Letters 44–45
Greek text: PG 77.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 44
44PG 77 77:1511
Επαφρόδιτος ἀληθῶς ἡ ἐπιστολή, καὶ χαρίτων μεστὴ, αὐτῆς τάχα τῆς τῶν ἐρώτων μητρὸς ἐργασαμένης αὐτὴν ποικίλην τῇ τῶν ὀνομάτων συνθήκῃ. καὶ τοῖς νοήμασι. Τὸ γὰρ ἀπὸ ὁμωνυμίας, καὶ πατρίδος, καὶ περιμαχήτου γυναικὸς εἰς ὥραν, καὶ κάλλος βεβοημένης, συνθεῖναι ἔπαινον τῇ κονίποδι τίς οὐκ ἂν ἀγασθείη τὸν τεχνησάμενον; ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι καὶ σαυτὸν ἡμῖν δέδωκας ἐν τοῖς ἤρωσιν ἀριθμεῖν, τοσοῦτον ἐκείνων ῥώμῃ κρατήσας, ὅσον μὲν αὐτοῖς περιῆν ἀριστέων πλῆθος, καὶ στρατὸν ὅλον πρὸς τὴν μάχην ἐγεῖραι. Αὐτὸς δὲ ἤρκεσας τὴν σαυτοῦ ῥώμην ἀντιστήσας πολλοῖς, καὶ ἄθλον τῆς νίκης τὴν Ἑλένην λαβὼν ἀργυρόπεζάν τινα, καὶ ὡς οὕτως εἰπεῖν ἐναλίου γέροντος θυγατέρα. Ἡ δὲ οἷα τε θεῖν ἐπ᾿ ἄκρων ἀνθερίκων, ὡς μὴ πτῶκας αἴρειν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀνέμων μιμεῖσθαι πνοάς. Λεγόντων οἱ πειράμενοι· τοῖς γὰρ ἐνταῦθα λαγωοῖς τοσοῦτον ἡμῶν κατεξανίστασθαι ὁ σὸς ἱέραξ δέδωκεν, ὡς μηδὲ πτῶκας εἶναι νομίζεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θαῤῥεῖν ἀμέτρως ἐπιλανθανομένους τῆς φύσεως. ᾿Αλλ' οὗτος μὲν ἤξει παρὰ σὲ· τὴν δὲ γε Ἑλένην ἐπὶ κυνηγέσιον ἕξομεν, καὶ ἀλοῦσιν ἐπιτωθάζοντες ἀναγνωσόμεθα τὴν ἐπιστολήν. Εἰ δὲ διασωθεῖεν φυγόντες, ὅρα ὅπως ἀγωνιούμεθα πρὸς αὐτοὺς ψευδομαρτυριῶν ἁλισκόμενοι. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ταῦτα. Τῶν δὲ οἴνων ἑκάτερος τῶν Διὸς κήπων ἀποῤῥὼξ ἔστι τις νέκταρος, Ὁμήρου δεόμενος ἐπαινέτου, ἡδὺν λέγοντος, καὶ ἀκηράσιον, καὶ θεῖον ποτὸν, καὶ οἷον ἐκεῖνος ἐποίησεν παρὰ πλεῖον ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ αὐτὸν [οἶνον?] Μάρωνος
Epaphroditos alēthōs hē epistolē, kai charitōn mestē, autēs tacha tēs tōn erōtōn mētros ergasamenēs autēn poikilēn tę̄ tōn onomatōn synthēkę̄. kai tois noēmasi. To gar apo homōnymias, kai patridos, kai perimachētou gynaikos eis hōran, kai kallos beboēmenēs, syntheinai epainon tę̄ konipodi tis ouk an agastheiē ton technēsamenon? all᾿ hoti kai sauton hēmin dedōkas en tois ērōsin arithmein, tosouton ekeinōn rhōmę̄ kratēsas, hoson men autois periēn aristeōn plēthos, kai straton holon pros tēn machēn egeirai. Autos de ērkesas tēn sautou rhōmēn antistēsas pollois, kai athlon tēs nikēs tēn Helenēn labōn argyropezan tina, kai hōs houtōs eipein enaliou gerontos thygatera. Hē de hoia te thein ep᾿ akrōn antherikōn, hōs mē ptōkas airein monon, alla kai tas tōn anemōn mimeisthai pnoas. Legontōn hoi peiramenoi; tois gar entautha lagōois tosouton hēmōn katexanistasthai ho sos hierax dedōken, hōs mēde ptōkas einai nomizesthai hypo tou tharrhein ametrōs epilanthanomenous tēs physeōs. ᾿All' houtos men ēxei para se; tēn de ge Helenēn epi kynēgesion hexomen, kai alousin epitōthazontes anagnōsometha tēn epistolēn. Ei de diasōtheien phygontes, hora hopōs agōnioumetha pros autous pseudomartyriōn haliskomenoi. Kai tauta men tauta. Tōn de oinōn hekateros tōn Dios kēpōn aporrhōx esti tis nektaros, Homērou deomenos epainetou, hēdyn legontos, kai akērasion, kai theion poton, kai hoion ekeinos epoiēsen para pleion en Odysseią auton [oinon?] Marōnos
To the same. Truly charming is your letter, full of graces, as if the mother of the Loves herself had worked it, varied in the composition of its words and in its thoughts. For who would not admire the craftsman who composed praise for the dusty-footed one from her name, her homeland, and the woman fought over for her bloom and famed for her beauty? But more, that you have also given us yourself to count among the heroes, having surpassed them in strength as far as they had a host of champions and raised a whole army for the battle, while you alone sufficed, setting your own strength against many and taking as the prize of victory Helen, a silver-footed one, and, so to speak, a daughter of the old man of the sea. She can run on the tips of the ears of grain, so as not only to catch hares but also to imitate the blasts of the winds. Let those who have tried it say so; for your hawk has given the hares here such license to rise up against us that, forgetting their nature through boundless boldness, they are not even thought to be cowerers. But he will come to you; Helen we will keep for the hunt, and we will read your letter aloud, mocking the hares she catches. And if they escape by flight, see how we shall contend against them, convicted of false witness. So much for that. Of the wines, each is a fragment of nectar from the gardens of Zeus, needing Homer to praise it, who calls it sweet, unmixed, a divine drink, and such as he made it at greater length in the Odyssey, [the wine] of Maron.
Notes and citation
Summary: Firmus answers Inachius's witty letter about the hound Helen, jokes about the hares and a hawk, and thanks him for wine.
- "Silver-footed" and "daughter of the old man of the sea" are Homer's terms for Thetis; running on the ears of grain recalls the horses of Iliad 20.226–227. Maron's wine: Odyssey 9.196–211 (Migne's bracket "[wine?]" is the editor's suggestion). The roles of the hawk and the hound in the exchange are not clear from the letters; translated as printed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR accent slip; OCR breathing slip; stray letter): συνθεἶναι → συνθεῖναι; έγεῖραι → ἐγεῖραι; καὶ ἀ ἀκηράσιον → καὶ ἀκηράσιον.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 20.226–227 (Homer, Iliad; allusion); Homer, Od. 9.196–211 (Homer, Odyssey; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Firmus of Caesarea, Ep. 44 (PG 77 77:1511; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/firmus-caesarea-epistulae/44). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/firmus-caesarea-epistulae/44
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek or Latin of Migne PG (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; leaked notes and apparatus removed by logged corrections); no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the original.
Chapter 45
45PG 77 77:1513
Γέροντα μὲν ἐλαττούμενον συνέσει συγγνώμης ἀξιοῦσθαι περιττόν. Προλαβὼν δὲ φιλανθρωπίᾳ, καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐφειλκύσω ποιῆσαί τι περὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον δεξιόν. Καὶ πρόσδεξαι αὐτὸν, τοῦτο παραφυλάξας τὸ μήτε ῥᾳδίως κατηγορεῖν, μήτε ἐξαιτεῖσθαι εὐκόλως.
Geronta men elattoumenon synesei syngnōmēs axiousthai peritton. Prolabōn de philanthrōpią, kai hēmas epheilkysō poiēsai ti peri ton anthrōpon dexion. Kai prosdexai auton, touto paraphylaxas to mēte rhądiōs katēgorein, mēte exaiteisthai eukolōs.
To Pergamius the chorepiscopus. It is superfluous to ask pardon for an old man who is lacking in understanding. But you, anticipating us in kindness, have drawn us too to do something favorable for the man. Receive him, then, taking care neither to accuse him readily nor to beg him off too easily.
Notes and citation
Summary: Firmus asks a country bishop to receive an old man fairly.
- The staged text continues with Migne's editorial notes on Letter 44 (on Maron and the quotation of Odyssey 9.196–205); they are not part of the letter and are removed by a logged correction.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Migne's notes (NOTAE) on Letter 44 leaked into the text): ΝΟΤΑΕ. Μάρωνος. Νe Μάρωνα τὸν Εὐάνθους ἀδικοίης ἂν, ἐπιφοιτῶντα τὰς ἐν Ἰσμάρῳ ἀμπέλους, καὶ ἡδυοίνους αὐτὰς ἐργαζόμενον, φυτεύοντά τε καὶ κυκλοῦντα. Ὅτε δὲ ὁρᾶται τοῖς γεωργοῖς ὁ Μάρων καλός τε καὶ ἀγρὸς, καὶ ἀναπνέων πότιμόν τι καὶ οἰνῶδες. παρείληφε μέν τοι τὴν προσηγορίαν λαβοῦσα ἀπὸ Μάρωνος, ἑνὸς τῶν μετὰ Διονύσου τὰς στρατείας πεποιημένων, Οὐδὲ Μάρωνα πίομαι, ᾿Ατὰρ αἴγεον ἀσκὸν ἔχον μέλανος οἶνοιο Ἡδέος, ὅν μοι ἔδωκε Μάρων Εὐάνθεος υἱός. Δῶκε δὲ μοι κρατῆρα πανάργυρον· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα Οἶνον ἐν ἀμφιφορεῦσι δυώδεκα πᾶσιν ἀφύσσας, Ἡδὺν, ἀκηράσιον, θεῖον ποτόν, → .
Cite (SBL): Firmus of Caesarea, Ep. 45 (PG 77 77:1513; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/firmus-caesarea-epistulae/45). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/firmus-caesarea-epistulae/45
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-firmus-caesarea-epistulae-45) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek or Latin of Migne PG (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; leaked notes and apparatus removed by logged corrections); no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the original.