Crete
The ancient Cretan name for the syssitia was also andreia, the singular of which (ὰνδρεῖον | andreion) is used to denote the building or public hall where they were given. The name (εταιριαι Hetairiai was also used. As in Sparta, these meals were for male citizens and youths only. Based on at least one source, however, (Pindar, Pythian Odes, IX, 18) it is possible that in some of the Dorian states there were also syssitia of young unmarried women. The citizens were divided into messes which originally appear to have been along kinship lines, though vacancies were later filled at the discretion of the members. Ζευς 'Εταιρειος (Zeus Hetaireios) was the presiding deity.
According to Dosiadas, cited in Athenaeus, each town in Crete had two public buildings; one for lodging strangers (koimitirion), and the andreion where the syssitia took place. The upper part had two tables for foreign guests, then tables for the citizen members, and a third table to the right of the entrance for Zeus Khenios; likely used for offerings and libations.
Cretan syssitia were distinguished by simplicity and temperance. They always sat at their tables, even in later times, when the custom of reclining had been introduced at Sparta. The entertainment began with prayer to the gods and libations. Each of the adult citizens received an equal portion of fare, with the exception of the Archon, or "Master of the Tables" who was perhaps in ancient times one of the Kosmi, and more recently a member of the Gerousia or council. The Archon received four portions; "one as a common citizen, a second as President, a third for the house or building, a fourth for the furniture"; which seems to imply that the care of the building and the provision of the necessary utensils and furniture was the Archon's responsibility. A free-born woman managed the tables and service; she openly took the best portion and presented it to the most eminent citizen present. She had three or four male assistants under her, each of whom again was provided with two menial servants). Strangers were served before the citizens, and even before the Archon. On each of the tables was placed a cup of mixed wine, from which the messmates of the same company drank. At the close of the meal this was replenished, but all intemperance was strictly forbidden by a special law.
Youths under eighteen accompanied their fathers to the syssitia along with orphans. In some places the youngest of the orphans waited on the men; in others this was done by all the boys. When not thus engaged, they were seated near to the men on a lower bench, and received only a half portion of meat: the eldest of the orphans appear to have received the same quantity as the men, but of a plainer description of fare. (Athenaeus IV, 143) The boys like the men had also a cup of mixed wine in common, which however was not replenished when emptied. The meals were generally cheerful, and accompanied by music and singing. It was followed by conversation, which was first directed to the public affairs of the state, and afterwards turned on valiant deeds in war and the exploits of illustrious men, whose praises might animate the younger hearers to an honourable emulation. While listening to this conversation, the youths seem to have been arranged in classes, each of which was placed under the superintendence of an officer especially appointed for this purpose; so that the syssitia were thus made to serve important political and educational ends.
Unlike the Spartan format (see above), in most Cretan cities,
...of all the fruits of the earth and cattle raised on the public lands, and of the tribute which is paid by the Perioeci, one portion is assigned to the Gods and to the service of the state, and another to the common meals, so that men, women, and children are all supported out of a common stock. (Aristotle Politics II. 10; Bekker 1272a)
Based on this, and Athenaeus, it appears that each citizen received their share directly, in order to pay part to the public table and another part to feed the females of the family. This practice however does not appear to have prevailed exclusively at all times and in all the cities of Crete. In Lyctus, for instance, a colony from Sparta, the custom was different: the citizens of that town contributed to their respective tables a tenth of the produce of their estates; a practice which may be supposed to have obtained in other cities, where the public domains were not sufficient to defray the charges of the syssitia. But both at Lyctus and elsewhere, the poorer citizens were in all probability supported at the public cost.
The principal question which arises is how one building would accommodate the adult citizens and youths of towns like Lyctus and Gortyna. Either the information is incorrect and there was more than one andreion in larger towns, or the number of citizens in each town was small; a hypothesis supported by Xenophon, (Hellenica, III, 3) who reported only 40 citizens in a crowd of 4,000 in Sparta - Crete had similar very large numbers of non-citizens.
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