Upon this they sent for Epimenides the Phaestian, of
Crete, who is reckoned among the seven wise men of Greece, by some of
those who do not admit Periander into their number. He was thought to
enjoy the favour of Heaven, and was skilled in all the lore of the
sacred mysteries, and in the sources of divine inspiration; wherefore he
was commonly reported to be the child of the nymph Balte, and to be one
of the old Curetes of Crete revived. He came to Athens and was a friend
to Solon, assisting him greatly in his legislation. He remodelled their
religious rites, and made their mourning more moderate, introducing
certain sacrifices shortly after the funeral, and abolishing the harsh
and barbarous treatment which women were for the most part subject to
before in times of mourning. Above all, by purifications and atoning
sacrifices, and the erection of new temples, he so sanctified and
hallowed the city as to make the minds of the people obedient to the
laws, and easily guided into unity and concord. It is said that he saw
Munychia, and viewed it carefully for some time in silence. Then he said
to the bystanders, "How blind is man to the future. The Athenians would
eat this place up with their teeth if they knew what misfortunes it will
bring upon them?" A prophetic saying of the same kind is attributed to
Thales. He bade his friends bury him in a low and neglected quarter of
Miletus, telling them that one day it would be the market-place of the
city.
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