Iambics to Seleucus

he acquired the radiant pearl, the great Christ, by whom all my kinsmen—I glory to say it—the Cappadocians, excel. But may you, Nemesis, be enrolled with us in the heavenly pages, just as you are now in our own.

VIII. To Seleucus

I bid farewell to the fine and noble son, Seleucus, a branch of a noble root; and I myself pray for your life, and that you may be great in your intellect, your learning, and your character. 5 First, then, have fear and love of God; for God is the beginning and the end for all who think rightly of the whole of life. Next, my child, cultivate a character that is gentle, humble, self-controlled, firm, sweet, 10 free from envy, just, brave, wise, solemn, industrious, stable, and temperate. For this is the adornment of both the young and the old: to be rich not so much in money as in character. For this is yours. But money 15 trifles away the disease of the love of wealth, wandering about, naturally smiling upon some and then others, imitating the way of an unfaithful harlot, who mocks many lovers in various ways, 20 associating with these, fleeing from those, and clinging to them—to one man, then another—but never with any true sincerity.

ARGUMENT

METRICAL VERSION

The origin and end of all life is God. Next, son, cultivate your character; strive to be calm and humble, continent, sweet, and serious, pure of envy, strenuous, just, wise, chaste, industrious, temperate, and steady. For this is the glory of both youth and old age, not to be so rich in coins as in character. This, indeed, is strictly our own; but wealth, on the contrary, is accustomed to deceive avaricious minds, favoring these for a moment, then those—following the cunning of an unfaithful harlot, who, deceitful, fools her suitors, playing with this man, then that, in different ways. She is now joined to these, now flees from them, and now follows them, but to no one does she give her love in good faith.

For the nature of wealth has no stability, likened to the violent waves of the sea, heaving, falling, in restless motion. So do you, my son, grow rich in character, 25 and you will possess a treasure, not plundered by thieves, nor exposed in public to sycophants, nor drained by the hands of tyrants, nor ravaged by the weapons of barbarians, but remaining within the homes of the incorporeal, 30 safely guarded in the storehouses of the soul, which neither the violent force of fire consumes, nor the wave of the ocean surge shall cover. Keep this as your true and genuine wealth, and polish it with your studies, 35 the books of poets, the writings of historians, and the flowing eloquence of orators, ^A and train yourself with the subtle cares of philosophers. Apply yourself prudently to all of these, gathering wisely what is useful from them all, 40 and shun with discernment the harm in each, imitating the work of the wise bee, which settles upon every flower, and gathers from each with all wisdom what is useful, having nature itself as her teacher. 45 But you, from your own reason, reap the beneficial things abundantly; and if anything brings harm, recognizing its base quality, fly away swiftly. For the mind of man is swift-winged. So whatever praise of virtue is written in them, 50 which they sing, and conversely, what they blame as vice, these you must learn with diligence, and guard both your mind and the charm of your diction.

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^A As for what they wrote concerning the gods in idle talk—base myths, the doctrines of demons, 55 myths worthy of both laughter and tears—turn away from these as you would from snares and traps. But when you have read both—the gods and the words—the ridiculous gods and the lovely words, despise the pleasure-loving gods, 60 but honor the words; as if from a single plant, avoid the thorns and pluck the rose. This is the best rule for you regarding words outside [the faith]. As to which ones it is appropriate to devote all ^B your zeal to, we shall say shortly. 65 For this is what I wish to tell you first: that a young man must flee the company of the wicked, and the pleasures that are found in them. For there are many who, like beasts, 70 are full of mange and some disease, who try the simpler young people, and rubbing themselves against them with crafty guile, wish to infect them with the disease of wickedness, so that by the company of the many, they may cast shadow upon their own evils. 75 Guard against these; for, as it seems to Paul, "Evil communications corrupt good morals." Indeed, you must also be strictly on your guard regarding this: hate the obscenity of theaters, of wild beasts, of chariot races, the 80 discordant spectacle of evils, the vanities of life, the hydra of pleasures, and the unseemly teachings of lascivious men, to whom nothing is more shameful than to be sober.

For some of them, ministers of shame, Have this as art: to exert their judgment in wantonness, 85 Mimes of ridiculous things, accustomed to blows, Having shorn their modesty with razors before their hair, A shameless workshop of filth, For whom to suffer and to do all things that are not permitted, In the sight of all, is a part of their craft. 90 Others, in turn, a race of them even more wretched, Dancing away the glory of the male sex, Breaking their nature with the swaying of their limbs, Men, women, males effeminate, Are neither men nor women, in truthful speech. 95 For they do not remain the one, nor have they attained the other. The one they are, but they do not persist in that manner, And what they wickedly desire, they are not by nature. They are an enigma of licentiousness, a riddle of passions, Men with women, and women with men. 100 What, then, could one say of the diseases of shameful songs, And melodies that soften the tension of the heart, Flutes, and dances of harlot-like bacchanals, To which the thrice-wretched even allot rewards? ^A Are these, then, worthy of praise, and sight, and joy, 105 Or rather of tears and lamentations? Laughter reigns, and nature is defiled, And a manifold flame of pleasures is kindled. And theaters are built for these disgraces, So that no longer do the diseases behave unseemly in secret, 110 But prizes are laid out for these evil teachings. But you, abhor these things; do not defile your pupils, Fleeing all corruptions of the eyes, So that you may keep your pupils, for me, virginal. And especially flee the bloodthirsty spectacles, ^B

^A of the gluttons, whose god is the belly. For being slaves to the belly, the most shameful of diseases, they serve its wicked commands. And it, like a bitter mistress of the other members, sits within, selling its members to the beasts, 120 greedily devouring the price. The profligate belly tyrannically pushes members related to it into the bellies of beasts. Men who are ignorant of these passions sit as spectators. And if a man escapes from the beasts, they groan, as though they themselves had been more cheated than the beasts, and were sitting there in vain. But when a man is captured, and bellows with a groan, crying bitterly and heaping up dust, all pity utterly 130 flees from the eyes of the spectators, ^B and with pleasure a great applause arises, if they see streams of blood. For they rejoice in seeing what they ought to weep over, and they bestow a measure of favor upon the beasts, and cry out to those that have seized their prey all the more, 135 sharpening their rage, as if they themselves were being sated, and devouring men’s flesh with the beasts. And those wicked sellers of their own limbs, slaves to food, and in turn food for the beasts, living, they are hateful, and dead, they are miserable— 140 such a bitter end of life do they obtain. Some of the limbs are buried in the beasts, others are ruthlessly torn by teeth, and others, half-torn, leap about in various contortions, 145 still fancying a moment for escape and imagining a race. Do not, therefore, defile your eye with spectacles. [alt-version omitted]

^A nor look upon naked men stretched out in death, with beasts glutted and running, and graves brought into motion, with kinsmen lying heaped together.

150 And furthermore, that which many deem to be more gentle, the spectacle of the horse-races, this too is a plague and a disease of souls. It tears cities apart, brings the populace into sedition, teaches battles, and whets the abusive tongue. 155 It severs the bonds of affection between citizens, sets families against one another, brings shame upon the elderly, and drives the young to madness. It kindles hatred between those most dear, and tramples upon laws. ^B Yet it dares an even worse evil than these: it summons sorcerers as allies to the maddened— 160 helpers for victory—and nourishes disease with disease. For when they are inflamed into a fierce rivalry, their path is immediately to the sorcerers.

These, in turn, invoke the malice of demons as a helper to them for disturbances, collisions, and 165 the performance of slaughters; for the army of demons delights in evils. Clearly, therefore, even that which seems gentle, the contentious spectacle of the horse-races, is the destruction of souls and a fight of bodies, and in addition to these, a manifest loss of wealth. 170 How many houses has it suddenly cast down! How many rich men has it forced to beg! How many cities, previously well-governed, has it utterly overthrown! For as internal strife grows, it has stained the hands of the people with the slaughter of the powerful, 175 it has widowed the cities of men by the law of the sword, fire and iron have divided the cities among themselves, punishing slaughters with slaughters, and murders with murders. Who, then, of the wise, will endure to behold this?

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POEMS CONCERNING OTHERS

dividing and joining as is right. ^B 210 For the Trinity is joined without confusion, even as the Unity is distinguished without division. For the nature cannot be divided; but the persons ever remain entirely unconfused. ^C

Be a guardian of these dogmas for me, 215 and a sincere doer of the commandments, wise in all mystical contemplations, always progressing, but never puffed up; for thus will a greater grace flourish upon you.

Do you see the faithful Moses, the man of God, 220 a pattern and exemplar of a religious life? How, after having first learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians, though reared in the greatest wealth, he became of his own will an exile and a poor man, and in the deserts, in place of the luxuries in Egypt, 225 he exchanged the table for the servile table of shepherds, preferring a harsh life to the glory of tyrants, until, judged worthy to behold perfect and sublime sights, he saw the great mystery of the angel, which appeared to him in the flame of a burning bush. 230 Then, having been deemed worthy to hear the voice of God for the first time, and having received authority, he loosed the servile yoke for the groaning people, and became the leader of the whole nation by the decree of God. Having attained such great height, he is not elated; 235 but he calls himself a man of impeded speech and slow of tongue, and also says he is weak, so that thinking humbly of himself, he may remain strong. ^D Keep this pattern of life, conforming yourself to the manner of Moses. 240 And the learning of the doctrines of the Greeks,

Section II. Poems that Pertain to Others

As a judge, who brings a lawful verdict, Order it, as is fitting, to serve The frankness of the true doctrines And the all-wise contemplation of the Scriptures. 245 For it is right that the wisdom of the Spirit, Being from above, arrived from God, Should be mistress of the lower education, As if of a handmaid, one not puffed up in vain, But accustomed to serving in an orderly way. 250 For let the lower serve the wisdom of God. Yet it is most necessary for you to learn this Also: not every book is safe That bears the venerable name of Scripture. For there are, there are sometimes falsely titled 255 Books; some are intermediate, and neighbors, As one might say, of the words of truth; ^A But others again are spurious and very dangerous, Like counterfeit and base coins, Which bear indeed the inscription of the king, 260 But are base, made of debased materials. For these reasons I will tell you of each of the God-inspired books; and so that you may learn clearly, I will first tell of those of the Old Testament. The Pentateuch has Genesis, then Exodus, 265 Leviticus is the middle book, After which are Numbers, then Deuteronomy. To these add Joshua, and the Judges. Then Ruth, and the four books of Kings, And a pair of Chronicles; 270 Ezra first after these, then the second. Next I will tell you the five poetic books: Job, crowned with the contests of various sufferings,

the book of the Psalms, a melodious remedy for the soul, and again the three of the sage Solomon: Proverbs, 275 Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. To these, add the twelve prophets: Hosea first, then Amos the second, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah—the type ^A of his own three-day passion; 280 Nahum after them, Habakkuk, then ninth, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah, and Malachi, the angel with a double name. After these prophets, learn that there are four others: the bold, great Isaiah, 285 Jeremiah, the compassionate, and mystic Ezekiel, and last, Daniel, the most wise in both deeds and words alike.

Some append Esther to these. Now it is time for me to speak of the New Testament books. 290 Accept only four evangelists: Matthew, then Mark, to whom add Luke third, and count John fourth in time, but first in the height of his doctrines. For I rightly call him the son of thunder, 295 having sounded most greatly of the Word of God. Accept also the second book of Luke, that of the catholic Acts of the apostles. Next, add the vessel of election, the herald of the nations, the apostle 300 Paul, who wisely wrote to the Churches fourteen epistles: one to the Romans, ^B to which one must join the two to the Corinthians,

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METRICAL VERSION

And the sacred Psalms as a remedy for the sick mind, And likewise the three books of Solomon: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Songs of Solomon. To these, add now the twelve prophets together, Hosea, and Amos, and Micah moreover, And the fourth, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah—the type Of him who returned to the air on the third day from death— Nahum, also Habakkuk, who sits in the ninth place, Zephaniah, and Haggai, and Zechariah, the last, To whom is a double name, Malachi the angel. After these, learn who the four prophets are: The first is the fearless-mouthed Isaiah, The second, the condoling Jeremiah, And then the mystic Ezekiel, and at last in place, Daniel, Wise indeed in deeds and in words alike. There are some who join the book of holy Esther to these. Now listen to the books of the New Testament: Take only four evangelists. Matthew precedes all, Mark immediately, And Luke follows, and to John is given the fourth Seat; yet he is prior to the others if you look At the doctrines. For he is rightly called the child Of thunder: for he sounded most of the Word of God. Join to these also the second book of Luke, Which speaks at length of the deeds of the apostles. Add the vessel of election, the Apostle, Who was ever the celebrated herald of the nations, And who wrote skillfully fourteen letters To Christians, one to the citizens of Rome, And two he wrote to the citizens of two-sea Corinth,

^A One to the Galatians, and one to the Ephesians, after which One to the Philippians, next that which was written To the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, Two to Timothy, and to Titus and Philemon, One to each, and one to the Hebrews. Some, however, say the letter to the Hebrews is spurious, But they do not speak rightly; for the grace is genuine. ^B 310 So then, what remains? As for the Catholic Epistles, Some say seven, but others say that only three Ought to be received: the one of James, One of Peter, and the one of John. Others, however, accept the three, and in addition to them the two Of Peter, and that of Jude as the seventh. And the Apocalypse of John, again, Some accept, but the majority ^C Truly the canon of the divinely inspired Scriptures, 320 By which, if you are persuaded, you will escape the snares of the world, And you will cast down the vanity of hopes, And scatter with a generous hand your fleeting Wealth to the poor, remaining a secure harvest. For you will treasure up in heaven what you have sown. 325 And follow Christ, the wise Word of God. O thrice-blessed, O thrice-happy you, Appearing as a star to many old men and young; For a pious life shines more brightly than the stars. And the chorus of prophets, martyrs, and apostles, ^D 330 Standing around you, as if you were their own member, Will crown you, sending forth a triumphal applause. And then you will rejoice, harvesting inexhaustible glory,