Homer, Odyssey, xix. 178 sq.,
τῇσι δ᾽ ἐνὶ
Κνωσός, μεγάλη πόλις, ἔνθα τε Μίνως
ἐννέωρος βασίλευε Διὸς μεγάλου ὀαριστής.
with the Scholia; Plato, Laws, i. I. p. 624 a, b;[id.] Minos, 13 sq., pp. 319 sq.; Strabo, ix. 4. 8, p. 476; Maximus Tyrius, Dissert. xxxviii. 2; Etymologicum magnum, s.v. ἐννέωροι, p. 343, 23 sqq.; Valerius Maximus, i. 2, ext. I; compare Diodorus Siculus, v. 78. 3. Homer's expression, ἐννέωρος βασίλευε, has been variously explained. I follow the interpretation which appears to have generally found favour both with the ancients, including Plato, and with modern scholars. See K. Hoeck, Kreta, i. 244 sqq.; K. O. Müller,Die Dorier,2 ii. 96; G. F. Unger, “Zeitrechnung der Griechen und Römer,” in Ivan Müller's Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, i. 569; A. Schmidt, Handbuch der griechischen Chronologie (Jena, 1888), p. 65; W. H. Roscher, “Die enneadischen und hebdomadischen Fristen und Wochen der ältesten Griechen,” Abhandlungen der philolog.-histor. Klasse der Königl. Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, xxi. No. 4 (Leipsic, 1903), pp. 22 sq.; E. Rohde, Psyche,3 i. 128 sq. Literally interpreted, ἐννέωρος means “for nine years,” not “for eight years.” But see above, p. 59, note 1.