On Virginity 4–7
Greek text: PG 46.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 5 (1893), "On Virginity".
Chapter 4
4PG 46:337a–348a
Α ὀὶι πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν,βίον ἄτοπα, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ γάμου ἔχει ' ἐνζίῷ καί οἷος ὃ κάτᾱάλῆθείαν ἀποταξάμενος τῷ,βίῳ ἐστίν. ί Μᾶλλον δὲ τί χρὴ μικρολόγως τοῦ τοιούτου βίου τὴν ἀτοπίαν ἐλέγχειν, ἐν μόναις μοιχείαις, καὶ διαστάσεσι, καὶ ἐπιβουλαῖς περιορίζοντας τὴν τῶν συμι ς φορῶν,ἀρίθμησινς δοκεῖ γάρ μοι τῷ ὑψηλοτέρῳ καὶ ἀληθεστέρῳ λόγῳ, πᾶσα ἡ τοῦ βίοῠ κακία, ἠ πᾶσι. πράγμασι καὶ ἐπιτηδεύμασιν ἐνθεωρουμένη, μηδεμίαν εὑρίσκειν ἀρχὴν κατά τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ζωῆς, εἰ τις ἐαυτὸν-μὴ ὑπαγάγοι τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τοῦ βίου τούτου. Οὕτω δὲ ἡμῖν ή ἀλήθεια τοῦ λόγουφανερωθήσεται. '0 τὴν τοῦ βίου τούτου ἀπάτην κατανοήσας καθαρῷ τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμῷ, καὶ ὑψηλότερος τῶν ἐνταῦθα σπουδαζομένων γενόμενοςʼ καὶ, καθώς φησιν 6 Ἀπόστολος, καθάπερ τινὰ δυσώδη σκύβαλα πάντα περιορῶν, καὶ τρόπον τινὰ τοῦ βίου παντὸς διὰ τῆς τοῦ γάμου ἀναχωρήσεως ἐαυτὸν ἐξοικίσας, οὐδεμίαν ἔχει κοινωνίαν πρὸς τὰ κακὰ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ·-πλεονεξίαν λέγω καὶ φθόνον, ὀργήν τε καὶ μῖσος, καὶ κενῆς δόξης ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα-ὃσα τοιούτου γένους ἐστίνʼ. Πάντων δὲ τῶν τοιούτων τὴν ἀτέλειαν ἔχων, καὶ διὰ πάντων ἐλευθεριάζων καὶ εἰρηνεύων τῷ βίῳ, οὐκ ἐστιν ἐφʼ ᾧτε φιλονεικήσει τοῖς γειτνιῶσι τὸν φθόνον, οὐδενὸς τῶν τοιούτων ἁπτόμενος, οἷς 6 φθόνος ἐν τῇ ζωῇ περιφύεται ' παντὸς γὰρ τοῦ κόσμου τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ζωὴν ὑπεράρας, καὶ μόνον τίμιον ἐαυτῷ κτῆμα νομίζων τὴν ἀρετὴν, ἄλυπόν τινα καὶείρηνικὸν καὶ, ἄμαχον βιοτεύσει βίον. Τῆς γὰρ ἀρετῆς ἡ κτῆσις, κᾶν πάντες μετέχωσιν αὐτῆς ἄνθρωποι, κατά τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν ἕκαστος, ἀεὶ πλήρης τοῖς ἐπιθυμοῦσίν ἐστιν ο οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἐπὶ γῆςί κτῆσιν, ἦνʼδιαιροῦντες εἰς τμής ματα, ὅσον ἂν προσθῶσι τῇ μιᾷ μερίδι, τοσοῦτον ὑφείλοντο τῆς ἐτέρας, καὶ πλεονασμὸς τοῦ ἐνὸς, ἐλάττωσίς ἐστι τοῦ συμμετέχοντος. Ὅθενκαὶ αί περὶ τοῦ “ πλείονος μάχαι, διὰ τὸ πρὸς τὸ ἐλαττοῦσθαι μῖσος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνίστανται ν ἐκείνου δὲ ἀνεπίφθονός ἐστιν ή πλεονεξία τού κτήματος, καὶ 6 τὸ πλεῖον ἀρπάσας, οὐδεμίαν ἤνεγκε ζήμίαν τῷ μετασχεῖν ἀξιοῦντι τῶν ἴσων · ἀλλʼ ὅσον ἐστί τις χωρητικὸς, αὑτός τε πληροῦται τῆς ἀγαθῆς ἐπιθυμίας, καὶ 6 πλοῦτος τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐν τοῖς προλαβοῦσιν ού καταναλίσκεται. 'U _ τοίνυν πρὸς τοῦτον ἀποβλέπων τὸν βίον, καὶ-τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐαυτῷ θησαυρίζων, ἢν οὐδεὶς ὅρος ἀνθρώπινος περιγράφεις ἄρακαταδέξεταί ποτε πρός τι τῶν ταπεινῶν καὶ πεπατημένων τὴν ἐαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἐπιο κλῖναι ; ἆρα θαυμάσεται τὸν γήϊνον πλοῦτον, ἢ δυναστείαν ἀνθρωπίνην, ἦᾶλλο τι τῶν ὑπʼ ἀνοίας σπουδαζομένων; Ei μὲν γάρ τις ἔτι περὶ ταῦτα διάο κειται ταπεινῶς, ἐξω τοῦ τοιούτου amatr) χοροῦ, καὶ οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸν ἡμέτερον ἕξει λόγον εί δὲ τά ἄνω φρονεῖ, καὶ συμμετεωροπορεί τῷ Θεῷ, ὑψηλότερος πάντως τῶν τοιούτων ἐστὶν, οὐκ ἔχων τὴν κοινὴν ἀφορμὴν τῆς περὶ ταῦτα πλάνης, τὸν γάμον λέγω · τοῦ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἄλλους θέλειν εἷναι,τὺ χαλεπὸν τοῦτο πάθος, ἡ ὑπερηφανία, ὃ δὴ μάλιστα σπέρμα τις εἰπὼνῆρίζαν πάσης τῆς κατά τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀκάνθης, τοῦ εἰκότος οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται, τοῦτο μάλιστα ὲκ τῆς αἰτίας τοῦ γάμου τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχει. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ, τὸν πλεονέκτην μὴ τοὺς πέλας ὲπαιτιᾶσθαι, ἢ τὸν δοξομανῆ καὶ φιλότιμον μὴ είς τὺ γένος ἀνενεγκεῖν τοῦ κακοῦ τὴν αἰτίαν · ὡς ἂν μὴ ἐλάττων δοκοίη τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ γεγονότων, καὶ ἵνα μέγας τοῖς μετά ταῦτα νομίζοιτο, καταλιπών τινα τοῖς ἐξ αὑτοῦ διηγήματα ο ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ὅσα ψυχῆς ἐστιν ἀρρωστήματα, φθόι νος, καὶ μνησικακία, καὶ μῖσος, καὶ εί τι τοιοῦτον ἓτερον, της αθτῆςαίτίαςήρτ-ηται. Πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τοῖς περὶ τὸν βίον τοῦτο[ν] ἐπτοημένοις συμπολιτεύεταιο ὧν 6 ἔξω γενόμενος, καθάπερ ὲπί τινος ὑψηλῆς σκοπιᾶς πόρρωθεν ἐποπτεύων τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάθη, olκτείρει τῆς τυφλότητος τοὺς τῇ τοιαύτῃ ματαιότητι δεδουλωμένους, καὶ μέγα κρίνοντας τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς εὐπραγίαν. Ὅταν γάρ τινα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὲπί τινι τῶν κατὰ βίον ἴδῃ περίβλεπτον, ἀξιώμασιν, ἢ πλού τοις, ἢ δυναστείαις κομῶντα, καταγελᾷ τῆς ἀνοίας τῶν διὰ ταῦτα πεφυσημένων, κα) ἀριθμεῖ τὸν μήκιστον χρόνον τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου, κατὰ τὴν εἰρημένην ὐπὺ τοῦ Ψαλμῳδοῦ προθεσμίαν εἶτα παραμειτρῶν τοῖς ἀπείροις αίῶσι τὸ ἀκαριαῖον τοῦτο διᾴστη μα, ἐλεεῖ τῆς χαυνότητος τὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς οὕτω γλίσχροις καὶ ταπεινοῖς καὶ προσκαίροις τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπαιρόμενον. Τί γὰρ ἄξιόν ἐστι μακαρισμοῦ τῶν ἐνταῦθα η τιμὴ, τὸ παρά πολλοῖς σπουδαζόμενον; Ἐπεὶ δὴ τί πλέον τοῖς τετιμημένοις προστίθησις διαμένει γάρ θνητὸς 6 θνητὸς, κᾶν τιμᾶται, κᾶν μή. Ἦ τὸ πολλά πλέθρα κεκτῆσθαι γῆς; Τοῦτο δὲ είς τί πέρας χρηστὸν καταλήγει τοῖς κτησαμένοις, ἐκτὸς τοῦ οἴεσθαι τὸν ἀνόη· τον ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι τὰ μηδὲν προσήκοντα; ἀγνοεῖ γὰρ. ὡς ἔοικεν, ὑπὸ πολλῆς λαιμαργίας, ὅτι τοῦ Κυρίον μέν ἐστιν ἡ γῆ ἀληθῶς, καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς. Βασιλεὺς γὰρ πάσης τῆς γῆς 6 Θεός · τοῖς δὲ ἀνθρώ· ποις τὸ τῆς πλεονεξίας πάθος ψευδώνυμον τῆς xuριότητος τὴν προσηγορίαν δίδωσι τῶν οὐδὲν προσηκόντων. Ἦ μὲν γάρ γῆ, καθώς φησιν ὁ σοφὸς Ἐκκλησιαστὴς, είς τὸν αίῶνα ἔστηκε, πάσαις ὑπηρετοῦσα ταῖς γενεαῖς, καὶ ἄλλοτε ἄλλους τοὺς κατʼ atiτὴν γινομένους ἐκτρέφουσα. Οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι οὐδὲ ἑαυτῶν ὅντες κύριοι, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ to": ἄγοντος βούλημα, ὅτε οὐκ ἴσασιν, είς τὴν ζωὴν περιιόντες, κξὶ ὅτε μὴ βούλονται, πάλιν αὐτῆς χωριζόμενοι, ὑπὸ τῆς πολλῆς ’ματαιότητος κυριεύειν οἴονται αὐτῆς, οἱ κο.τά καιροὺς γινόμενοί τε καὶ ἀπολλύμενοι,τῆς ἀεὶ μενοι)-ἱ σης. '0 οὖν ὲπεσκεμμένος ταῦτα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πξηί ριφρονῶν ὅσα τίμια τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νομίζεται] figat τῆς edas ζωῆς ἔχων τὸν ἔρωτα, 6 εἰδὼς ἔτι πάσα σὰρξ χόρτος, καί. πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ἄνʼ θος χόρτου, πότε σπουδῆς ἄξιον τὸν χόρτον οἱήσῗξξι τὸν ’σήμερον ὄντα, καὶ αὔριον οὐκ ἐσόαενον; Οἵδε γὰρὸ δπσκεμμένοζ τὰ θεῖα καλῶς, ὅτι οὺ τὰ ἁνθρῶίιξινα μόνον οὐκ ἔχει τὺ πάγιον. ἀλλʼ ὡς οὐδὲ τοῦ κόσμοι) iuvre; εἰς τὺ διηνεκὲς ἠρεμήσοντος, διὰ τοῦτοὼς ἀλλοτρίας καὶ προσκαίρου ταύτης ὑπερορᾷ τῆς ζωῆς) ἐπειδὴ ὸ οὒρανὺς καὶ ὴ γῆ παρελεύσεται, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνὴν, καὶ πάντα τὴν μεταστοιχεῐωσιν ἀναγκαίως ἐκδέχεται. Διὰ τοῦτο, ἓως ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ σκήνει, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, τὸ πρόσκαιρον ἐνδεικνύμενος, βαρούμενος τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν, τῷ μακρύνεσθαι αὐτῷ τὴν παροικιαν ταύτην ὀδύρεται, ὥσπερ καὶ ό Ψαλμῳδὸς ὲν ᾠδαῖς eatur; λέγων “min-rat. Ὄντως γὰρ ὲν σκότει βιοτεύουσιν οἱ μετὰ τῶν σκηνωμάτων τούτων τῇ ζωῇ παροικοῦντες. Οὗ χάριν στενάξας ὁ Προφήτης πρὸς τὴν παράτασιν τῆς παροικίας, ι Οῐμοι, ι φησιν, ι ὅτι ὴ παροικία μου “suumiqu Ι ι έκότει δὲ ἰτὴν αἰτίαν-τῆς ’κατηφείας ταύτης ἀνέθηκε. Τὸ γὰρ σκότος τῇ Ἐΰραῖδι φωνῇ meam ὀνομάζεσθαι μεμαθήκαμεν · ἦ γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς, καθάπερ depacqu τινὶ. νυκτερινῇ κεκρατημένοι οἱ ἂνθρωποι, οὕτω πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀπάτης ἐπίγνωσιν ἁμβλυωποῦσινσ οὐκ εἰδότες ὅτι πάντα ὅσα τίμια ὲν τῇ ζωῇ-ταύτῃ vmpth καὶ ὅσα πρὶς τὸ ἐναντίον ὑπείληπται, ὲν μόνῃ τῇ ὑπολήψει τῶν ἀνοήτων ὑφέστηκεν· αὐτὰ δὲ ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν ἐστιν οὐδαμῆ οὐδέν -οὺ δυσγένειά τις, οὐκ εὐδοκίμησις γένους, οὐ δόξα, οὐ finitivam, οὗ τὰ παλαιὰ διηγήματα, οὐχ ὁ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἔσκοξῶσι τῦφος, οὐ τὸ κρατεῖν ἑτέρων, οὐ τὸ ὑποχείριον εἶναι ο πλοῦτοι τε καὶ τρυφαὶ, καὶ πενίαι xit ἁτωρῖαι, καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ τοῦ βίου ἀνωμαλίαι, τοῖς μιν ἀπαιδεύτοις πάμπολυ διαφέρειν δοκοῦσιν, ὅταν ἠεοῆν Μιῷνται τῶν τοιούτοιν κριτήριον. lz'ov, καθάπερ τις κυβερνήτης ἀγαθὸς πρὸς τὸν ἄνω σκοπὸν διευθύνων τὸ σκάφος. ’0 δὲ παχὺς τὴν διὰ· νοιαν, καὶ κάτω βλέπων, καὶ συγκεκυφὼς τῇ ψυχῇ πρὸς τὰ ἡδέα τοῦ σώματος, καθάπερ πρὸς τὴν νομὴν τὰ βοσκήματαημόνῃ τῇ γαστρὶ καὶ τοῖς μετὰ γαστέρα ζῶν, ἀπηλλοτριωμένος τοῦ ’Θεούτῆς ζωῆς, καὶ ξένος τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἀγαθὸν εἶναι νομίζων, ἢ τὸ ἡσθῆναι διὰ τοῦ σώματος, οὗτός ἐστιν, καὶ πᾶς 6 τοιοῦτος, 6 ἐν σκότει διατούτῳ κακῶν εὑρέτης· ἐν τούτοις γὰρ καὶ πλεονεξία, καὶ παθῶν ἀκολασία. καὶ ήπρρς τὰς ἡδονὰς ἀμευτρία, φιλαρχία τε πᾶσα, καὶ κενῆς δόξης ἐπιθυμία, καὶ 6 inrito; ὅμιλος τῶν συνοικούντων παθῶν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Ἔχεται γάρ πως ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς τοῦ ἐτέρου τδ ἕτερον, καὶ ᾧπερ ἂν τὸ ἐν παραγένηται, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ καθάπερ ὑπό τινος φυσικῆς ἀνάγκης ἑλκόμενα, συνεισέρχεται πάντως. Οἷον ἐν ἁλύσει γίνεται, τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐπισπασθείσης, οὐδὲ τὰς λοιπὰς ἠρεμεῖν τῆς ἁλύσεως ἀγκύλας δυνατόν ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ ή κατὰ τὸ ἕτερον πέρας τῆς ἁλύσεως ἀγκύλη συνεκινήθη τῇ πρώτῃ, κατὰ τδ ἀκόλουθον ἀεὶ καὶ προσεχὲς ἀπο τοῦ πρώτου διὰ τῶν παρακειμένων τῆς κινήσεως προϊούσης · οὕτως ἐμπέπλεκται καὶ συμπέφυκεν ἀλλήλοις τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάθη, καὶ διʼ ἐνὸς τοῦ ἐπικρατήσαντος, καὶ 6 λοιπὸς τῶν κακῶν ὁλκὸς συνεισέρχεται-τῇΙψυχῇτ Καὶ-,εί χρή· σοι διαγράφειν τὴν πονηρὰν ταύτην ἅλυσιν, ὑπόθου τινὰ διά τινος ήδοο νῆς τοῦ κατὰ τὴν κενοδοξίαν ἡττηθῆναι πάθους ἀλλὰ τῇ κενοδοξία καὶ ή τοῦ πλείονος ἔφεσις συνηκοο λούθησεν· ού γὰρ ἐστι πλεονέκτην,γενέςθαιν μὴ ἐκείνης ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος χειραγωγούσης. Εἶτα ή τοῦ πλεονεκτεῖν και ’προέχειν eat-tenuian oprtuéédmst πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλον, ἦ πρὸς τὸ ὑποχείριον τὴν ὑπερη· φανίαν, ἢ πρὸς τὸ ὑπερέχον τὸν φθόνον ο φθόνου δὲ ἀκόλουθος ή ὑπόκρισις γίνεται ' ἐκείνης ή πικρία, ταύτης ή μισανθρωπία ο τούτων, ἁπάντων τὸ τέλος κατάκρισις, είς γέενναν καὶ σκότος καὶ πῦρ καταλήγουσα.’ ’. ' ‘ ’ ) Ὁρᾷς τὸν ὁλκὸν τῶν κακῶν, ὅπως ἐνὸς τὰ πάντα τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἡδονήν ἐξέρχεται πάθους; Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ἅπαξ εἰσῆλθεν είς τὸν βίονή ἀκολουθία τῶν τοιούτων παθῶν, μίαν ὁρῶμεν ἐκ τῆς τῶν θεοπνεύστων Γραο φῶν συμβουλῆς τὴν διέξοδον τούτων, τὸ χωρισθῆναι τοῦ τοιούτου βίου. τοῦ συνημμένην ἔχοντος ἐν ἐαυτῷ, τὴν τῶν ἀνιαρῶν ἀκολούθησιν· οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ, ἐν Zoδόμοις φιλοχωρήσαντα, διαφυγεῖν τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς ἐπομβρίαν· ούδέ τὸν ἐξω Σοδόμων γενόμενον, εἶτα πάλιν ἐπιστραφέντα πρὸς τὴν ἐρήμωσιν ταύτης, μὴ παγῆναι στήλην ἁλός ’ ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τῆς Αἰγυπτίων δουλείας ἀπαλλαγήσεται, 6 μὴ καταλιπὼν τὴν Myuπτον, τὴν ὑποβρύχιον λέγω ταύτην ζωὴν, καὶ διαβὰς οὐχὶ τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν ἐκείνην, αλλὰ τὴν μέλαιναν ταύτην καὶιςοφώδη τοῦ βίουνθάλασσανο εἰδὲ, καθώς motio Κύριος, ἐὰν μὴ ἐλευθερώσῃ ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀλήθεια, τῷ κακῷ τῆς δουλείας ὲναπομένομεν, πῶς ἐστιν ὲν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ γενέσθαι τδν ζητοῦντα ψεῦδος, καὶ ὲν τῇ πλάνῃ τοῦ βίου ἀναστρεφόμενον ; πῶς δέ τις τὴν δουλείαν ἀποδράσει, ὁ ταῖς ἀνάγκαις τῆς φύσεως ὑποχείριον δοὺς τὴν ἰδίαν ζωήν; Γνωριμώτερος δʼ ἂν γένοιτο ἡμῖν διὰ τινος παραδείγματος ὁ περὶ τούτων λόγος.Ὠσπερτις ποταμὸς χειμέριος ῥεύματι τραχυνόμενος, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φερόμενος φύσιν, ξύλα τε καγλίθους, καὶ πᾶν τὺ παρατυχὸν ὑπολαμβάνων τῷίρείθρῳ, μόνοις τοῖς κατʼ αὑτὸν γινομένοις σφαλερὸς καὶ κινδυνώδης ἐστὶ, τοῖς δὲ πόρρωθεν αὐτὸν φυλασσομένοις εἰκῆ ῥεῖ · οὕτω καὶ τὴν τοῦ βίου ταpaxqu κατʼ αὐτὴν γεγονὼς μόνος ὑφίσταται, ’καὶ μόνος ἀναδέχεται καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ τὰ πάθη, ἅπερ ἂνὴ φύσις ἀκολούθως ἑαυτῇ ῥέουσα τοῖς διʼ αὐτῆς πορευομένοις ἀναγκαίως ἐπάγεται, διά τῶν τοῦ βίου κακῶν ἐπικλύζουσα. Εἰ δέ τις καταλίποι τὸν χείμαρροντοῦτον, ὥς φησιν ή Γραφὴ, καὶτὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ἀνυπόστατον, ἔξω πάντως ἔσται, κατὰ τὴν τῆς ᾠδῆς ἁκοῖουοίανίτῆς θήρας τῶν ὀδόντων τοῦ βίον, καθάπερ στρουθίον τῷ τῆς ἀρετῆς πτερῷ διαπτὰς τὴν παγίδα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ, κατὰ τὺ ῥηθὲν ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ χειμάρρου ὑπόδειγμα, παντοίαις ταραχαῖς, και ἀνωμαλίαις πλημμύρων ὁ ἀνθρώπινος βίος ἀεὶ φέρεται, κατὰ τοῦ πρανοῦς τῆς φύσεως προχεόμενος, καὶ οὐδὲν ἕστηκε τῶν ὲν αὑτῴ ” σπουδαζομένων, οὐδὲ ἀναμένει τὴν πλησμονὴν τῶν ἐπιθυμούντων αὐτῶν· πάντα δὲ τὰ προσπίπτοντα ὁμοῦ τε προάήγγιὰε, καί Οίγοντα παρέδραμε, καὶ τὸ ἀεὶ παρὸν τῷ σφοδρῷ τῆς παρόδου διαφεύγει τὴν αἵσθησιν, ὑπὸ τῆς κατόπιν ἐπιρροῆς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀρπαζομένων· διὰ τοῦτο λυσιτελὲς ἂν εἴη adpeto τοῦ τοιούτουρεύματος ἑαυτοὺς ἀνέχειν, ὡς ἂν μὴ τῶν ἀπάτων περιεχόμενοι, τῶν ἀεὶ ἑστώτων ὀλιγωρήσαιμεν. Πῶς γὰρ ἐστι τὸν προσπαοοῦντά τινι τῶν ἐν τῷ> βίῳ τούτῳ, διὰ τέλους ἔχειν τὸ ποβούμενονς Τί τῶν μάλιστα σπουδαζομένων εἰσαεὶ ’παραμένει τοιοῦτονς ποεα νεότητος ἀκμή; τίς δυνάμεως ἢμορφῆς εὔμοιρῐα ; τίς πλοῦτος ; ποία Erigat; τίς δυναστεία; Οὐ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα μικρὸν ἀνθήσαντα χρόνον, πάλιν ἀῇρῤύη, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐναντίαν ἐπωνυμίαν μετέπεσες Τίς ἐνὶῦἱω διαπαντὸς τῇ γνεὸτητῃ τίνι διήρκεσε διατέλους ή·δύναμις; Τὸ δὲ τοῦ κάλλους ἄνθος ἄρʼ οὐχὶ καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἔαρ προφαινομένων ὠκυμορώτερον ἡ φύσις ὲποίησε;Τὰ μὲν γὰρ τῆς ὥρας ἐπιλαβούσης ἐβλάστησε, καὶ μικρὸν ἀπανθήσαντα χρόνον, πάλιν ἀνέζησε· καὶ πάλιν ἀπερρύη. καὶ παλινὲκύμασεααὶ τὺ νῦν κάλλος καὶ είς νεότητα _ ἔδειξε. Τὸ δὲ ἀνθρώπινον ἄνθος ἃπαξή φύσις κατὰ τὸ εαρʼτῆς νεότητος δείξασα, εἶτα ἀπέσβεσε, τῷ χειμῶνι τοῆε γήρως ὲναφανίσασα · ὡσαύτως καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα πρδς- καιρὸν τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς αἴσθησιν ἀπατήσαντα, εἶτα ’παρέδραμε καὶ συνεκαλύφβη τῇ λήθῃ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν αἱ cora-"atat μεταδολαὶ κατὰ τινα τῆς φύσεως ἀνάγκην συμβαίνουσαι, λυποῦσι πάντως τὸν ἐν προσπαθείᾳ γενόμενον, μία τῶν τοιούτων κακῶν ἐστιν ἀποφυγὴ, τὸ μηδενὶ τῶν μεταβαλλομένων τῇ ψυχῇ προστεθῆναι, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐστι δυνατὸν, χωρισθῆναι πάντα τὸν βίον τὸν ἐμπαθῆ τε ’κᾶι σάρκίνον ὁμιλίας· μᾶλλον δέ καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἐαυτοῦ συμπαθείας ἔξω γενέσθαι, ὡς ἂν μὴ κατὰ σάρκα βιοὺς, ὑπεύθυνος γένηται ταῖς ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς συμφοραῖς τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ μόνῃ τῇ ψυχῇ ζῇν, καὶ μιμεῖσθαι κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν τὴν τῶν ἀσωμάτων δυνάμεων πολιτείαν ἐνῇ οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὕτε γαμίσκονται· ἀλλʼ ἔργον αὐτοῖς καὶ κατόρθωμα τὸ θεωρεῖν τὸν Πατέρα τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ἐστὶ, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ι ἀρχέτυπον κάλλος τὴν ίδίαν καλλωπίζειν μορφὴν διὰ τῆς ἐνδεχομένης μιμήσεως.
A oii panta ta kata ton,bion atopa, tēn archēn apo tou gamou echei ' enziǭ kai hoios ho kataalētheian apotaxamenos tǭ,biǭ estin. i Mallon de ti chrē mikrologōs tou toioutou biou tēn atopian elenchein, en monais moicheiais, kai diastasesi, kai epiboulais periorizontas tēn tōn symi s phorōn,arithmēsins dokei gar moi tǭ hypsēloterǭ kai alēthesterǭ logǭ, pasa hē tou biou kakia, ē pasi. pragmasi kai epitēdeumasin entheōroumenē, mēdemian heuriskein archēn kata tēs tou anthrōpou zōēs, ei tis eauton-mē hypagagoi tę̄ anankę̄ tou biou toutou. Houtō de hēmin ē alētheia tou logouphanerōthēsetai. '0 tēn tou biou toutou apatēn katanoēsas katharǭ tǭ tēs psychēs ophthalmǭ, kai hypsēloteros tōn entautha spoudazomenōn genomenosʼ kai, kathōs phēsin 6 Apostolos, kathaper tina dysōdē skybala panta periorōn, kai tropon tina tou biou pantos dia tēs tou gamou anachōrēseōs eauton exoikisas, oudemian echei koinōnian pros ta kaka ta anthrōpina ;-pleonexian legō kai phthonon, orgēn te kai misos, kai kenēs doxēs epithymian, kai ta alla-hosa toioutou genous estinʼ. Pantōn de tōn toioutōn tēn ateleian echōn, kai dia pantōn eleutheriazōn kai eirēneuōn tǭ biǭ, ouk estin ephʼ hǭte philoneikēsei tois geitniōsi ton phthonon, oudenos tōn toioutōn haptomenos, hois 6 phthonos en tę̄ zōę̄ periphyetai ' pantos gar tou kosmou tēn heautou zōēn hyperaras, kai monon timion eautǭ ktēma nomizōn tēn aretēn, alypon tina kaieirēnikon kai, amachon bioteusei bion. Tēs gar aretēs hē ktēsis, kan pantes metechōsin autēs anthrōpoi, kata tēn heautou dynamin hekastos, aei plērēs tois epithymousin estin o ou kata tēn epi gēsi ktēsin, ēnʼdiairountes eis tmēs mata, hoson an prosthōsi tę̄ mią meridi, tosouton hypheilonto tēs eteras, kai pleonasmos tou enos, elattōsis esti tou symmetechontos. Hothenkai ai peri tou “ pleionos machai, dia to pros to elattousthai misos tois anthrōpois synistantai n ekeinou de anepiphthonos estin ē pleonexia tou ktēmatos, kai 6 to pleion arpasas, oudemian ēnenke zēmian tǭ metaschein axiounti tōn isōn ; allʼ hoson esti tis chōrētikos, hautos te plēroutai tēs agathēs epithymias, kai 6 ploutos tōn aretōn en tois prolabousin ou katanalisketai. 'U _ toinyn pros touton apoblepōn ton bion, kai-tēn aretēn eautǭ thēsaurizōn, ēn oudeis horos anthrōpinos perigrapheis arakatadexetai pote pros ti tōn tapeinōn kai pepatēmenōn tēn eautou psychēn epio klinai ? ara thaumasetai ton gēïnon plouton, ē dynasteian anthrōpinēn, ēallo ti tōn hypʼ anoias spoudazomenōn? Ei men gar tis eti peri tauta diao keitai tapeinōs, exō tou toioutou amatr) chorou, kai ouden pros ton hēmeteron hexei logon ei de ta anō phronei, kai symmeteōroporei tǭ Theǭ, hypsēloteros pantōs tōn toioutōn estin, ouk echōn tēn koinēn aphormēn tēs peri tauta planēs, ton gamon legō ; tou gar hyper tous allous thelein heinai,ty chalepon touto pathos, hē hyperēphania, ho dē malista sperma tis eipōnērizan pasēs tēs kata tēn hamartian akanthēs, tou eikotos ouch hamartēsetai, touto malista ek tēs aitias tou gamou tēn archēn echei. Ou gar estin hōs epi to poly, ton pleonektēn mē tous pelas epaitiasthai, ē ton doxomanē kai philotimon mē eis ty genos anenenkein tou kakou tēn aitian ; hōs an mē elattōn dokoiē tōn pro autou gegonotōn, kai hina megas tois meta tauta nomizoito, katalipōn tina tois ex hautou diēgēmata o hōsautōs de kai ta loipa hosa psychēs estin arrōstēmata, phthoi nos, kai mnēsikakia, kai misos, kai ei ti toiouton heteron, tēs athtēsaitiasērt-ētai. Panta gar tauta tois peri ton bion touto[n] eptoēmenois sympoliteuetaio hōn 6 exō genomenos, kathaper epi tinos hypsēlēs skopias porrōthen epopteuōn ta anthrōpina pathē, olkteirei tēs typhlotētos tous tę̄ toiautę̄ mataiotēti dedoulōmenous, kai mega krinontas tēn tēs sarkos eupragian. Hotan gar tina tōn anthrōpōn epi tini tōn kata bion idę̄ periblepton, axiōmasin, ē plou tois, ē dynasteiais komōnta, katagelą tēs anoias tōn dia tauta pephysēmenōn, ka) arithmei ton mēkiston chronon tou anthrōpinou biou, kata tēn eirēmenēn ypy tou Psalmǭdou prothesmian eita parameitrōn tois apeirois aiōsi to akariaion touto diąstē ma, eleei tēs chaunotētos ton epi tois houtō glischrois kai tapeinois kai proskairois tēn psychēn epairomenon. Ti gar axion esti makarismou tōn entautha ē timē, to para pollois spoudazomenon? Epei dē ti pleon tois tetimēmenois prostithēsis diamenei gar thnētos 6 thnētos, kan timatai, kan mē. Ē to polla plethra kektēsthai gēs? Touto de eis ti peras chrēston katalēgei tois ktēsamenois, ektos tou oiesthai ton anoē; ton heautou einai ta mēden prosēkonta? agnoei gar. hōs eoiken, hypo pollēs laimargias, hoti tou Kyrion men estin hē gē alēthōs, kai to plērōma autēs. Basileus gar pasēs tēs gēs 6 Theos ; tois de anthrō; pois to tēs pleonexias pathos pseudōnymon tēs xuriotētos tēn prosēgorian didōsi tōn ouden prosēkontōn. Ē men gar gē, kathōs phēsin ho sophos Ekklēsiastēs, eis ton aiōna estēke, pasais hypēretousa tais geneais, kai allote allous tous katʼ atitēn ginomenous ektrephousa. Hoi de anthrōpoi oude heautōn hontes kyrioi, alla pros to to": agontos boulēma, hote ouk isasin, eis tēn zōēn periiontes, kxi hote mē boulontai, palin autēs chōrizomenoi, hypo tēs pollēs ’mataiotētos kyrieuein oiontai autēs, hoi ko.ta kairous ginomenoi te kai apollymenoi,tēs aei menoi)-hi sēs. '0 oun epeskemmenos tauta, kai dia touto pxēi riphronōn hosa timia tois anthrōpois nomizetai] figat tēs edas zōēs echōn ton erōta, 6 eidōs eti pasa sarx chortos, kai. pasa doxa anthrōpou anʼ thos chortou, pote spoudēs axion ton chorton hoiēsïxxi ton ’sēmeron onta, kai aurion ouk esoaenon? Hoide garo dpskemmenoz ta theia kalōs, hoti ou ta hanthrōiixina monon ouk echei ty pagion. allʼ hōs oude tou kosmoi) iuvre? eis ty diēnekes ēremēsontos, dia toutoōs allotrias kai proskairou tautēs hyperorą tēs zōēs) epeidē o ouranys kai ē gē pareleusetai, kata tēn tou Sōtēros phōnēn, kai panta tēn metastoicheiōsin anankaiōs ekdechetai. Dia touto, heōs estin en tǭ skēnei, kathōs phēsin ho Apostolos, to proskairon endeiknymenos, baroumenos tēn parousan zōēn, tǭ makrynesthai autǭ tēn paroikian tautēn odyretai, hōsper kai o Psalmǭdos en ǭdais eatur? legōn “min-rat. Ontōs gar en skotei bioteuousin hoi meta tōn skēnōmatōn toutōn tę̄ zōę̄ paroikountes. Hou charin stenaxas ho Prophētēs pros tēn paratasin tēs paroikias, i Oimoi, i phēsin, i hoti ē paroikia mou “suumiqu I i ekotei de itēn aitian-tēs ’katēpheias tautēs anethēke. To gar skotos tę̄ Eÿraidi phōnę̄ meam onomazesthai memathēkamen ; ē gar hōs alēthōs, kathaper depacqu tini. nykterinę̄ kekratēmenoi hoi anthrōpoi, houtō pros tēn tēs apatēs epignōsin hamblyōpousins ouk eidotes hoti panta hosa timia en tę̄ zōę̄-tautę̄ vmpth kai hosa pris to enantion hypeilēptai, en monę̄ tę̄ hypolēpsei tōn anoētōn hyphestēken; auta de ephʼ heautōn estin oudamē ouden -ou dysgeneia tis, ouk eudokimēsis genous, ou doxa, ou finitivam, hou ta palaia diēgēmata, ouch ho epi tois eskoxōsi typhos, ou to kratein heterōn, ou to hypocheirion einai o ploutoi te kai tryphai, kai peniai xit hatōriai, kai pasai hai tou biou anōmaliai, tois min apaideutois pampoly diapherein dokousin, hotan ēeoēn Miǭntai tōn toioutoin kritērion. lz'ov, kathaper tis kybernētēs agathos pros ton anō skopon dieuthynōn to skaphos. ’0 de pachys tēn dia; noian, kai katō blepōn, kai synkekyphōs tę̄ psychę̄ pros ta hēdea tou sōmatos, kathaper pros tēn nomēn ta boskēmataēmonę̄ tę̄ gastri kai tois meta gastera zōn, apēllotriōmenos tou ’Theoutēs zōēs, kai xenos tōn diathēkōn tēs epangelias, ouden heteron agathon einai nomizōn, ē to hēsthēnai dia tou sōmatos, houtos estin, kai pas 6 toioutos, 6 en skotei diatoutǭ kakōn heuretēs; en toutois gar kai pleonexia, kai pathōn akolasia. kai ēprrs tas hēdonas ameutria, philarchia te pasa, kai kenēs doxēs epithymia, kai 6 inrito? homilos tōn synoikountōn pathōn tois anthrōpois. Echetai gar pōs en tois kakois tou eterou td heteron, kai hǭper an to en paragenētai, kai ta loipa kathaper hypo tinos physikēs anankēs helkomena, syneiserchetai pantōs. Hoion en halysei ginetai, tēs archēs epispastheisēs, oude tas loipas ēremein tēs halyseōs ankylas dynaton estin, allʼ ē kata to heteron peras tēs halyseōs ankylē synekinēthē tę̄ prōtę̄, kata td akolouthon aei kai proseches apo tou prōtou dia tōn parakeimenōn tēs kinēseōs proïousēs ; houtōs empeplektai kai sympephyken allēlois ta anthrōpina pathē, kai diʼ enos tou epikratēsantos, kai 6 loipos tōn kakōn holkos syneiserchetai-tę̄Ipsychę̄t Kai-,ei chrē; soi diagraphein tēn ponēran tautēn halysin, hypothou tina dia tinos ēdoo nēs tou kata tēn kenodoxian hēttēthēnai pathous alla tę̄ kenodoxia kai ē tou pleionos ephesis synēkoo louthēsen; ou gar esti pleonektēn,genesthain mē ekeinēs epi to pathos cheiragōgousēs. Eita ē tou pleonektein kai ’proechein eat-tenuian oprtueedmst pros to homophylon, ē pros to hypocheirion tēn hyperē; phanian, ē pros to hyperechon ton phthonon o phthonou de akolouthos ē hypokrisis ginetai ' ekeinēs ē pikria, tautēs ē misanthrōpia o toutōn, hapantōn to telos katakrisis, eis geennan kai skotos kai pyr katalēgousa.’ ’. ' ‘ ’ ) Horąs ton holkon tōn kakōn, hopōs enos ta panta tou kata tēn hēdonēn exerchetai pathous? Epeidē oun hapax eisēlthen eis ton bionē akolouthia tōn toioutōn pathōn, mian horōmen ek tēs tōn theopneustōn Grao phōn symboulēs tēn diexodon toutōn, to chōristhēnai tou toioutou biou. tou synēmmenēn echontos en eautǭ, tēn tōn aniarōn akolouthēsin; ouk esti gar, en Zodomois philochōrēsanta, diaphygein tēn tou pyros epombrian; oude ton exō Sodomōn genomenon, eita palin epistraphenta pros tēn erēmōsin tautēs, mē pagēnai stēlēn halos ’ allʼ oude tēs Aigyptiōn douleias apallagēsetai, 6 mē katalipōn tēn Myupton, tēn hypobrychion legō tautēn zōēn, kai diabas ouchi tēn Erythran ekeinēn, alla tēn melainan tautēn kaiisophōdē tou biounthalassano eide, kathōs motio Kyrios, ean mē eleutherōsę̄ hēmas hē alētheia, tǭ kakǭ tēs douleias enapomenomen, pōs estin en tę̄ alētheią genesthai tdn zētounta pseudos, kai en tę̄ planę̄ tou biou anastrephomenon ? pōs de tis tēn douleian apodrasei, ho tais anankais tēs physeōs hypocheirion dous tēn idian zōēn? Gnōrimōteros dʼ an genoito hēmin dia tinos paradeigmatos ho peri toutōn logos.Ōspertis potamos cheimerios rheumati trachynomenos, kai kata tēn heautou pheromenos physin, xyla te kaglithous, kai pan ty paratychon hypolambanōn tǭireithrǭ, monois tois katʼ hauton ginomenois sphaleros kai kindynōdēs esti, tois de porrōthen auton phylassomenois eikē rhei ; houtō kai tēn tou biou tapaxqu katʼ autēn gegonōs monos hyphistatai, ’kai monos anadechetai kathʼ heautou ta pathē, haper anē physis akolouthōs heautę̄ rheousa tois diʼ autēs poreuomenois anankaiōs epagetai, dia tōn tou biou kakōn epiklyzousa. Ei de tis katalipoi ton cheimarrontouton, hōs phēsin ē Graphē, kaito hydōr to anypostaton, exō pantōs estai, kata tēn tēs ǭdēs hakoiouoianitēs thēras tōn odontōn tou bion, kathaper strouthion tǭ tēs aretēs pterǭ diaptas tēn pagida. Epeidē gar, kata ty rhēthen hēmin epi tou cheimarrou hypodeigma, pantoiais tarachais, kai anōmaliais plēmmyrōn ho anthrōpinos bios aei pheretai, kata tou pranous tēs physeōs procheomenos, kai ouden hestēke tōn en hautǭ ” spoudazomenōn, oude anamenei tēn plēsmonēn tōn epithymountōn autōn; panta de ta prospiptonta homou te proaēngiae, kai Oigonta paredrame, kai to aei paron tǭ sphodrǭ tēs parodou diapheugei tēn haisthēsin, hypo tēs katopin epirroēs tōn ophthalmōn arpazomenōn; dia touto lysiteles an eiē adpeto tou toioutoureumatos heautous anechein, hōs an mē tōn apatōn periechomenoi, tōn aei hestōtōn oligōrēsaimen. Pōs gar esti ton prospaoounta tini tōn en tǭ> biǭ toutǭ, dia telous echein to poboumenons Ti tōn malista spoudazomenōn eisaei ’paramenei toioutons poea neotētos akmē? tis dynameōs ēmorphēs eumoiria ? tis ploutos ? poia Erigat? tis dynasteia? Ou panta ta toiauta mikron anthēsanta chronon, palin aę̄rryē, kai pros tēn enantian epōnymian metepeses Tis eniuiō diapantos tę̄ gneotētę̄ tini diērkese diatelous ē;dynamis? To de tou kallous anthos arʼ ouchi kai autōn tōn kata to ear prophainomenōn ōkymorōteron hē physis epoiēse?Ta men gar tēs hōras epilabousēs eblastēse, kai mikron apanthēsanta chronon, palin anezēse; kai palin aperryē. kai palinekymaseaai ty nyn kallos kai eis neotēta _ edeixe. To de anthrōpinon anthos hapaxē physis kata to earʼtēs neotētos deixasa, eita apesbese, tǭ cheimōni toēe gērōs enaphanisasa ; hōsautōs kai ta alla panta prds- kairon tēn tēs sarkos aisthēsin apatēsanta, eita ’paredrame kai synekalyphbē tę̄ lēthę̄. Epei oun hai cora-"atat metadolai kata tina tēs physeōs anankēn symbainousai, lypousi pantōs ton en prospatheią genomenon, mia tōn toioutōn kakōn estin apophygē, to mēdeni tōn metaballomenōn tę̄ psychę̄ prostethēnai, allʼ hōs esti dynaton, chōristhēnai panta ton bion ton empathē te ’kai sarkinon homilias; mallon de kai tēs pros to sōma to eautou sympatheias exō genesthai, hōs an mē kata sarka bious, hypeuthynos genētai tais ek tēs sarkos symphorais touto de esti to monę̄ tę̄ psychę̄ zę̄n, kai mimeisthai kata to dynaton tēn tōn asōmatōn dynameōn politeian enę̄ oute gamousin houte gamiskontai; allʼ ergon autois kai katorthōma to theōrein ton Patera tēs aphtharsias esti, kai pros to i archetypon kallos tēn idian kallōpizein morphēn dia tēs endechomenēs mimēseōs.
That all the absurdities of life have their beginning from marriage; in which is also shown what kind of person one is who has truly renounced the world. But why should we petty-mindedly expose the absurdity of such a life by confining the count of its misfortunes to adulteries, separations, and plots? For it seems to me, by a higher and truer account, that all the vice of life, seen in all affairs and pursuits, finds no starting point against human life unless one subjects oneself to the necessity of this life. The truth of the argument will be made plain to us in this way. One who has understood the deceit of this life with the pure eye of the soul, and has become higher than the things pursued here, and, as the Apostle says, disregards all things like foul refuse, and in a way has removed himself from the whole of life by withdrawing from marriage, has no fellowship with human evils, I mean greed and envy, anger and hatred, the desire for empty glory, and the rest of that kind. Having exemption from all such things and living in freedom and peace in every way, he has no occasion to provoke envy in his neighbours, since he touches none of the things around which envy grows in life. Having lifted his own life above the whole world and thinking virtue alone a precious possession, he will live a life free from grief, peaceful, and without strife. For the possession of virtue, even if all people share in it, each according to his own capacity, is always full for those who desire it; it is not like possession of land, where, when people divide it into portions, as much as they add to one share they take from another, and the increase of one is the diminishing of his partner; hence the battles over “more” arise among people because of their hatred of having less. But greed for that possession arouses no envy, and he who seizes more has done no harm to the one who claims an equal share; rather, each, according to his capacity, is filled with the good desire, and the wealth of the virtues is not used up by those who come first. One who looks to this life, then, and stores up for himself virtue, which no human boundary circumscribes, will he ever consent to bend his soul to anything lowly and trodden underfoot? Will he admire earthly wealth or human power or anything else pursued by folly? If someone is still lowly disposed toward these things, he is outside such a … choir and will have nothing to do with our discourse; but if he sets his mind on things above and travels aloft with God, he is certainly higher than such things, not having the common occasion of error about them, I mean marriage. For the desire to be above others, that grievous passion, pride, which one would not be wrong to call the special seed or root of all the thorns of sin, has its beginning above all from the cause of marriage. For it is not usual for the greedy man not to blame his family, or for the man mad for glory and ambition not to refer the cause of his evil to his descendants, so as not to seem less than those before him, and so as to be thought great by those after him, leaving stories to his offspring. In the same way the other diseases of the soul too, envy, the remembering of wrongs, hatred, and anything else of that kind, hang from the same cause. For all these share the life of those infatuated with this life. One who has come outside them, as from a high watchtower surveying human passions from afar, pities for their blindness those enslaved to such vanity and those who think the prosperity of the flesh a great thing. For when he sees someone admired for some thing in life, abounding in honours or wealth or power, he laughs at the folly of those puffed up by these things, and counts up the longest span of human life according to the limit stated by the Psalmist; then, measuring this momentary interval against the infinite ages, he pities for his emptiness the one whose soul is lifted up by things so mean and lowly and temporary. For which of the things here is worthy of being called blessed? Honour, which is pursued by many? But what does it add to those honoured? The mortal remains mortal, honoured or not. Or possessing many acres of land? To what good end does this lead its owners, except that the fool thinks things that in no way belong to him are his own? For he does not know, it seems, because of his great greed, that the earth truly is the Lord’s, and its fullness; for God is king of all the earth. But in human beings the passion of greed gives the falsely named title of lordship over things that in no way belong to them. For the earth, as the wise Ecclesiastes says, stands forever, serving all generations and feeding now some, now others, who come to be upon it. But human beings, not even lords of themselves, but coming into life at the will of the one who brings them, when they do not know, and separated from it again when they do not wish, think in their great vanity that they are lords of it, they who come and go in their seasons, while it always remains. One who has considered these things, then, and for this reason looks down on whatever is thought precious among men, having his love for the divine life, knowing that all flesh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, when will he think worthy of zeal the grass that is today and tomorrow is not? For one who has considered divine things well knows that not only human things lack stability, but that not even the world itself will remain at rest forever; for this reason he looks down on this life as foreign and temporary, since heaven and earth will pass away, according to the Saviour’s word, and all things necessarily await their transformation. Therefore, while he is in this tent, as the Apostle says, showing that it is temporary, burdened by the present life, he laments that his sojourning is prolonged, as the Psalmist too says in his songs. For truly those who sojourn in life with these tents live in darkness. That is why the Prophet, groaning at the prolonging of his sojourn, says, “Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged!” and he attributed the cause of this dejection to darkness. For we have learned that darkness is named Kedar in the Hebrew tongue. For truly, as if held by some night blindness, people are dim-sighted toward the recognition of deceit, not knowing that all that is thought precious in this life, and all that is held to be its opposite, exists only in the supposition of the foolish, while in themselves they are nothing at all: low birth, distinction of family, glory, … ancient stories, the pride in ancestors, ruling others, being subject; wealth and luxury, poverty and dishonour, and all the inequalities of life seem to the uneducated to differ very greatly, when they make sense the judge of such things. … like a good pilot directing his vessel to the mark above. But the man of coarse mind, who looks downward and has his soul bent toward the pleasures of the body like cattle toward their pasture, living for the belly alone and what follows the belly, estranged from the life of God and a stranger to the covenants of the promise, thinking nothing else good but bodily pleasure, he and every such person is the one who walks in darkness, the inventor of evils for this reason. For in such people are greed, and licence of passions, and immoderation in pleasures, and every love of power, and desire for empty glory, and the whole … company of the passions that dwell with human beings. For among evils one somehow holds to another, and wherever one is present, the rest too certainly come in with it, drawn as by some natural necessity. As happens in a chain, when its first link is pulled, the other links of the chain cannot stay still, but the link at the other end of the chain moves with the first, the motion advancing in sequence from the first through those next to it; so the human passions are intertwined and grown together, and through one that has prevailed the rest of the train of evils comes into the soul with it. And if I must draw this evil chain for you, suppose someone overcome by the passion of vainglory through some pleasure; then the desire for more followed upon vainglory, for one cannot become greedy unless vainglory leads the way to the passion. Then the desire to have more and to excel produces anger toward one’s equals, or pride toward one’s subordinates, or envy toward one’s superiors; and hypocrisy follows envy, bitterness follows hypocrisy, hatred of mankind follows bitterness; and the end of all these is condemnation, ending in Gehenna and darkness and fire. Do you see the train of evils, how all of them come out of the one passion of pleasure? Since, then, the sequence of such passions has once entered life, we see from the counsel of the inspired Scriptures one escape from them: to be separated from such a life, which has bound up in itself the train of painful things. For one who loves to stay in Sodom cannot escape the rain of fire; nor can one who has come out of Sodom and then turns back toward its desolation avoid becoming a pillar of salt. Nor will he be freed from the slavery of the Egyptians who does not leave Egypt, I mean this underwater life, and cross not that Red Sea, but this black and gloomy sea of life. And if, as the Lord says, unless the truth sets us free, we remain in the evil of slavery, how can one who seeks falsehood and lives in the error of life come to be in the truth? And how will anyone escape slavery who has handed over his own life to the necessities of nature? The argument about these things may become clearer to us by an example. As a winter torrent, swollen and rough with its current and carried along by its own nature, sweeping up wood and stones and whatever happens to be in its stream, is dangerous and perilous only to those who are near it, while for those who keep far from it it flows in vain, so too only one who has come near the turmoil of life undergoes it, and he alone takes upon himself the sufferings which nature, flowing according to its own course, necessarily brings on those who travel through it, flooding them with the evils of life. But if someone leaves this torrent, as Scripture says, and the irresistible water, he will certainly be outside, according to the sequence of the song, the hunt of the teeth of life, having flown through the snare like a sparrow on the wing of virtue. For since, according to the example of the torrent we gave, human life is always carried along overflowing with every kind of turmoil and inequality, pouring down the slope of nature, and nothing pursued in it stands still or waits for the fill of those who desire it, but all that befalls it both comes near and passes by in going, and what is always present escapes perception by the violence of its passing, the eyes being snatched away by what flows on behind, for this reason it would be profitable to keep ourselves far from such a current, so that we may not, being taken up with deceptive things, neglect the things that always stand. For how can one who is attached to anything in this life hold what he longs for to the end? Which of the things most pursued remains such forever? What bloom of youth? What good fortune of strength or beauty? What wealth? What glory? What power? Have not all such things, after blooming for a little time, withered again and passed over to the opposite name? Who has been in youth forever? For whom has strength lasted to the end? Has not nature made the flower of beauty more short-lived even than the things that appear in spring? For they sprout when the season takes hold, and after shedding their flowers for a little time revive again; and they wither again, and bloom again, and show the present beauty again in youth. But the human flower, once nature has shown it in the spring of youth, it then quenches, making it disappear in the winter of old age. So too all the other things, having deceived the sense of the flesh for a time, then pass away and are covered over by forgetfulness. Since, then, these … changes, happening by a certain necessity of nature, certainly grieve one who has become passionately attached, there is one escape from such evils: to attach the soul to nothing that changes, but, as far as possible, to be separated from all the passionate and fleshly life and its company; or rather, to come outside even the sympathy with one’s own body, so that, not living according to the flesh, one may not be liable to the misfortunes that come from the flesh. This is to live by the soul alone, and to imitate as far as possible the life of the incorporeal powers, among whom they neither marry nor are given in marriage; their work and achievement is to contemplate the Father of incorruption and to beautify their own form after the archetypal beauty by such imitation as is possible.
Phil 3:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 90:10 (89:10 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 24:1 (23:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 47:7 (46:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Eccl 1:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 40:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 1:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 24:35 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 120:5 (119:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Eph 4:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 19:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 19:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:22 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 8:32 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 124:4 (123:4 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 124:7 (123:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 22:30 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Pride, greed, envy and the other passions spring mainly from the ties of marriage and the world; the one who withdraws from that torrent, like the angels who do not marry, is free to pursue virtue, a wealth that is never diminished.
- The chapter heading is partly garbled in the scan and translated by sense. Several words are garbled in the scan and marked … where they cannot be read; the name Kedar (Ps 120:5), garbled in the scan, is given from the psalm Gregory quotes. References: Phil 3:8 (“refuse”); Col 3:2; Ps 90:10 (89:10 LXX, the span of life); Ps 24:1 (23:1 LXX); Ps 47:7 (46:8 LXX); Eccl 1:4; Isa 40:6 and 1 Pet 1:24; Matt 6:30; Matt 24:35; 2 Cor 5:4 (“this tent”); Ps 120:5 (119:5 LXX); Phil 3:19; Eph 4:18; 2:12; Gen 19:24–26 (Sodom, Lot’s wife); Exod 14 (the Red Sea); John 8:32; Ps 124:4–7 (123:4–7 LXX, the torrent and the snare); Matt 22:30. Gregory’s claim that pride and the other passions arise chiefly from marriage is translated exactly as written.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Virg. 4 (PG 46:337a–348a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-virginitate/4/#p-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 5
5PG 46:348b–349a
Ὅτι προηγεῖσθαι χρὴ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπάθειαν τῆς ἐν σώματι καθαρότητὸζ. Ταύτης οὖν τῆς διανοίας καὶ τῆς ὑψηλῆς ἐπιθυμίας συνεργὸν, καθὼς τῇ Γραφῇ δοκεῖ, καὶ βοηθὸν τῷ ἀνʼ θρὼπῳ τὴν παρθενίαν εἶναί φαμεν. Καὶ ὥσπερ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων τέχναι τινὲς πρὸς τὴν ἑκάστου τῶν σπουδαζομένων ἐπεργασίαν ἐπενοήθησαν· οὕτω μοι δοκεῖ καὶ τὸ τῆς παρθενίας ἐπιτήδευμα τέχνη τις εἶναικαὶ δύναμις τῆς θειοτέρας ζωῆς, πρὸς τήν άσώο ματον φύσιν τοὺς ἐν σαρκὶ ζῶντας ὁμοιοῦσθαι παρασκευάζουσα. Πᾶσα γάρ ἐστι σπουδὴ τοῦ τοιούτου βίον, ὅπως μὴ τὸ ὑψηλὸν τῆς ψυχῆς διὰ τῆς ἐπαναστάσεως τῶν ἡδονῶν ταπεινωθῇ, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ μετεωροπορεῖν, καὶ είς τὰ ἄνω βλέπειν τὴν διάνοιαν ήμῶν, πρὸς τα σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος κατενεχθεῖσαν πάθη πεσεῖν. Ilii; γὰρ ἔτι δύναται πρὸς τὸ συγγενές τε καὶ νοητὸν φῶς ἐλευθέρῳ ἀναβλέπειν τῷ ὄμματι ὴ πρεσηλωθεῖσα κάτω τῇ ἡδονῇ τῆς σαρκὸς, καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ape; τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάθη άπασχολήσασα, ὅταν πρὸς τὰ ὑλώδη σχῇ τὴν ῥοπὴν ἐκ μοχθηρᾶς τινος καὶ άπαιδεύτου προσλήψεως; Καθάπερ γάρ ot τῶν συῶν ὀφθαλμοὶ είς τὺ κάτω παρὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐστραμμένα τῶν οὐρανίων θαυμάτων ἀπείρως ἔχουσιν, οὕτωςή τῷ σώματι συγκατασπασθείσα ψυχὴ οὐκέτι πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὰ ἄνω κάλλη βλέπειν δυνήσεται, πρὸς τὸ ταπεινὸν καὶ κτηνῶδες τῆς φύσεως ἐπικύπτουσα. Ὠς ἂν οὖν μάλισταἡμῖν ἐλευθέρα κατ ἄνετος ἡ ψυχὴ πρὸς τὴν θείαν τε καὶ μακαρίαν ἡδο· νὴν ἀναβλέποι, πρὸς οὐδὲν τῶν γηΐνων ἑαυτὴν ἐπιο στρέφῃ, οὐδὲ τῶν νενομισμένων κατᾲ τὴν τοῦ κοινου ο βίου συγχώρησιν ἡδονῶν μεταλήψεται, ἀλλὰ pati» θήσει τὴν ἐρωτικὴν δύναμιν ἀπὸ τῶν σωματικων ἐπὶ τὴν νοητήν τε καὶ άῦλον τοῦ καλοῦ θεωρίαν, πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην τῆς ψυχῆς διάθεσιν ή παρθενία τοῦ σώματος ἡμῖν ἐπενοήθη · ὡς ἂν μάλιστα λήθην aut ἀμνηστίαν ἐμποιήσειε τῇ ψυχῇ τῶν ὲμπαθῶν τῆς φύσεως κινημάτων, μηδεμίαν ἀνάγκην ἐπάγουσα πρὸς τὰ ταπεινὰ τῆς σαρκὸς ὀφλήματα καταγίνεσθαιτινʼ Ἐλευθερωθεῖσα γάρ ἅπαξ τῶν τοιούτων χρεῶν, οὐκέτι κινδυνεύει μὴ τῷ κατʼ ὀλίγον προσεθισμῴ περὶ τὰ δοκοῦντα νόμῳ τινὶ φύσεως συγκεχωρῆσθαι, ἐν ἀποστροφῇ καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ τῆς θείας τε καὶ ἀκηράτου γένηται ἡδονῆς, ἣν μόνη ή καρδίας καθαρότης, τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ἡγεμονικοῦ, θηρεύειν πέφυκεν.
Hoti proēgeisthai chrē tēn tēs psychēs apatheian tēs en sōmati katharotētoz. Tautēs oun tēs dianoias kai tēs hypsēlēs epithymias synergon, kathōs tę̄ Graphę̄ dokei, kai boēthon tǭ anʼ thrōpǭ tēn parthenian einai phamen. Kai hōsper tōn loipōn epitēdeumatōn technai tines pros tēn hekastou tōn spoudazomenōn epergasian epenoēthēsan; houtō moi dokei kai to tēs parthenias epitēdeuma technē tis einaikai dynamis tēs theioteras zōēs, pros tēn asōo maton physin tous en sarki zōntas homoiousthai paraskeuazousa. Pasa gar esti spoudē tou toioutou bion, hopōs mē to hypsēlon tēs psychēs dia tēs epanastaseōs tōn hēdonōn tapeinōthę̄, kai anti tou meteōroporein, kai eis ta anō blepein tēn dianoian ēmōn, pros ta sarkos kai haimatos katenechtheisan pathē pesein. Ilii? gar eti dynatai pros to syngenes te kai noēton phōs eleutherǭ anablepein tǭ ommati ē presēlōtheisa katō tę̄ hēdonę̄ tēs sarkos, kai tēn epithymian ape? ta anthrōpina pathē apascholēsasa, hotan pros ta hylōdē schę̄ tēn rhopēn ek mochthēras tinos kai apaideutou proslēpseōs? Kathaper gar ot tōn syōn ophthalmoi eis ty katō para tēs physeōs estrammena tōn ouraniōn thaumatōn apeirōs echousin, houtōsē tǭ sōmati synkataspastheisa psychē ouketi pros ton ouranon kai ta anō kallē blepein dynēsetai, pros to tapeinon kai ktēnōdes tēs physeōs epikyptousa. Ōs an oun malistaēmin eleuthera kat anetos hē psychē pros tēn theian te kai makarian hēdo; nēn anablepoi, pros ouden tōn gēïnōn heautēn epio strephę̄, oude tōn nenomismenōn katą tēn tou koinou o biou synchōrēsin hēdonōn metalēpsetai, alla pati» thēsei tēn erōtikēn dynamin apo tōn sōmatikōn epi tēn noētēn te kai aulon tou kalou theōrian, pros tēn toiautēn tēs psychēs diathesin ē parthenia tou sōmatos hēmin epenoēthē ; hōs an malista lēthēn aut amnēstian empoiēseie tę̄ psychę̄ tōn empathōn tēs physeōs kinēmatōn, mēdemian anankēn epagousa pros ta tapeina tēs sarkos ophlēmata kataginesthaitinʼ Eleutherōtheisa gar hapax tōn toioutōn chreōn, ouketi kindyneuei mē tǭ katʼ oligon prosethismǭ peri ta dokounta nomǭ tini physeōs synkechōrēsthai, en apostrophę̄ kai agnoią tēs theias te kai akēratou genētai hēdonēs, hēn monē ē kardias katharotēs, tou en hēmin hēgemonikou, thēreuein pephyken.
That freedom from passion in the soul must come before purity in the body. We say, then, that virginity is a fellow worker with this purpose and lofty desire, as Scripture holds, and a helper to man. And as for other pursuits certain arts have been devised for working at each of the things aimed at, so the practice of virginity seems to me to be an art and power of the more divine life, preparing those who live in the flesh to be made like the incorporeal nature. For the whole zeal of such a life is that the loftiness of the soul may not be brought low by the revolt of pleasures, and that our understanding, instead of travelling aloft and looking to the things above, may not be carried down and fall to the passions of flesh and blood. For how can the soul still look up with free eye to the light that is akin to it and intelligible, if it has been nailed down by the pleasure of the flesh and has occupied its desire with human passions, when it has inclined toward material things from some wretched and untrained prepossession? For as the eyes of swine, turned downward by nature, have no experience of the wonders of heaven, so the soul dragged down with the body will no longer be able to look to heaven and the beauties above, stooping to what is lowly and brutish in nature. So that our soul, then, may look up as free and unhindered as possible to the divine and blessed pleasure, it will not turn itself to anything earthly, nor partake of the pleasures thought permitted by the concession made to the common life, but will transfer its power of love from bodily things to the intellectual and immaterial contemplation of the beautiful. For such a disposition of the soul the virginity of the body has been devised for us, so as to produce in the soul forgetfulness and oblivion of the passionate motions of nature, bringing no necessity to be occupied with the lowly debts of the flesh. For once freed from such obligations, the soul is no longer in danger of being turned away from and ignorant of the divine and undefiled pleasure, through gradually becoming accustomed to the things that seem allowed by some law of nature; that pleasure which only purity of heart, of the ruling part in us, is by nature fitted to hunt.
Gen 2:18 (echo, low confidence) · 1 Cor 7:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 5:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Bodily virginity serves the soul’s freedom from passion: freed from the claims of the flesh, the soul can turn its power of love wholly to the contemplation of the divine beauty.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition. “Fellow worker … and helper” echoes Gen 2:18; “purity of heart” echoes Matt 5:8. “The concession made to the common life” recalls 1 Cor 7:6.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Virg. 5 (PG 46:348b–349a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-virginitate/4/#p-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-virginitate-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 6
6PG 46:349a–352a
Ὅτι Ἠλίας καὶ Ἰωάννης τῆς ἀκριβείας τοῦ,βίου τούτου ἐπεμελήθησαν. Διά τοῦτό μοι δοκεῖκαὶ ὁ μέγας ἐν προφήταις Ἠλίας, καὶ ὁ ’ἐν πνεύματι καὶ δυνάμει Ἠλίου μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἐπιδημήσας τῷ βίῳ, οὗ μείζων οὐδεὶς ἐν γεννητοϊς γυναικῶν. Εἴπερ τι καὶ ἕτερον ὴ κατʼ αὐτοὺς ἱστορία παραδηλοῖ διʼ αἰνίγματος, τοῦτο μάλιστα τῷ ίδίῳ δογματίζειν βίῳ, τδ χωρισθῆναι τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου ἀκολουθίας τὸν τῇ θεωρία τῶν ἀοράτων σχολάζοντα · ὡς ἂν μὴ ταῖς τοιαύταις ἀπάταις ταῖς διά τῶν αἰσθήσεων γινομέναις προσεθισθεὶς, σύγχυσίν τινα καὶ πλάνην πάθοι περὶ τὴν τοῦ ὅντως ἀγαθοῦ κρίσιν. Ἀμφότεροι γάρ εὐθὺς ἐκ νέων ἀπεξενώθησαν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ζωῆς, καὶ οἷον ἔξω τῆς φύσεως ἐαυτοὺς ἔστησαν τῇ περὶ τὴν βρῶσιν καὶ πόσιν ὑπεροψίᾳ τῆς συνήθους καὶ νενομισμένης τροφῆς, καὶ τῇ κατά τῆν ἔρημον διαγωγῇ, ὡς κᾷι τὴν ἀκοὴν ἀπεριήχητον, καὶ ἀπλάνητον αὐτοῖς φυλαχθῆναι τὴν ὄψιν, καὶ τὴν γεῦσιν ἁπλῆν τε καὶ ἀπραγμὰτευτον διαμεῖναι, ἐκ τοῦ προστυχόντος ἑκατέροις πληρουμένης τῆς χρείας. Ἐντεῦθεν είς πολλὴν εὐδίαν καὶ γαλήνην ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν θορύβων κατέστησαν, κα“ι·διά τοῦτοέίς τοσοῦτον μέγεθος τῶν θείων χαρισμάτων ἐπήρθησαν, ὅσον περὶ ἐκατέρου τούτων μνημονεύει ὁλόγος. Ἠλίας μὲν γὰρ καθάπερ ταμίας τις τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεῶν καταστὰς, τὰς ἐκ τοῦ ούρανοῦ χρείας κατʼ ἐξουσίαν καὶ ἀποκλείειν τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι, καὶ ἀνιέναι τοῖς μετανοοῦσι κύριος ῆν. Τὸν δέ Ἰωάννην τοιοῦτον μέν· τοι θαυματοποιῆσαι οὐδέψφησιν ἠ θεία Ἱστορίαπερισσότερον δὲ ἢ κατὰ πάντα προφήτην τὸ ὲν αὐτῷ χάρισμα παρά τοῦ τά κρυπτὰ βλέποντος μεμαρτύρηται· τάχα ὅτι καθαράν τε καὶ ἀμιγῆ πάσης ὑλικῆς προσπαθείας τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀνέθηκαν, οὕτε είς τέκνων στοργήν, οὔτε είς γυναικὸς φροντίδα, οὔτε είς ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀσχολήσαντες ο οἵ γε μηδέ τῆς καθʼὴμέραν ἀναγκαίας τροφῆς πρέπειν ἑαυτοῖς ὑπολαβόντες τὴν μέριμναν, τῆς τε τῶν ἐνδυμάτων σεμνότητος κρειττους ἐπιδειχθέντες, ἐκ τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἑαυτοῖς τὰς χρείας ἀπεσχεδίαζον, ὁ μὲν δέρμασιν αἰγείοις, ὁ δὲ καμήλου θριξὶ σκεπαζόμενος ’ οὐκ ἂν είς ἐκεῖνο τὸ μέγεθος, ὡς οἶμαι, φθάσαντες, εἰ ταῖς τοῦ σώματος ἡδυπαθείαις ὑπὸ τοῦ γάμου κατεμαλάχθησαν. Ταῦτα δὲ οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, είς νουθεσίαν ήμῶν ἀναγέγραπται, ἵνα πρὸς τὸν ἐκείνων βίον καὶ τὸν ἐαυτῶν κατευθύνωμεν. Τί οὖν ἐκ τούτων μανθάνομενς Τὸ καθʼ ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν, μηδενὶ τῶν βιωτικῶν πραγμάτων προσασκολεῖν τὴν διάνοιαν τὸν ἐπιθυμοῦντα τῷ Θεῷ συναφθῆαι· οὐδὲ γάρ ἐστι δυνατὸν τδν είς πολλὰ τῇ διανοίᾳ διαχεόμενον, πρὸς Θεοῦ κατανόησιν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν εὐθυπορῆσαι.
Hoti Ēlias kai Iōannēs tēs akribeias tou,biou toutou epemelēthēsan. Dia touto moi dokeikai ho megas en prophētais Ēlias, kai ho ’en pneumati kai dynamei Ēliou metʼ ekeinon epidēmēsas tǭ biǭ, hou meizōn oudeis en gennētoïs gynaikōn. Eiper ti kai heteron ē katʼ autous historia paradēloi diʼ ainigmatos, touto malista tǭ idiǭ dogmatizein biǭ, td chōristhēnai tēs tou anthrōpinou biou akolouthias ton tę̄ theōria tōn aoratōn scholazonta ; hōs an mē tais toiautais apatais tais dia tōn aisthēseōn ginomenais prosethistheis, synchysin tina kai planēn pathoi peri tēn tou hontōs agathou krisin. Amphoteroi gar euthys ek neōn apexenōthēsan tēs anthrōpinēs zōēs, kai hoion exō tēs physeōs eautous estēsan tę̄ peri tēn brōsin kai posin hyperopsią tēs synēthous kai nenomismenēs trophēs, kai tę̄ kata tēn erēmon diagōgę̄, hōs kąi tēn akoēn aperiēchēton, kai aplanēton autois phylachthēnai tēn opsin, kai tēn geusin haplēn te kai apragmateuton diameinai, ek tou prostychontos hekaterois plēroumenēs tēs chreias. Enteuthen eis pollēn eudian kai galēnēn apo tōn exōthen thorybōn katestēsan, ka“i;dia toutoeis tosouton megethos tōn theiōn charismatōn epērthēsan, hoson peri ekaterou toutōn mnēmoneuei hologos. Ēlias men gar kathaper tamias tis tōn tou Theou dōreōn katastas, tas ek tou ouranou chreias katʼ exousian kai apokleiein tois hamartanousi, kai anienai tois metanoousi kyrios ēn. Ton de Iōannēn toiouton men; toi thaumatopoiēsai oudepsphēsin ē theia Historiaperissoteron de ē kata panta prophētēn to en autǭ charisma para tou ta krypta blepontos memartyrētai; tacha hoti katharan te kai amigē pasēs hylikēs prospatheias tēn heautōn epithymian apʼ archēs eis telos tǭ Kyriǭ anethēkan, houte eis teknōn storgēn, oute eis gynaikos phrontida, oute eis allo ti tōn anthrōpinōn ascholēsantes o hoi ge mēde tēs kathʼēmeran anankaias trophēs prepein heautois hypolabontes tēn merimnan, tēs te tōn endymatōn semnotētos kreittous epideichthentes, ek tōn epitychontōn heautois tas chreias apeschediazon, ho men dermasin aigeiois, ho de kamēlou thrixi skepazomenos ’ ouk an eis ekeino to megethos, hōs oimai, phthasantes, ei tais tou sōmatos hēdypatheiais hypo tou gamou katemalachthēsan. Tauta de ouch haplōs, alla, kathōs phēsin ho Apostolos, eis nouthesian ēmōn anagegraptai, hina pros ton ekeinōn bion kai ton eautōn kateuthynōmen. Ti oun ek toutōn manthanomens To kathʼ homoiotēta tōn hagiōn andrōn, mēdeni tōn biōtikōn pragmatōn prosaskolein tēn dianoian ton epithymounta tǭ Theǭ synaphthēai; oude gar esti dynaton tdn eis polla tę̄ dianoią diacheomenon, pros Theou katanoēsin kai epithymian euthyporēsai.
That Elijah and John took care to live this life exactly. For this reason it seems to me that the great Elijah among the prophets, and he who after him came into life in the spirit and power of Elijah, than whom none greater has arisen among those born of women, if the history about them hints at anything else in a riddle, taught this above all by their own life: that one who devotes himself to the contemplation of things invisible must be separated from the sequence of human life, so that, having grown accustomed to the illusions that come through the senses, he may not suffer confusion and error in his judgment of the true good. For both were estranged from human life from their youth, and set themselves as it were outside nature by their disregard of customary and accepted food and drink and by living in the desert, so that their hearing was kept free from noise and their sight from wandering, and their taste remained simple and free of fuss, their need being filled from whatever came to hand. From this they came to great calm and stillness from outside disturbances, and for this reason were raised to such greatness of divine gifts as Scripture records of each of them. For Elijah, set like a steward over the gifts of God, had authority to shut off the supplies from heaven from sinners and to release them to the penitent. Of John the divine history records no such miracle; but the gift in him is attested by him who sees in secret to be greater than in any prophet; perhaps because both dedicated their desire to the Lord pure and unmixed with any material attachment from beginning to end, occupying it neither with love of children nor care for a wife nor anything else human. They did not even think the care of necessary daily food fitting for themselves, and showed themselves above dignity of dress, improvising what they needed from whatever came their way, the one clothed in goatskins, the other in camel’s hair. They would not, I think, have reached that greatness if they had been softened by marriage into the luxuries of the body. These things were not written idly, but, as the Apostle says, for our admonition, so that we may direct our own life by theirs. What, then, do we learn from them? That one who desires to be joined to God must, like these holy men, occupy his mind with none of the affairs of life; for it is not possible for one whose mind is poured out into many things to go straight to the knowledge and desire of God.
Luke 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 17:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Jas 5:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 6:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Kgs 1:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 11:37 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 3:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:11 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Elijah and John the Baptist, living apart from human life, food, comfort, and marriage, reached the greatness of their gifts; their example shows that one who seeks God must not divide his mind among many things.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition. References: Luke 1:17; Matt 11:11; 1 Kgs 17:1 and 18:41–45; Jas 5:17–18; Matt 6:4; 2 Kgs 1:8 and Heb 11:37 (skins); Matt 3:4; 1 Cor 10:11.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Virg. 6 (PG 46:349a–352a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-virginitate/4/#p-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-virginitate-6) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 7
7PG 46:352a–352d
Ὁτι τόν είς πολλὰ μεριζόμενον τελειωθῆναι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀδύνατον. Δοκεῖ δέ μοι διʼ ὑποδείγματος ἐναργέστερον ἂν ταραστῆσαι τὸ περὶτούτων δόγμα. ’Υποθώμεθα γάρ :t ὕδωρ ὲκ πηγῆς προχεόμενόν, ἐίς διαφόρους ἀπορῥοὰς κατά τὸ συμβὰν διασχίζεσθαι. Οὐκοῦν ἕως ἂν οὕτω φέρηται, εἰς οὐδὲν τῶν πρὸς τὴν γεωργίαν χρηπίμων ἐπιτήδειον ἔσται, τῆς είς πολλὰ διαχύσεως όλίγον τὸ ὲν ἑκάστῳ, καὶ ἀδρανὲς, καὶ δυσκίνητον ὑπὸ ἀτονίας ποιούσης· εί δέ τις πάσας αὐτοῦ τὰς ἀτάκτως ἀπορροάς συναγάγοι, καὶ εἰς ἓν ῥεῖθρον τὸ πολλαχῆ τέως ἐσκεδασμένον ἀθροίσειεν, είς πολλὰ ἂν τῶν βιωφελῶν καὶ χρησίμων ἀθρόῳ καὶ συντεταγμένῳ τῷ ὕδατι χρήσαιτο. Οὕτω μοι δοκεῖ καὶ ό νοῦς ό ἀνθρώπινος, εἰ μὲν πανταχοῦ διαχέοιτο, πρὸς τδ ἀρέσκον ἀεὶ τοῖς αἰσθητηρίοις ῥέων καὶ σκεδαννύμενος, μη· δεμίαν ἀξιόλογον δύναμιν ἴσχειν πρὸς τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ δντως ἀγαθὸν πορείαν εί δὲ πανταχόθεν ἀνακληθεὶς, καὶπερὶ ἑαυτὸν ἀθροισθεὶς, ίσυνηγμένος καὶ ἀδιάχυτος πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐαυτῷ καὶ κατὰ φύσιν ἐνέργειαν κινοῖτο, οὐδὲν τὸ κωλύον αὐτὸν ἔσται πρὸς τὰ ἄνω φέρε- ,η σθαι, καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας τῶν ὄντων ἐφάπτεσθαι. Καθάstt-pqae το περἰεστεγασμένον διὰ”σῳλῆνος ὕδωρ δρθιον πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῆς ἀναθλιὸοότης βίας ἐπὶ τά ἄνω φέρεται, οὐκ ἔχον ὅπη διαχυθῇ, καὶ ταῦτα, καταφεροῦς αὐτῷ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν οΰσης κινήσεως ὀὕτω καὶ ὁ ’νοῦςʼὁ ἀνθρώπινος, οἷόν τινος σωλῆνος στεγανοῦ τῆς ἐγκρατείας αὑτὸν ἁπανταχόθεν περισφιγγούσης, ἀναληφθήσεταί πως ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ κινεῖσθαι φύσεως , πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὑψηλοτέρων ἐπιθυμίαν, οὐκ ἔχων ὅπου παραρῤυῇ. Οὔτε γὰρ στῆναί ποτε δυνατόν ὲστι τὴνάεικίνητον ὑπὸ τοῦ πεποιηκότος εἰληφότα τὴν φύσιν, καὶ είς τὰ μάταια χρῆσθαι τῇ κινήσει κωλυόμενον, ἀμήχανον μὴ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν πάντως εὐθυπορῆσαι, τῷ πανταχόθεν άπὸ τῶν ἀτόπων ἀπείργεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ ὲν ταῖς πολυοδίαις οὕτω μάλιστα τοὺς ὁδοιπόρους ὁρῶμεν τῆς εὐθείας οὐχ ἁμαρτάνοντας, ὅταν τὴν ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις ὁδοῖς πλάνην προμαθόντες, ὲκκλίνωσιν. Ὠς ὁ τῶν πεπλανημένων τρίβων ὲν τῷ ὁδεύειν ἀναχωρήσας, ὲπὶ τῆς εὐθείας μᾶλλον ἑαυτὸν φυλάξει· οὕτωςʼ ήμῶνή διάνοια τῇ ἀποστροφῇ τῶν ματαίων τὴν ὲν τοῖς οὖσιν ἀλήθειαν ἐπιγνώσεται. Ἔοικεν οὖν ταῦτα παιδεύειν ἡμᾶς τῇ μνήμῃ τῶν μεγάλων προφητῶνῆὲκέίνων, τὺ μηδενὶ τῶν ὲν τῷ κόσμῳ σπουδαζομένων ὲμπλέκεσθαιο ἓν δὲ τῶν σπουδαζομένων ὁ γάμος ἐστίν · μᾶλλονδὲ ἀρχὴ καὶ ῥίζα τῆς τῶν ματαίων σπουδῆς. ‘ λ ’
Hoti ton eis polla merizomenon teleiōthēnai tēn psychēn adynaton. Dokei de moi diʼ hypodeigmatos enargesteron an tarastēsai to peritoutōn dogma. ’Ypothōmetha gar :t hydōr ek pēgēs procheomenon, eis diaphorous aporrhoas kata to symban diaschizesthai. Oukoun heōs an houtō pherētai, eis ouden tōn pros tēn geōrgian chrēpimōn epitēdeion estai, tēs eis polla diachyseōs oligon to en hekastǭ, kai adranes, kai dyskinēton hypo atonias poiousēs; ei de tis pasas autou tas ataktōs aporroas synagagoi, kai eis hen rheithron to pollachē teōs eskedasmenon athroiseien, eis polla an tōn biōphelōn kai chrēsimōn athroǭ kai syntetagmenǭ tǭ hydati chrēsaito. Houtō moi dokei kai o nous o anthrōpinos, ei men pantachou diacheoito, pros td areskon aei tois aisthētēriois rheōn kai skedannymenos, mē; demian axiologon dynamin ischein pros tēn epi to dntōs agathon poreian ei de pantachothen anaklētheis, kaiperi heauton athroistheis, isynēgmenos kai adiachytos pros tēn oikeian eautǭ kai kata physin energeian kinoito, ouden to kōlyon auton estai pros ta anō phere- ,ē sthai, kai tēs alētheias tōn ontōn ephaptesthai. Kathastt-pqae to periestegasmenon dia”sǭlēnos hydōr drthion pollakis hypo tēs anathlioootēs bias epi ta anō pheretai, ouk echon hopē diachythę̄, kai tauta, katapherous autǭ tēs kata physin oÿsēs kinēseōs houtō kai ho ’nousʼho anthrōpinos, hoion tinos sōlēnos steganou tēs enkrateias hauton hapantachothen perisphingousēs, analēphthēsetai pōs hypo tēs tou kineisthai physeōs , pros tēn tōn hypsēloterōn epithymian, ouk echōn hopou pararryę̄. Oute gar stēnai pote dynaton esti tēnaeikinēton hypo tou pepoiēkotos eilēphota tēn physin, kai eis ta mataia chrēsthai tę̄ kinēsei kōlyomenon, amēchanon mē pros tēn alētheian pantōs euthyporēsai, tǭ pantachothen apo tōn atopōn apeirgesthai; kai gar en tais polyodiais houtō malista tous hodoiporous horōmen tēs eutheias ouch hamartanontas, hotan tēn en tais allais hodois planēn promathontes, ekklinōsin. Ōs ho tōn peplanēmenōn tribōn en tǭ hodeuein anachōrēsas, epi tēs eutheias mallon heauton phylaxei; houtōsʼ ēmōnē dianoia tę̄ apostrophę̄ tōn mataiōn tēn en tois ousin alētheian epignōsetai. Eoiken oun tauta paideuein hēmas tę̄ mnēmę̄ tōn megalōn prophētōnēekeinōn, ty mēdeni tōn en tǭ kosmǭ spoudazomenōn emplekesthaio hen de tōn spoudazomenōn ho gamos estin ; mallonde archē kai rhiza tēs tōn mataiōn spoudēs. ‘ l ’
That it is impossible for one divided among many things to be perfected in soul. It seems to me that the teaching about these things could be set out more clearly by an example. Let us suppose water pouring out of a spring and splitting, as it happens, into various streams. As long as it is carried along in this way, it will be fit for nothing useful in farming, since being spread among many channels makes the water in each small, weak, and sluggish through feebleness. But if someone gathers together all its disordered streams and collects into one channel what has hitherto been scattered in many places, he could use the water, gathered and ordered, for many purposes useful to life. So, it seems to me, the human mind too, if it is poured out everywhere, flowing and scattering always toward what pleases the senses, has no power worth mentioning for the journey toward the true good; but if it is called back from every side and gathered to itself, it moves, collected and not dispersed, toward the activity proper and natural to it, and nothing will hinder it from being carried upward and laying hold of the truth of things. As water enclosed in a pipe is often carried upright, upward, by the force pressing on it, having nowhere to spread, even though its natural motion is downward, so too the human mind, with self-control enclosing it on every side like a watertight pipe, will be lifted up somehow by the nature of its motion to the desire of higher things, having nowhere to run off. For it is not possible for one who has received from the Maker a nature ever in motion ever to stand still; and when it is prevented from using its motion for vain things, it cannot fail to go straight toward the truth, being kept back on every side from absurdities. For at crossroads we see travellers least missing the straight road when, having learned beforehand the error of the other roads, they avoid them. As one who has turned away from the wandering paths in his travelling will keep himself more on the straight one, so our understanding, by turning from vain things, will recognize the truth in reality. These things, then, seem to teach us by the memory of those great prophets not to be entangled in any of the things pursued in the world; and one of the things pursued is marriage, or rather it is the beginning and root of the pursuit of vain things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Like water gathered into one channel or forced up a pipe, the mind that self-control keeps from scattering among many desires rises toward the truth; marriage is the root of the pursuit of vain things.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition. Gregory’s statement that marriage is “the root of the pursuit of vain things” is translated exactly as written; he qualifies his view of marriage in the next chapter.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Virg. 7 (PG 46:352a–352d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-virginitate/4/#p-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.