antiquity (Epimenides) and the Bible (Titus), lending it an air of ancient authority and unquestionable truth.
Imperative Command
The secondary phrase, 'Use craft against Cretans', functions as an imperative. It moves beyond mere observation to offer a direct, actionable, and cynical piece of advice.
Transcription
Quotations
Cretiza cum Cretensi. Practyse craft wyth the craftie. Of the vanitie and dissimulation of the Cretians thapostle Paule also speketh. Thys prouerbe byddeth vs otherwhiles to dissemble wyth dissemblers, namelye where singilnes woll take no place.
*A prouerbe vsed Wher a crafty man will deceiue him that is craftye; a theefe steale from a theefe, or a lier lie before them, that vse to make leasynges.
To speake more playner, as the prouerbe doth go, In faith Carisophus, Cum cretence cretiso.
If I be in Crete, I can lye, if in Greece I can shift, if in Italy I can court it.
Cretizare cum Cretensibus. A Prouerbe vsed, when one craftie and deceitfull man will seeme to deceiue another, that is as craftie as himselfe.
Recited by S. Paule .. saieng .. The Cretians are alwayes liers, euill beasts, and slow bellies.
In Crete thou must learne to lye, in Paphos to be a louer, in Greece a dissembler.
Now must I houle with Wolues, and in the Crete play the Cretian.
Bible Citations
The Cretians are always liars.
Cross References
- See OTT., no. 463.
- F31 Grecian faith
- G440 When Greek joins Greek, then is the tug of war.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.