This volume offers a contextual study of sanctuaries and cults in Crete in the transitional period from the end of the Late Bronze Age into the Archaic period (c.1200 to 600 BC). It provides a dynamic picture of the interplay of religious tradition and societal change in a period long considered a 'Dark Age' by Classical scholarship.

This volume argues that Titus’s invocation of Crete affected the ways early readers developed their identities. Using archaeological data, classical writings, and early Christian documents, he describes multiple traditions that circulated on Crete and throughout the Roman Empire concerning Cretan Zeus, Cretan social structure, and Cretan Judaism. He then uses these traditions to interpret Titus and explain how the letter would intersect with and affect readers’ identities. Because readers had differing conceptions of Crete based on their location and access to and evaluation of Cretan traditions, readers would have developed their identities in multiple, conflictual, even contradictory ways.

Using archaeological, epigraphic and literary sources, and incorporating current scholarly theories, this volume offers an accessible account of the Greek gods for undergraduate students.