Miscellanies 2.5.23

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Plato holds that faithfulness is the greatest virtue, containing the others, and that peace is best; so faith is the mother of the virtues.

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Greek text · Stählin 2:125

Τούτων δὴ ἐπιδεδειγμένων ἀναδράμωμεν αὖθις ἐπὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς πίστεως λόγον. ναὶ μὴν μετὰ πάσης ἀποδείξεως ὁ Πλάτων ὅτι πίστεως χρεία πανταχοῦ, ὧδέ πως παρίστησιν, ἐξυμνῶν ἅμα τὴν εἰρήνην· πιστὸς μὲν γὰρ καὶ ὑγιὴς ἐν στάσεσιν οὐκ ἄν που γένοιτο ἄνευ ξυμπάσης ἀρετῆς· μαχητικοὶ δὲ καὶ ἐθελονταὶ ἀποθνῄσκειν ἐν πολέμῳ τῶν μισθοφόρων εἰσὶν πάμπολλοι, ὧν πλεῖστοι γίνονται θρασεῖς καὶ ἄδικοι ὑβρισταί τε καὶ ἄφρονες, ἐκτὸς δή τινων μάλα ὀλίγων. εἰ δὴ ταῦτα ὀρθῶς λέγεται, πᾶς νομοθέτης, οὗ καὶ σμικρὸν ὄφελος, παρὰ τὴν μεγίστην ἀρετὴν ἀποβλέπων μάλιστα θήσεται τοὺς νόμους. αὕτη δέ ἐστι πιστότης, ἧς κατὰ πάντα καιρὸν χρῄζομεν ἔν τε εἰρήνῃ καὶ παντὶ πολέμῳ κἀν τῷ ἄλλῳ σύμπαντι βίῳ. συλλαβοῦσα γὰρ ἔοικε τὰς ἄλλας περιέχειν. τὸ δὲ ἄριστον οὔθʼ ὁ πόλεμος οὔτε ἡ στάσις· ἀπευκτὸν γὰρ τὸ δεηθῆναι τούτων, εἰρήνη δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἅμα καὶ φιλοφροσύνη τὸ κράτιστον. ἐκ δὴ τούτων καταφαίνεται μεγίστη μὲν εὐχὴ τὸ εἰρήνην ἔχειν κατὰ Πλάτωνα, μεγίστη δὲ ἀρετῶν μήτηρ ἡ πίστις.

English · Claude translation

Having shown these things, let us run back again to the discussion of faith. Plato, then, with every demonstration, presents somewhat thus that faith is needed everywhere, praising peace at the same time: “For no one would be faithful and sound in civil strife without the whole of virtue; but there are very many mercenaries who are warlike and willing to die in war, most of whom become bold and unjust, insolent and senseless, except a very few. If this is rightly said, every lawgiver who is of the least use will make his laws looking above all to the greatest virtue. And this is faithfulness, which we need at every time, in peace, in every war, and in all the rest of life; for it seems to contain the others by embracing them. The best is neither war nor civil strife, for it is to be prayed against that there should be need of these; but peace with one another together with friendliness is the best.” From these it appears that according to Plato the greatest prayer is to have peace, and the greatest mother of the virtues is faith.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2:125 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.

Extrabiblical texts

Plato, Laws 1.630a–c, 628c (Plato (works)) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

The quotation is Plato, Laws 1.630a–c, 628c.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.5.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/5/23/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.5.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/5/23/).

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