A Cretan said all Cretans are Lyres…

By Ileana von Hirsch, March 3rd 2012

You may know the ancient logic puzzle – A Cretan said “All Cretans are liars”, so as a Cretan he was lying, so all Cretans AREN’T liars, so then he was telling the truth, so all Cretans ARE liars, so therefore he was lying, so all Cretans AREN’T liars and so on till you get tired of it… (there is an emergency escape that you learn in 1st  year Logic classes if you ever had the privilege of studying  Philosophy, but years of real life have so eroded the brain cells that I can no longer remember it…)

Well, William Dalrymple, font of the most beautiful travel writing in the English language today, in spite of being in full possession of all brain cells, very sensibly ignored this kind of Cretan Liar, and went off to Crete on the track of a different kind of liar – the Cretan Lyre. We and a very generous owner, put him up in our very beautiful villa on the shores of the Gulf of Mirabello, from where he dragged his protesting wife and children away from the sybaritic delights of five star cuisine, private swimming platform and pool with cool drinks on the terrace, to trudge around in search of the Muse…

Cretan Lyres – for the Financial Times Saturday 2nd March

Although I am an Ionian girl and prefer the sweet sound of our mandolins and serenatas, the article captures the utter magic of Crete, so do read it!

For those who are more like William’s wife and children, here are some pictures of the villa.  We are sure that the Muse can also be found here –  After all, a girl has to have a break from hanging out with all those Cretan liars….

About the author

Ileana von Hirsch

Ileana lives in London, is married to a Bavarian, and comes from an old shipping family from the Greek island of Ithaca. ileana@fivestargreece.com

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