Crete is a large island in the Grecian Archipelago, and lies just at the
foot of Greece.

It is a very celebrated island, and played a most important part in the
affairs of Europe when Greece was the famous empire of the world.

It has another claim for celebrity. It was the supposed birthplace of the
heathen god Jupiter. Jupiter was a fabulous person, of course, but the
Greeks believed in him, and declared that he was born on Mount Ida in the
island of Crete. When you grow older and read your classics, you will
learn a great deal about the heathen gods and goddesses whom the Greeks
worshipped in the days before Christianity had come to enlighten the
world.

Crete, in the days of Grecian glory, was one of the most famous parts of
that wonderful empire. From its favorable geographical position, it was at
one time the place through which all the arts and wonders of Asia and the
East were made known to the then rough and uncultivated Europeans.

People from the East, and from the West, would meet on the island of
Crete, and it became one of the most important points in Europe.

After many ups and downs--you should read all about them in your Grecian
history--Crete fell, with the rest of Greece, into the hands of the Turks.

When the Greeks fought for and gained their freedom from the Turks in
1827, Crete struggled bravely for liberty too, but she was not as
fortunate as her sister land, and had to submit to the hated rule of the
Turk.