Epimenĭdes

, an epic poet of Crete, contemporary with Solon. His father’s name was Agiasarchus and his mother’s Blasta. He is reckoned one of the seven wise men by those who exclude Per i an der from the number. While he was tending his flocks one day, he entered into a cave, where he fell asleep. His sleep continued for 40 or 47, or according to Pliny, 57 years, and when he awoke, he found every object so considerably altered, that he scarce knew where he was. His brother apprised him of the length of his sleep, to his great astonishment. It is supposed that he lived 289 years. After death he was revered as a god, and greatly honoured by the A then i ans, whom he had delivered from a plague, and to whom he had given many good and useful counsels. He is said to be the first who built temples in the Grecian communities. Cicero , de Div in at i one , bk. 1 , ch. 34 .— Diogenes Laërtius , Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers .— Pausanias , bk. 1 , ch. 14 .— Plutarch , Solon .— Valerius Maximus , bk. 8 , ch. 13 .— Strabo , bk. 10 .— Pliny , bk. 7 , ch. 12 .