Agela was an assembly of young men in Dorian Crete, who lived together from their seventeenth year till the time of their marriage. Up to the end of their sixteenth year they remained in their father's house; and from the circumstance of their belonging to no agela, they were called apageloi. They were then enrolled in agelae which were of an aristocratic nature, and gave great power to particular families. An agela consisted of the sons of the most noble citizens, who were usually under the jurisdiction of the father of the youth who had been the means of collecting the agela. It was the duty of this person, called agelates, to superintend the military and gymnastic exercises of the youths, to accompany them to the hunting, and to punish them when disobedient. He was accountable, however, to the state, which supported the agela at the public expense. All the members of an agela were obliged to marry a woman at the same time.
When they ceased to belong to an agela, they partook of the public meals for men, the andreia (Laconian syssitia). These institutions were afterwards preserved in only a few states of Crete, such for instance as Lyctus. At Sparta the youths left their parents' houses at seven years of age and entered the bouai, the Spartan equivalent for agela.
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "part man and part bull". He dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, upon command of King Minos of Crete. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.
Theseus was a divine hero and the founder of Athens from Greek mythology. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages.
Sir Arthur John Evans was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age.
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Diogenes, also known as Diogenes the Cynic or Diogenes of Sinope, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism. He was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia, in 412 or 404 BC and died at Corinth in 323 BC.
The gymnasium in Ancient Greece functioned as a training facility for competitors in public games. It was also a place for socializing and engaging in intellectual pursuits. The name comes from the Ancient Greek term gymnós, meaning "naked" or "nude". Only adult male citizens were allowed to use the gymnasia.
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Titus 1 is the first chapter of the Epistle to Titus in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The letter is traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle, sent from Nicopolis of Macedonia, addressed to Titus in Crete. Some scholars argue that it is the work of an anonymous follower, written after Paul's death in the first century AD. This chapter contains the greetings and instructions for Titus on dealing with deceivers.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Agela". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities . London: John Murray.