Miscellanies 6.9.73
Summary: Some claim the perfect man needs anger, boldness, cheer, and desire; but love is not craving, and the one who knows already possesses through love what he would desire.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Stählin 2:468
λῆρος γὰρ καὶ τὸ φάσκειν τὸν γνωστικὸν καὶ τέλειον μὴ δεῖν ἀφαιρεῖν θυμοῦ καὶ θάρσους, ὡς μὴ καὶ ἄνευ τούτων κατεξαναστησομένου τῶν περιστάσεων οὐδʼ ὑπομενοῦντος τὰ δεινά, ἀλλʼ, εἰ καὶ τὴν εὐθυμίαν ἀφέλοιμεν αὐτοῦ, ὡς πάντως ὑπὸ τῶν λυπηρῶν συγχεθησομένου καὶ διὰ τοῦτο κάκιστα ἀπαλλάξοντος τοῦ τε ζῆν. τῆς δʼ ἐπιθυμίας εἰ μὴ μετείη αὐτῷ, ᾗ τισιν ἔδοξεν, οὐκ ἂν † τῶν ὁμοίων τοῖς καλοῖς κἀγαθοῖς, φασίν, ἔφεσιν λάβοι. εἰ γοῦν ἡ πᾶσα οἰκείωσις ἡ πρὸς τὰ καλὰ μετʼ ὀρέξεως γίνεται, πῶς ἀπαθὴς μένει, φασίν, ὁ τῶν καλῶν ὀρεγόμενος; ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἴσασιν, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὗτοι τὸ θεῖον τῆς ἀγάπης· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἔτι ὄρεξις τοῦ ἀγαπῶντος ἡ ἀγάπη, στερκτικὴ δὲ οἰκείωσις, εἰς τὴν ἑνότητα τῆς πίστεως ἀποκαθεστακυῖα τὸν γνωστικόν, χρόνου καὶ τόπου μὴ προσδεόμενον. ὁ δʼ ἐν οἷς ἔσται, διʼ ἀγάπης ἤδη γενόμενος, τὴν ἐλπίδα προειληφὼς διὰ τῆς γνώσεως, οὐδὲ ὀρέγεταί τινος, ἔχων ὡς οἷόν τε αὐτὸ τὸ ὀρεκτόν. εἰκότως τοίνυν ἐν τῇ μιᾷ ἕξει μένει τῇ ἀμεταβόλῳ γνωστικῶς ἀγαπῶν, οὐδʼ ἄρα ζηλώσει ἐξομοιωθῆναι τοῖς καλοῖς εἶναι, διʼ ἀγάπης ἔχων τοῦ κάλλους. θάρσους τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίας τίς ἔτι τούτῳ χρεία τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀγάπης οἰκείωσιν πρὸς τὸν ἀπαθῆ θεὸν ἀπειληφότι καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης ἑαυτὸν εἰς τοὺς φίλους ἐγγεγραφότι;
English · Claude translation
For it is nonsense to say that the one who knows, the perfect man, must not be deprived of anger and boldness, as though without these he would not rise above circumstances nor endure terrors; and that, if we should also take away his cheerfulness, he would be utterly overwhelmed by griefs and for that reason depart from life most wretchedly. And if he had no share in desire, as some have thought, he would not, they say, gain a longing … for likeness to the beautiful and good. If, then, every appropriation of what is beautiful comes about with craving, how, they say, does one who craves the beautiful remain free from passion? But these people, it seems, do not know the divine quality of love. For love is no longer a craving of the one who loves, but an affectionate appropriation, which has restored the one who knows to the unity of the faith, no longer needing time and place. He who through love is already among the things amid which he will be, having anticipated his hope through knowledge, does not even crave anything, since he has, as far as possible, the very object of craving. Fittingly, then, he remains in the one unchangeable habit, loving in the manner of knowledge; nor will he strive to be made like the beautiful, since through love he possesses beauty. What further need has he of boldness and desire, who through love has received appropriation to the God who is free from passion, and through love has enrolled himself among his friends?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is Eph 4:13. The text is corrupt (dagger) after “gain a longing”; “…” marks the doubtful words.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: the article ὁ has no accent): ὅ δʼ ἐν οἷς ἔσται → ὁ δʼ ἐν οἷς ἔσται.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.9.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/9/73/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.9.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/9/73/).
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