Ancient Cretan poets

thumb|200px|Epimenides of Knossos Epimenides of Knossos (or Epimenides of Crete) (; ) was a semi-mythical 7th- or 6th-century BC Greek seer and philosopher-poet, from Knossos or Phaistos.

Rhianus (Greek: Ῥιανὸς ὁ Κρής) was a Greek poet and grammarian, a native of Crete, friend and contemporary of Eratosthenes (275–195 BC).

Mesomedes of Crete () was a Greek citharode and lyric poet and composer of the early 2nd century AD in Roman Greece. Prior to the discovery of the Seikilos epitaph in the late 19th century, the hymns of Mesomedes were the only surviving written music from the ancient world. Three were published by Vincenzo Galilei in his Dialogo della musica antica e della moderna (Florence, 1581), during a period of intense investigation into music of the ancient Greeks. These hymns had been preserved through the Byzantine tradition (Anthol. pal. xiv. 63, xvi. 323), and were presented to Vincenzo by Girolamo

Hybrias () (fl. 6th century BC) was a Cretan mercenary and lyric poet. He was the author of a highly esteemed skolion (drinking song) called the "Spear-song", which has been preserved by Athenaeus, Eustathius of Thessalonica, and the Analecta Veterum Poetarum Graecorum.