Oration to the Greeks 26
Summary: Greek learning is borrowed, divided into warring schools, and fussy about Attic style; Christians have left it to follow the word of God.
Greek text · Otto 6:104–108
Παύσασθε λόγους ἀλλοτρίους θριαμβεύοντες καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ κολοιὸς οὐκ ἰδίοις ἐπικοσμούμενοι πτεροῖς. Ἑκάστη πόλις ἐὰν ἀφέληται τὴν ἰδίαν αὐτῆς ἀφʼ ὑμῶν λέξιν, ἐξαδυνατήσουσιν ὑμῖν τὰ σοφίσματα. Ζητοῦντες τίς ὁ θεός, τὰ ἐν ὑμῖν ἀγνοεῖτε· κεχηνότες δὲ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν κατὰ βαράθρων πίπτετε. Λαβυρίνθοις ἐοίκασιν ὑμῶν τῶν βιβλίων αἱ ἀναθέσεις, οἱ δὲ ἀναγινώσκοντες τῷ πίθῳ τῶν Δαναΐδων. Τί μοι μερίζετε τὸν χρόνον, λέγοντες τὸ μέν τι εἶναι παρῳχηκὸς αὐτοῦ, τὸ δὲ ἐνεστός, τὸ δὲ μέλλον; Πῶς γὰρ δύναται παρελθεῖν ὁ μέλλων, εἰ ἔστιν ὁ ἐνεστώς; Ὥσπερ δὲ οἱ ἐμπλέοντες τῆς νεὼς φερομένης οἴονται διὰ τὴν ἀμαθίαν ὅτι τὰ ὄρη τρέχουσιν, οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς οὐ γινώσκετε παρατρέχοντας μὲν ὑμᾶς, ἑστῶτα δὲ τὸν αἰῶνα, μέχρις ἂν αὐτὸν ὁ ποιήσας εἶναι θελήσῃ. Διὰ τί γὰρ ἐγκαλοῦμαι λέγων τὰ ἐμά, τὰ δέ μου πάντα καταλύειν σπεύδετε; Μὴ γὰρ οὐχ ὑμεῖς κατὰ τὸν ὅμοιον τρόπον ἡμῖν γεγένησθε, τῆς αὐτῆς τοῦ κόσμου διοικήσεως μετειληφότες; Τί φάσκετε σοφίαν εἶναι παρʼ ὑμῖν μόνοις, οὐκ ἔχοντες ἄλλον ἥλιον οὐδʼ ἀστέρων ἐπιφοιτήσεις καὶ γένεσιν διαφορωτέραν, θάνατόν τε παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους ἐξαίρετον; Ἀρχὴ τῆς φλυαρίας ὑμῖν γεγόνασιν οἱ γραμματικοί, καὶ οἱ μερίζοντες τὴν σοφίαν τῆς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν σοφίας ἀπετμήθητε, τὰ δὲ ὀνόματα τῶν μερῶν ἀνθρώποις προσενείματε· καὶ τὸν μὲν θεὸν ἀγνοεῖτε, πολεμοῦντες δὲ ἑαυτοῖς ἀλλήλους καθαιρεῖτε. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάντες οὐδέν ἐστε· σφετερίζοντες μὲν τοὺς λόγους, διαλεγόμενοι δὲ καθάπερ τυφλὸς κωφῷ. Τί κατέχετε σκεύη τεκτονικά, τεκταίνειν μὴ γινώσκοντες; Τί λόγους ἐπαναιρεῖσθε, τῶν ἔργων μακρὰν ἀφεστῶτες, φυσώμενοι μὲν διὰ δόξης, ἐν δὲ ταῖς συμφοραῖς ταπεινούμενοι; Παρὰ λόγον καταχρᾶσθε τοῖς σχήμασι· δημοσίᾳ μὲν γὰρ πομπεύετε, τοὺς δὲ λόγους ἐπὶ τὰς γωνίας ἀποκρύπτετε. Τοιούτους ὑμᾶς ἐπιγνόντες καταλελοίπαμεν, καὶ τῶν ὑμετέρων οὐκέτι ψαύομεν, θεοῦ δὲ λόγῳ κατακολουθοῦμεν. Τί γάρ, ἄνθρωπε, τῶν γραμμάτων ἐξαρτύεις τὸν πόλεμον; Τί δὲ ὡς ἐν πυγμῇ συγκρούεις τὰς ἐκφωνήσεις αὐτῶν διὰ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ψελλισμῶν, δέον σε λαλεῖν φυσικώτερον; Εἰ γὰρ ἀττικίζεις οὐκ ὢν Ἀθηναῖος, λέγε μοι τοῦ μὴ δωρίζειν τὴν αἰτίαν. Πῶς τὸ μὲν εἶναί σοι δοκεῖ βαρβαρικώτερον, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ὁμιλίαν ἱλαρώτερον;
English · Claude translation
Stop parading words that are not your own and decking yourselves, like the jackdaw, in feathers that are not yours. If each city takes back from you its own dialect, your clever arguments will lose their force. You seek who God is, but you do not know what is within you; gaping at the heavens, you fall into pits. Your collections of books are like labyrinths, and those who read them like the jar of the Danaids. Why do you divide time, saying that one part of it is past, another present, and another future? How can the future pass by if the present exists? Just as people sailing on a moving ship think in their ignorance that the mountains are running past, so you do not realize that it is you who are running past, while the age stands still until its Maker wills it to exist no longer. Why am I accused for speaking my own mind, while you hurry to overthrow everything of mine? Were you not born in the same way as we, sharing in the same governance of the world? Why do you claim that wisdom is found among you alone, when you have no other sun, no different risings of the stars, no more distinguished birth, and no death exceptional compared with other people? The grammarians have been the beginning of your babble. You who divide wisdom up have cut yourselves off from true wisdom, and you have given the names of the parts to men; you do not know God, and in fighting among yourselves you destroy one another. And for this reason you are all nothing: you appropriate other people's words, and you talk like a blind man to a deaf one. Why do you hold carpenters' tools when you do not know how to build? Why do you take up words while staying far away from deeds, puffed up in good repute and humbled in misfortune? You misuse your philosophers' dress against all reason: you parade in public, but hide your words in corners. Having come to know you for what you are, we have left you, and we no longer touch what is yours, but follow the word of God. Why, man, do you stir up a war over letters? Why do you clash their sounds together, as in a boxing match, with Athenian lisps, when you ought to speak more naturally? If you speak Attic though you are not an Athenian, tell me why you do not speak Doric. How is it that one seems to you more barbarous, and the other more pleasant for conversation?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The jackdaw in borrowed feathers is Aesop's fable.
- The Danaids were condemned to fill a leaking jar forever.
- “The age stands still until its Maker wills it to exist no longer”: the Greek says “until its maker wills it to exist,” probably meaning “to exist” as long as he wills; the translation gives the sense.
- “You have given the names of the parts to men”: the philosophical schools are named after their founders (Platonists, Epicureans).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing and accent misplaced on αὐτῶν): ἐκφωνήσεις ἀυτῶν → ἐκφωνήσεις αὐτῶν.
Cite this passage
Tatian, Or. Graec. 26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/26/).
Plain text
Tatian, Or. Graec. 26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/26/).
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