The use of bows and arrows by Cretan hunters is indicated as early as 2200 BC, in a Minoan seal. A mosaic discovered in Knossos and dated about 1700 BC portrays warriors armed with bows of both simple and double-covex designs.

Though Cretan archers could be theoretically outranged by Rhodian slingers, they were widely recognized as being amongst the best light missile troops in the ancient world, and as such found employment as mercenaries in many armies, including Alexander the Great's and those of many of the Diadochi. During the Retreat of the Ten thousand following the Battle of Cunaxa in 401, Xenophon's hoplites were able to hold off pursuing Persian troops, with the aid of the Cretan archers who formed part of the Greek mercenary army. On this occasion the Cretans, cut off from supplies, were able to gather and reuse the spent Persian arrows while seizing bowstrings from local peasantry.
