# On Martyrs

- Author: [Methodius of Olympus](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/methodius-of-olympus/)
- Latin title: *De martyribus*
- Date: late 3rd cent. (disputed) (approximate)
- Source: G. Nathanael Bonwetsch, ed., Methodius, GCS 27 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1917) (Greek text and German translation of the Old Slavonic: G. N. Bonwetsch, Methodius (GCS 27, 1917); OCR made for this site)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-martyribus/
- Passages: 2

## On the Martyrs (Peri martyron), fragment 1 (Phil 2:6)

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-martyribus/1/#p-1
- Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:520
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Christ himself honored martyrdom by bearing witness, though equal with God, to crown humanity with this gift.

### Greek text

Ἐκ τοῦ περὶ μαρτύρων λόγου. Ι. οὕτω γὰρ θαυμαστὸν καὶ περισπούδαστόν ἐστι τὸ μαρτύριον. ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, τιμῶν αὐτὸ ἐμαρτύρησεν, „οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγησάμενος τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ“, ἵνα καὶ τούτῳ τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῷ χαρίσματι εἰς ὃν κατέβη στέψῃ.

### English translation (Claude)

From the discourse On the Martyrs.

I. For martyrdom is so wonderful and so worth striving for that the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Son of God, honoring it, bore witness, “not counting it robbery to be equal with God,” so that he might crown with this gift too the human being to whom he came down.

### Scripture references

- Phil 2:6: quotation, high confidence
- Phil 2:7: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Methodius, On the Martyrs, fragments (Bonwetsch, GCS 27, 1917; Tesseract OCR, clear slips corrected by logged corrections). Compared with ANF 6.
- “Bore witness” (ἐμαρτύρησεν) also means “was martyred.” Phil 2:6 is quoted.

### Citation (SBL)

Methodius, Mart. 1 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:520; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-martyribus/1).

## On the Martyrs (Peri martyron), fragment 2

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-martyribus/1/#p-2
- Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:520
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Every good act begins in human will and is brought to completion by God.

### Greek text

ΙΙ. Πάσης ἀγαθῆς ἡ καταρχὴ πράξεως ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ βουλῇ τὴν ὑπόστασιν κέχτηται, τὸ δὲ συμπέρασμα ἐν τῷ θεῷ.

### English translation (Claude)

II. Of every good deed the beginning has its foundation in our will, but the completion in God.

### Translation notes

- Not in ANF 6; re-read against the Greek.

### Citation (SBL)

Methodius, Mart. 2 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:520; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-martyribus/2).