Cosmas of Jerusalem

COLLECTION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE HISTORIES MENTIONED BY THE DIVINE GREGORY IN HIS METRICAL WORKS, DRAWN FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE AND FROM PAGAN POETS AND WRITERS. A WORK BY COSMAS OF JERUSALEM, SURNAMED PHILOGREGORIOS.

^A

PREFACE.

Those who search the deep recesses of the sea and explore its caverns are in no wise deterred from their purpose by the dangers that attend them; for, regarding the successes they hope for as primary and the misfortunes as secondary, they deem everything that occurs through some harsh coincidence to be of little account. Indeed, when they have drawn up the precious pearl and presented that much-desired treasure to earthly kings, they are rewarded with even greater renown. Often, even for the sake of things of lower value, they are possessed of the same zeal, nor do they cease from their labor before they have obtained their desired object. ^B Now, as for myself, I do not know how I might measure my own boldness against theirs—whether I am stronger or, rather, weaker—but I have chosen to pass over in silence the renown which they acquired through such magnanimity, and to speak of my own. Having now set myself to draw up the precious pearl—or, rather, to use a more fitting term, to draw from the heavenly fullness—I mean the discourses of Gregory, and to lay bare the sequestered wealth of his inner treasures, I would not have anyone suppose that I have dared to do so in an ignoble spirit, but rather with youthful boldness, for I have ^C reasoned very rightly. For if the Word has set forth Gregory as a golden cup for the dispensing of joy, and the all-holy Spirit has fashioned him as a fragrant vessel, and Grace has set him up as a lamp, flaming on every side with seven wicks and shining brightly, then it is surely no small glory, even for one who in no way acts as a cup of joy, to distribute the joy of that cup. And I think no one would disparage it, for though he may not possess the ointment himself, he yet follows in the wake of the fragrant vessel; for he will partake of no less of its sweetness, since he well knows the saying of Solomon: “I will run after thee in the odor of thy ointments.” Furthermore, ^D as for the one who approaches the lamp, it is the part of a fool to remain in darkness when placed near it. But we, though unworthy, God...

has honored through his intercessions, and we have been made known to those who abundantly share in these things, and we know well that we shall appear even more so. Each of those who especially desire to share with us in these good things will accept the mediator of the benefit, according to the intention that it is fitting for us to return to him. For, says the divine Apostle, let them learn to render recompense; for this is good and acceptable before our Savior God.

^A Therefore, whatever one might say or do that is laudable toward Gregory, being made radiant by his words, he says and does unto Christ. But the glory of Christ is clearly of the Father who begat him. Gregory, therefore, has been rightly and deservedly called the Theologian; others, however, have merely gained fame as "Gregoriologists." For he who speaks the things of Gregory speaks Christ; but to speak Christ is truly theology, and theology is the most truthful account of the Trinity, through whom the power of speaking was energized in him, and through whom he was inspired to speak. To us, therefore, our first concern was to gather Gregory’s words together, specifically those which he composed in meter, then to make a book appearing in paraphrases and others easy to grasp for those who encounter them, aiming to divide the words and—not failing in what is likely—to divide the syntaxes again, and for each one of these to provide an explanation, so that the verses are not confused by some ingenious meaning added to them; thus, to provide them with grace, the syntax with harmony, and the explanation with completeness. But to me, the most dear to those who encounter it seems to be ^B this: to set forth the histories more broadly. This, then, having been planned, truly put us into a state of helplessness (for it shall be spoken truthfully) when we looked at the multitude of the histories; for we did not think that we were sufficient for so much. But nevertheless, we obtained such a portion of our hopes that there was no need to sketch them out in rough drafts; rather, at the same time, we were able to digress and act spontaneously, and not even to have to pore over books, from which it was necessary to take and set down the sense of the history, as if a book were present and a scribe were standing by—for I would not have doubted that he was invisibly present with us for the matter at hand. Nothing, therefore, has been unachieved by us in the tasks regarding Gregory until now, having trusted in his intercessions; since even when we were dividing the words of the metrical book, we did not fail even ^C in a single word, and having set down the paraphrases from the sequence of the meaning, although we were then inexperienced, we did not err in correctness. These things, having later practiced them through repetitions, and the wondrous thing is that after writing them, we were perplexed, wondering if we had not learned them afterward with toil and at leisure, which we wrote without effort and spontaneously. So much did Gregory for us, or rather God through Gregory, persuasive through the prayers of his servant, render everything most favorably: like the sweetest honey, most desired by all, depositing it in an earthen vessel, or binding gold to a discarded, filthy piece of common clothing—as if crying out to all: "Taste the sweetness of the honey, having been filled, and break the vessel (for it is earthen and very cheap); gorge yourselves on what is inside, spitting out what is outside. Receive the gold, and despise the rag in which it is wrapped; ^D honor the treasure, and store it respectably in your storehouse."

^A Christ says: "Yield to my Gregory, through whom I am made manifest to you; for even though he is very great, it is not unfitting for him to be spoken through the lowly. For it is not he, I say, but I who am spoken, I who, being so good, do not turn away the wicked, but give grace to those who ask, even if they are among the most lowly." This book of Histories of Gregory the Theologian deserves to be called "Pearl."

Let a merchant of all things, even to his last tunic and cloak, acquire this, one who is shrewd in his counsels, knowing well how to trade, and having stowed it away in the treasuries of his own heart, so that, possessing it as the only wealth beyond all others, he might gain great glory from all. The book of histories, of which Gregory the God-speech poet made mention in those things spoken by him in meter, is composed according to the predetermined sequence, both from the God-inspired Scripture and from external sources. First, then, it is necessary to note that the histories of each discourse follow their own peculiar sequence; for each one is separated by itself with its own histories. The sign of the difference of where the history is drawn from is this: above the heading, those of the Holy Scripture have the customary mark [nu]; those from outside sources similarly have the customary obelisk [-] above the heading. And in the explanation, the discourse in which the history is contained is clear. All are laid out in sequence, placed before the verse through which Gregory the God-speech poet brought forth the history; I aim to make what is being done easily graspable for those being instructed.

^B For one who encounters the books of Gregory gathers a threefold profit from them: first, the experience of words and the muse of refinement; second, to traverse the heavens along with this refinement by means of divine and heavenly thoughts, and to see with the eyes of the mind everything from the super-celestial firmament down to—be propitious to me, Christ—the ray of the first, sole-known source of the Trinity, the tri-luminous divinity gathered into one focus of light; I mean also those things that come after and share in the secondary light-radiance of that primary one, both heaven itself and those things established within it by God’s power; the earth and the sea, and the living things within them, both aquatic, terrestrial, amphibious, and aerial, down to the subterranean ones, and things even beyond. The third profit is to encounter the histories, and by the speed of the mind with the prefixing of the verses, to run up to the entire structure, to be delighted by the variety of the histories while rejoicing in soul, to gather experience, to be exercised in speech, to explore all things from the ages that are wondered at, and to acknowledge the magnitude of God’s providence and guidance concerning all things, and His ineffable love for mankind; through all of which one might attain even to God; for God is light, and in the light of knowledge one shall see light. These things are for the lovers of Gregory, whom the word of truth clearly knows to be also lovers of God. ^C Again, we shall look to another work, trusting in the intercessions of Gregory; this is to gather into one place the physiology, as he himself calls it; then following that, whatever pertains to the dual-time [syllables], and the art and quality of consonant sounds, and the division of vowels, and other words of various meanings, local words, Attic words, those that are learned, and those from

elements of prosody and consonants, of the division of vowels and the various meanings of other nouns, as well as of the indigenous words customary among the Attics, of those things which are ready at hand, which contain disparagement, inspire fear, indicate sorrow or mourning, and those which serve for responses; of excision, omission, and contraction, and of words which the Attics use altogether contrary to Greek custom. Of conciseness in oaths, of periods in which the plural is put for the singular, or the active for the passive; of statements in which something is conceded although it does not exist, of the hyphen and of compounds, of those things which, although they are impossible, are accepted, of those which are uttered twice or thrice, of those which have the same form and the same meaning; of the seventy-two poetical figures, and of the seventy-four rhetorical figures, so that we may explain all these things aforesaid in their own way, partly from the Holy Scripture and partly from the works of the divine Gregory.

OF THE MONK COSMAS THE AGIOPOLITE: HISTORIES OF GREGORY. ORATION I. On his own life.

1. Christ, O King, who once with hands upraised in purity, 2. In the cross-form of Moses upon the hill, O thy servant, 3. Didst bend the total strength of Amalek.

As Israel, hurrying from the Egyptians toward the land of promise, was in the desert, Amalek meets them first, a nation first named in Scripture; for "The beginning of nations," it says, "is Amalek." Either because he was the first to wage war against Israel, or because it was the first among nations that stood against him to despoil those of the people who were lagging behind, it stands in battle array against Israel. While the battle therefore raged for a sufficient time, Moses, the prophet and leader of the people, defeats Amalek with hands that were cross-formed; and it happened that, as his hands were being raised on high, the trophy was raised with them, and when they were lowered, it was as though it were being lowered with them; for this reason Aaron and Ur, who were also prophets themselves, supported the hands of Moses from both sides upon a certain hill (this however is a type of the saving passion); and then they even steadied them with added stones, until the total rout of the enemies. And indeed the sign of the cross stood at the head of the battle, but Joshua the son of Nun [led] the fighting men of the people. Moses makes mention of these things continually to Israel, saying: "Thou shalt loathe Amalek, for," he says, "he despoiled thy rear in the desert, and did not pity thee"; and the rear of the multitude is the portion worn out by the labor of the journey and separated, or being carried away in error.

In Babylon, Israel and Judah were formerly...

^A taken captive a second time by Nebuchadnezzar and Nabuzardan, when Jerusalem was burned. During this captivity, three children of Israel, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, illustrious in the line of David, were present. These men, living piously according to the ancestral law and shining with the prophetic gift, were slandered to the kings by the Assyrian princes, as being opposed to the Persian decrees. Daniel, accordingly, when cast into a pit as food by King Baltasar, spread his hands toward God and checked the open jaws and tearing claws of the raw-flesh-eating beasts, and after days returned safe from the pit.

6 "For which cause also Jonah leaped forth from the great sea-monster." The prophet Jonah, having been sent by God to preach to Nineveh, the great city of Ninus the king of the Assyrians, flees the command and sets out on a sea voyage to Tarsus. A storm having arisen—for the sailors thought the surge was out of the ordinary, and having learned from him that he was fleeing from the face of God—he was condemned by lot and cast into the sea, where by divine command a sea-monster, a marine beast, received him. He was kept unharmed for three days in its belly, and from there, holding communion with God through prayer, on the third day the monster vomited him out upon dry land, inscribing a type of the mystery of Christ’s resurrection that would afterwards come to pass.

8 "In the Assyrian flame, a dewy cloud covered" 9 "The three bold children, when they spread out their hands." These three children are Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, whom we mentioned above. Once, when King Nebuchadnezzar had set up a golden image, which all were worshipping in unison, summoned by a certain musical harmony, ^B they threatened those who would not worship that they would be delivered to an all-consuming fire. These three children were brought forward; and when the king tried to persuade them, and terrified them with the punishment of the furnace burning before their eyes, because they confessed they would not worship the creature instead of the Creator who made it, a furnace received them by the command of the ruler. To them, an angel of God descended; and from the fire, there was dew for the lads. But they, appeasing God with hymns befitting God, came out of the furnace, perfect—a wonder to all who saw it. And the flame, having spread for forty-nine cubits around the furnace, destroyed the Chaldeans who were standing by. Whence the king, astonished that these men were not touched even by the hairs of their heads by the unwearied fire, decreed that whoever blasphemed their God should be exterminated with his whole family.

10 "Walking on foot over the seething brine," 11 "He calmed the waves and the might of the winds." Having sent the disciples ahead in a boat, Christ himself, talking to the multitude that followed, remained on the shores of the sea. But a storm having overtaken them, they were on the point of being destroyed, submerged in the waves. Christ appeared at evening, walking with his feet upon the liquid sea; and having spoken to the confused and crying disciples, and having urged them to be of good cheer, he was a fellow-passenger with them, having calmed the swell, rebuked the winds, and extended his hand to Peter as he was sinking.

13 "And again, you loosened souls and limbs from many diseases." In summary, he mentions all the miracles of Christ, whereby men, suffering from various diseases of soul and body, partook of divine gifts.

329 "Not even when with foolish mind you weave around yourself a snare." Communing with his soul, the Theologian brings forward this history as an example, saying: ^C Not yet to reason ^D

that played the fool have I attached the rope-like plant. For it is said that the horses of Adrastus, becoming entangled in a tamarisk branch, threw off Adrastus; and Menelaus, having found him and wishing to take him alive, was not permitted, for Agamemnon, the king of the Greeks, coming up, killed him. Metaphorically, therefore, the Theologian says that the horses have delivered up the one who was captured to the enemies, and that my reason, having turned foolish, nearly presented me as a mere accessory to the passions, having nowhere to stand in its disordered rush, nor anyone by whom, conversely, it might be held back for the benefit of the soul.

352 Fleeing Egypt’s black soil, and labors 353 And Pharaoh the king, to a divine fatherland ^A journeying.

Black by nature is the land of Egypt, and bitter are the labors that were once imposed upon the Hebrews, such as brick-making and certain other things by which the Egyptians enslaved them; wherefore, to Moses, who had arrived to lead the children of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians by divine command, Pharaoh, the king of the Egyptians, became more bitter. In an anagogical sense, then, the Theologian calls the black soil the persistence in sin; by Pharaoh he means the devil; the bitter labors are those things produced in the soul through him; and by the divine fatherland he means the age to come, toward which it is right for the soul to hasten, as if to a storehouse of eternal life, resting through virtue.

354 Nor does he remain on the rugged rocks of Babylon, ^B 355 Sitting by the channels of the river, 356 Having laid aside all the unstruck instruments of song, 357 Mournful, he hastens to the end of the holy land.

Rough is the land of Babylon, where the people, having been deported, are said to have sat by the banks of the river and to have lamented their exile, and not to have wished to sing the song in a strange land, but to have kept the instruments of song ^C unmoved and idle. After seventy years, released from such captivity, they returned to their own fatherland. This, therefore, the Theologian says anagogically: Babylon signifies the sin that leads one away from God into captivity; the instruments are to be understood as the powers of the soul—I mean prayer and the singing of hymns to God—from which the soul, having grown weak, laments the servile yoke. And the holy land is the region of the meek, the kingdom of the heavens, which it is possible to attain, having fled from the rough ^D sin.

359 And the foundations of a great temple are laid by his hands.

Darius, the king of the Medes, after seventy years, admiring the Hebrews for their piety, releases them from captivity; and he commands the temple of Solomon and Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Then, therefore, the people having returned from Assyria, restore the temple and the city of Jerusalem. The Theologian calls the foundations of the temple the strong virtues, which build up the soul as a temple of God, surrounded round about.

367 As from the holy city of Solyma, descending 368 Unto the glorious citadel of Jericho, as they relate, 369 Evil thieves despoiled the traveler.

The Savior relates this parable in the Gospels, that a certain traveler was descending from Jerusalem and fell among thieves, who, having stripped him and left him half-dead, wounded by many blows, departed. By chance, a Levite and a priest passed by and, with unmerciful spirit, neglected him. But a Samaritan, having approached closer and seen him, moved by mercy, provided medicine for his wounds with a generous hand, set him on his own beast, and with necessary care delivered him to an innkeeper. According to the mind of the Theologian, therefore, the traveler is the soul that passes through this life; that he descended from Jerusalem is to be understood in terms of virtue; by the thief he means the devil, who once alienated Adam from God and in the same way receives all those born from Adam and strives to remove them from God.

^A 393 I inquire: as if breathing forth great things, two men, the Pharisee 394 and the tax-collector, 396 went up to the temple. The Savior also speaks of this parabolically in the Gospels, that two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. But the Pharisee, boasting of his fasts and tithes and other legal commandments, and comparing himself with other men, and disparaging the tax-collector in his words, is sent away without honor. But the tax-collector, beating his breast with his hands, and pouring forth hot tears, and beseeching God to be merciful to him in his transgressions, is judged worthy of forgiveness, since God has regard for the humble rather than for the one who exalts himself.

426... He imitated the voice of holy Anna. Anna is the mother of the prophet Samuel, and being barren and weeping bitterly, she went to Shiloh, where the ark of the covenant of the Lord was. When she had prayed, God granted Samuel to her; and he, according to the promise of his mother, is consecrated to serve God, and is brought to the tabernacle of the testimony while yet a child. Elkanah is the name of his father.

432... Now again I am numbered among the profane, 433 O Eli, thy servant, to the sons of ^B glorious [priests] 436 They who touched divine things with greedy hands were seized by the pots; 436 Therefore they met with a grievous end of their life.

The sons of the priest Eli, Ophni and Phinees, were very lawless, not recognizing the right of the law [to be observed] by the people who were sacrificing. For before the fat could be burned, they would let down a trident into the bronze pot, and whatever the trident pulled out of the pot, the servant of the priest would take; this was reckoned as a very great sin for them. Wherefore God, through one of the pious men, reveals to their father the pitiable end that was about to come upon him along with them, and also through Samuel, while he was still a child and ministering before him in the tabernacle. And this also came to pass: for when the foreigners attacked, Ophni and Phinees, the sons of Eli, went out with the ark; but the war of the foreigners against them having grown strong, and the ark having been captured, both fell by the edge of the sword. And when someone brought the news of both the ark and the sons and the people to Eli, it happened that as he was sitting in his chair he fell backward and was broken, and departed from life. And indeed, his daughter-in-law, who was pregnant, at the same time gave birth in her grief and expired with the delivery; so that the word declared by God was fulfilled: that in one day, of all the house of Eli, the one who offered incense to God would be utterly destroyed.

440 Already one has led a friend, a son given by God, to the altar, 442 the offspring of late-bearing Sarah and the root of his lineage, 444 Abraham is the priest, and the glorious lamb is Isaac.

Abraham in old age begets Isaac according to the promise, though Sarah herself was both sterile and aged. But God commands him to offer as a sacrifice to Him, on a certain high place, his only-begotten son [born] from the promise. When Abraham came with the child to the place, and had built the altar, and had stacked the wood for the holocaust, and had bound Isaac, and had drawn the knife against him, God, having called from heaven, turns aside the intention of the slaughter of the child, being well-pleased ^C

^A that nothing is dearer to Abraham than God; and having provided a ram, caught by its horns in a certain shrub called samech, to be sacrificed in the place of the child—this having been done, he returns to his own people, bringing back his only-begotten son safe. 480 Nor does he turn back to the ash/desert of the Sodomites. 481 "He who, for the sake of gluttony, was destroyed by foreign fire, 482 Flees hastening to the mountain, but of his fatherland he speaks, 483 That neither myth nor a pillar of salt may remain behind." ^B

The place of Sodom is somewhere around the Jordan; there existed five cities; the area, before it was destroyed, was pleasant and very fertile, being watered as the land of Egypt. Lot inhabited this area; he was a kinsman to Abraham; for having emigrated with him from the land of his birth to Canaan, he obtained this place to inhabit in the following manner: since there were many possessions for him and for Abraham, since it was not possible for them to occupy the land together, their shepherds started quarrels with each other. Abraham, therefore, being cautious, and having granted the preference to Lot if he wished to move from the land, he moved with his whole household. But the men of the place were most wicked, wallowing in all kinds of debaucheries of the flesh; their impiety having therefore multiplied, it was fitting that the divine wrath should come upon them; and God himself spoke face to face with the righteous Abraham concerning this, as is recounted in Holy Scripture regarding hospitality. Two angels having therefore been sent to the Sodomites to destroy them, it happened that Lot, sitting at the gate, being a hospitable and righteous man, received them into his home. But those who were inside the houses, all the Sodomites, elders and youths alike, calling Lot out, became clamorous; and the righteous Lot tried to appease them gently, proffering his two daughters, who had not yet known men, to the wanton ones for the service ^C of their desires. But having been pushed back and having been in danger of being crushed by them, being drawn in by his own people at the doors, having obtained the help of the angels, he entered inside and was saved. As for those outside the doors, a blindness befell them, so that they were unable to recognize them; for they had been made powerless, and even while groping for them, they could not find them. Then the divine angels urged Lot to flee with his whole family to that place, and not to turn around while traveling, neither to the right nor to the left. Having spoken with some of his relatives who were involved in a marriage alliance with him, and being thought to be jesting, he was pushed by the angels to depart; he went out with two virgins and his wife. Fire of divine origin having rained down upon the Sodomites from heaven, the wife of Lot, having turned back for a look, was depicted as a lifeless pillar of salt. But the righteous Lot, fearing lest he also be caught up with the Sodomite fire, and since he was not yet able to reach the mountain, sought a smaller city named Segor as a refuge. This having been done and he having been saved there, he ascends the mountain, having found an opportunity.

The divine Gregory says that Sodom is the way of life in sins, but that Lot is the personification of virtue. Therefore, the one withdrawing from sin must not look back at it; for this is what it means to look back and be turned into a pillar of salt; for it is likely that the wife of Lot, having turned back toward her desire, suffered this; and the pillar is a manifest indictment of the event, running into eternity. But we must understand the city of Segor as the soul established by virtue, which must hasten toward the height of perfection by ascents according to God, and not remain before the feet; for this, too, contains a condemnation of sloth. ^D

577 Being worn out, I bend my knees to thee, send me, 578 With a pitying finger, to cool dry Lazarus 579 With flame—may the abyss no longer hold me back, 580 Nor keep me far from the great bosom of Abraham, 581 The rich man in sufferings. Lay thy hand upon me.

^A The Savior spoke this parable in the Gospels, saying that there was a certain rich man who dressed in purple and lived in luxury every day. At his gates a certain poor man named Lazarus was thrown down, wasted away by poverty. To the rich man, indeed, overflowing with luxury and prospering in the goods of this life, the poor man was of no concern at all, even though he was in a wretched state regarding his body and was wasting away from the leftovers of the rich man’s table. Nay, more, it is said that the rich man’s dogs used to lick the poor man’s sores, adding pain to one who was deemed worthy of no healing by their masters.

In this way, the rich man, who was harshly disposed, and the poor man, who endured his lot with thanksgiving, were both carried away and arrived at the place appointed for them, from which the rich man looked out. Having looked up slightly (for there was a simmering fire and a most bitter worm agitating him), it is said that he beheld the poor man, Lazarus, sitting broadly in the patriarch’s bosom, attended by many angelic guards. He cried out to the guard, Abraham, to send him that Lazarus, whom he had formerly overlooked, [to bring] a drop, so that he might moisten the one who was smoldering with his little finger. The patriarch replied that this was not possible, [saying] that his mourning, [arising] from so unexpected a salvation, had added greater pain to his torment. He says that a great chasm was set around them, the boundaries being impassable to them, and they were rendered unable to reach one another—a limit ^B of wickedness sealed here, being confirmed by those who live as he did. By the rich man, he says, is meant one who is steeped in many sins. By Lazarus, who is deemed worthy of a drop of mercy, one must understand the divine Word, dropped by those who are God-bearers into souls burning with passions. The chasm is the unchangeable sloth arising from wickedness, which the most wretched soul, having taken as a companion, is submerged in chasm and fire, no longer possessing any hope of salvation. The bosoms of Abraham are the dwellings of the saints; for to him God promised the land of promise, in which milk and honey flow—God dwelling with gods, and being praised by them without ceasing, and being broadly and endlessly discoursed upon.

584 Speak, and may the bloody flow cease most quickly. Commemorating the miracles in the Gospels anagogically, he turns his discourse to Christ Himself. For by a word, he says, speak, and the bloody nature of the soul shall stand [still]. For the nature of blood indicates the wound of a previously inflicted injury; for from the wounded [flesh], a flowing of the sore usually follows. He speaks of a most swift relief, by a derived figure; for a certain woman with an issue of blood, held by the ailment for twelve years, secretly touching the hem of Christ, was immediately delivered from the disease.

585 Speak, and may the herd of the legion be driven out, 586 And the Spirit might fall into the seas. This is also one of the miracles in the Gospels; for in the region of the Gergesenes there was a certain man possessed by demons in the tombs, because of whom the place was impassable, many having been harmed by him in various ways. Jesus, having restored him to health, [is asked] by the demons to allow them [to enter] the swine grazing there.

After this had happened, the demons drove the swine into the sea and destroyed them all, buried under the waves.

^A 587 And may you banish the joyless leprosy. He recalls the cleansing of the leper that was brought about by Christ; he likens the soul, stained by many sins, to a leper, for the affliction is joyless, spread throughout the body.

588 May light come to those who do not see with their eyes. He hints at Bartimaeus; for to him who longed for mercy, Christ grants light, having bestowed it upon him. The Theologian calls blindness "ignorance," lacking which the soul will long for its natural light; for it will not only praise the Benefactor as the Son of David, but will worship Him as God, the Giver of great gifts.

And may the ears hear a voice. To the deaf and the stutterer who asked, Christ provides the release for both. According to the anagogical sense, one is called deaf who has, regarding the reception of divine things, a hearing that is by nature most heavy.

589 And may you extend my withered hand, and loose the bonds ^B 590 of the tongue. These also are among the miracles of Christ; therefore he is reproached for performing the healing on the Sabbath. For to these men suffering from these afflictions, he orders them to stretch out their hand in the middle of the synagogue, and to speak with a tongue that is articulated. The Father calls the withered hand the state of being sluggish regarding divine commandments, and the bond of the tongue to be either not encountering the commandments of God, or the binding of the organ of speech from the benefit [it should provide] to others.

May you make firm the unsteady base of the feet. ^C 560 He makes mention of many paralyzed persons generally enjoying the healing of Christ. He calls a soul "paralyzed" if it has been wounded in the war against the enemy, or if it lies in sloth and is unable to recover from its disease, that is to say, from sin.

591 And may you satisfy with a little bread. Christ, having first fed many thousands in the desert with five loaves and two small fish, and having confirmed the magnitude of the miracle with twelve basketfuls of fragments, likewise with the second miracle satisfied seven thousand with seven loaves, provided clear proofs of divine power. But the divine Gregory, discoursing to the soul, recalls these things; for he knows the Word often to call bread "food for the soul." He prays, therefore, that this may be provided by God to the starving soul.

May you calm the ^D 592 fearful sea. At the beginning of the discourse, we set forth this history of Christ coming to the disciples across the fearful sea. By "sea," one might signify the storms of life, which hurry to submerge the wretched soul with many calamities in successive surges. And he says "to calm," meaning "to smooth out"; for it is to be expected that peace and an end to the storm come to pass, wherever Christ is.

May you shine brighter than the sun. Jesus, having taken with him those of the disciples who had been chosen, was transfigured upon a very high mountain, showing them Moses and Elijah. But the light of that [event] was, to the sight of the disciples, a little too much and stronger [than they could bear]. "Shine, therefore," he says, "upon our minds, as you once appeared to the disciples on the mountain, brighter than the sun."

^A 593 "And stiffened limbs made heavy." He mentions the history of the paralytic; for Christ, by His command, binds him fast, who was weighed down in his limbs. Therefore, he says, the weighed-down limbs are the instruments of the soul, which, having been exhausted by the labor of the war against the invisible Enemy, have become motionless and altogether idle.

"From the dead 594 again you might raise up." Christ, having drawn Lazarus out of the tomb on the fourth day, presents him alive; and this man was a friend to Him, and the brother of the women beloved by Him, I mean Mary and Martha. He hailed from the hamlet of Bethany, situated at a short distance from Jerusalem. Christ, while spending time elsewhere, predicts to the disciples that this Lazarus had been overcome by sickness, and then that he was dead. Since there was no common mourning in the house of the deceased, Christ arrives on the fourth day with His disciples; and Martha and Mary, the sisters of the deceased, having met Him, wept and reproached Him for the delay; for Lazarus would not have been held by the bonds of death had Jesus been present. Therefore, since Christ promised to raise up their brother, and had hastened to the tomb of the deceased, the sisters are said to have discouraged the uncovering of the tomb because the deceased had been dead four days, as he was surely already decaying. But Christ, having called out, presents him walking in an unusual manner before the tomb, wrapped in grave-clothes as is the custom for those being buried—a great miracle to those who see it: a corpse of four days walking in unobstructed bonds. And when the one who was dead a short time before was untied and had gone home, the miracle having spread throughout the whole of Jerusalem, both among the inhabitants of the city and among the new arrivals from elsewhere (for it was the feast of the Passover), it is written that they received Jesus as He came on a foal with branches and palms, and sang a Davidic hymn to God, as they confessed Christ the King to be the Son of David. Therefore, the divine Gregory says that the soul, dead in sin, shall be released from its death-bearing bonds by the presence/intervention of Christ.

"Nor let me be fruitless, 593 like the fig tree you once saw, dried up as you might complete." Christ, journeying from Bethany to the city of Jerusalem, hungered on the road and approached a fig tree, desiring food, but finding no fruit on it, He abruptly withered it with His word. Now, the fig tree is to be understood as a slothful soul, oppressed by fruitlessness and hardness, which, not rendering fruit in season, Christ withers with His word. And a tree that is dry and fruitless is, plainly, food for fire at the end.

616 "As when someone, leaving a lion, approaches a bear, 617 raging, and having fled her, falls into a house 618 gladly, and leans his hand against the wall, 619 whence a snake, leaping out, smites him unexpectedly." This is the example of the prophet Amos; for he says: "Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord, and it is darkness and not light; as if a man should leave a lion and approach a bear, and having fled her, should fall into a house, and lean his hands against the wall, and a serpent should bite him." Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light; and gloom, not having brightness?

DISCOURSE II. On Virginity.

and to show it to have been faintly apparent in former times, but shining more brightly since the incarnation of our Savior, introduces from theology the holy and undivided Trinity, ^A demonstrating It to be the first Virgin, after whom he places the angelic powers, which are established around the first ray. Having discoursed on theology, and having presented it as far as possible in an explanatory manner, he introduces the creation of the angels, and of this universe; beginning from light, as the first thing that existed, he states how the works and grace became full of light. He introduces the heaven and the earth, the sea and what is in it, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the various kinds of animals of every sort, and the molding of man, and the formation of the woman taken from his side, covering the entire creation in a brief discourse.

131 And by many teachings previously molded, 152 By tongues divided, and by waters and by showers of fire.

He makes mention of the flood, and the building of the tower, and the Sodomites. For the race of men having ^B increased to a multitude, and all, so to speak, having become hardened, each one doing evil by himself, with fornications and adulteries and licentiousness, and with enchantments and idolatries, all being scattered abroad, God commands Noah, a certain just man according to that generation, to construct a wooden ark in which, becoming fully contained with all his household, he would be preserved from the coming flood. Noah, therefore, having finished the ark in one hundred years in total, and having entered with his whole household, and having enclosed with himself every race of beasts and animals, of birds and of reptiles, according to their kind, escapes that universal shipwreck. For, this having come to pass, God flooded the entire earth with infinite showers, opening the heavenly cataracts and breaking apart the abysses from beneath the ^C earth; then, indeed, the water having overflowed the mountains by fifteen cubits, all flesh and every living thing existing upon the face of the earth was utterly destroyed. But Noah, having been saved along with those enclosed with him in the ark, the whole of this [race] takes its beginning again from there, God having repented and having assured them that He would not bring a flood again, even if men were to sin against Him as much as possible. One is not to consider this repentance in God as a change, but as an expression of goodness; for the threat terrifies all the more, but the promise of forbearance even to those who stumble is a proof of the highest philanthropy. At another time again, the race of men having increased upon the earth, and being occupied with many transgressions against God, there being at that time but one language ^D of the whole race, men again busy themselves with a vanity, namely to rush toward heaven with certain machines. Therefore, having prepared bricks and clay, they attempt to build a tower; but when the machine seemed to look toward the heights, then indeed a division of languages happened all at once to those busy with vanity; and having been scattered, and being unable to agree with one another, they put a stop to the work they were pointlessly performing. There it is said that only one man, Eber by name, did not consent to their vain labor. He calls the Sodomitic lightnings showers of fire.

466 To a restored life Adam and glory he shall bring.

Adam, the first man created by God according to His image, to rule over everything upon the earth [1...]

^A and being a worker of divine concepts, nourishing his soul with simple thoughts, and possessing as a helper the woman taken from his side, inhabited the paradise planted by God. And when a commandment had been given to him by God, to partake of all the plants in paradise abundantly, but to abstain from one single tree for a more perfect nourishment—God having set this as a contest through which he might overcome the opposing demon—he was defeated by the eating and became an exile from the enjoyment. For Satan, having used the serpent as an instrument, entering in human-like to Adam, and having persuaded the woman to partake also of the fruit and having deceived her, and through the woman having overturned the first-formed, left them naked and departed. And having covered themselves with fig leaves, and no longer bearing to hear the voice of God, our forefathers hid in the grove; but when called to stand before God, they were not able to do so by reason of their nakedness, Adam blaming the woman, and she blaming the serpent. God gives a sentence to the one, that he should eat the earth and be carried upon his breast and belly upon the ground, having placed him under a curse for all time, and that he should be at enmity with the seed of the woman and watch her heel, and under this have his head crushed; to the woman, to travail and suffer in bearing children, and to turn to her husband, and be ruled and governed by him; to Adam, to sweat and live and eat bread with labor, the earth bringing forth thorns and thistles for him, and to be corrupted and return to his mother, the earth, and become dust again, as he was before the soul was joined to him. And having covered their nakedness with tunics of skin, God sends him away in disgrace from the possession of delight; and having stationed Cherubim and a flaming sword as a guard for paradise, He set the tree of life, planted in the midst of the grove, inaccessible to them.

309 Faith translated Enoch, and he from waters ^B saved 310 The whole world, with few souls and seeds in a ship, 311 Great Noe. ^C Enoch, being the seventh from Adam, pleased God; for while men were raging with impieties, it is said that he lived for himself and God on a certain mountain. There is also another story about him, that Lamech, a man in all things wicked, attempted to kill him, having tyrannically taken away his wives; Enoch, being good and having pleased God, God translated him, living until now, and preserved him above the pangs of death. But Noe, being also just, was saved with his whole family when the flood made the earth disappear. ^D

Abraham, father of cities and nations, 312 And binding his son, an altar-sacrifice to Christ, 313 Moses led the people from heavy Egypt 314 With great wonders; he received the law on slabs 315 From on high, and saw God face to face.

Moses, an Israelite being born in Egypt, when the decree of Pharaoh then threatened that the children born to the Hebrews were to be thrown into the river, having been kept for three months by his parents, since it was no longer possible to hide him, is exposed; for his parents, having coated a basket with bitumen and pitch, cast the child out and throw him to the banks of the river, having ordered his sister, who was a young girl, to watch over him. And when the daughter of Pharaoh arrived by chance to bathe, the servants of this one, having taken the basket from the river-banks, presented it to the mistress.

^C And when she had opened the chest and seen the weeping infant, she was moved to pity; upon realizing that the child was one of the Hebrews—and sparing him—she ordered her sister to call a nurse. Having handed him over to be suckled and having received him back once he attained manhood, she brought him into the royal palace and, educating him in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, declared him her own son. When time had passed and Moses had now attained the age of manhood, and was burning with zeal for the faith of his ancestors, it happened that one of the Egyptians was beating a Hebrew, one of his own brothers. Moses, finding an opportunity, killed the Egyptian and covered him beneath the sand. But on the following day, having seen Hebrew brothers brawling with one another, he attempted to reconcile them to peace. When, however, the one committing the injustice pushed him away and reminded him of the murder committed shortly before—which could no longer be hidden from Pharaoh—he became fearful and set out upon the path that leads to Midian. ^D Having arrived there, he took his seat at the nearby well. While the shepherds, as was their custom, were gathering to water their own sheep, the maidens—the daughters of the priest—arrived with their flocks, only to be driven from the well by others. Since the former were prevailing over the maidens, he himself arose and whipped those who were acting unjustly, having an ardor of spirit toward wickedness proportional to the violence of their acts. Having taken pity on the maidens, and having filled the storage tanks with water by his own hand, he ordered the flocks to be lead to the watering troughs. When the owners arrived at their father’s home much sooner than usual, he was astonished at their speed; and when they told him the reason, he associated with the man under that pretext, and Moses settled with him. Having married his elder daughter (Zipporah was her name), he spent forty years there.

^A After this, while he was tending his flocks, he arrived at Mount Horeb, where there was a bush. When he drew near, he was deemed worthy of a vision of God, for the bush seemed to be wrapped in fire, yet it was not being consumed. While Moses marveled, and was eager to focus his gaze further, a more divine voice warned him, having issued from the bush, and ordered him to remove the sandals from his feet. "I am," he said, "the One who speaks, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses became terrified and was wary of looking. When, however, he was granted great boldness of speech from this conversation, and though God commanded Moses—who had come to understand the situation of the Egyptians—to deliver the sons of Israel from the slavery of the Egyptians and to bring their affliction to an end, he kept postponing his arrival. Asserting that he was insufficient for this task, and claiming the slowness of his tongue and the harshness of his voice as excuses, God became angry with him. With a harsh threat from God in response—setting aside those excuses we have mentioned, and saying that he would not be believed by them—He ordered him to throw the rod he held in his hand upon the earth. Having done as the One who was speaking commanded, he fled in great fear when it turned into a serpent. But when God commanded him to take hold of its tail, he again held the rod as it had been before. But still doubting, he was ordered to reach his hand into his bosom; upon bringing it out, he found it leprous, but after returning it and taking it out again, he found it had returned to its original complexion. He then set out on the journey to Egypt with his wife and the children born to him from her, having bidden farewell to his father-in-law and friends in a most friendly manner. When he was on the journey, an angel appeared and nearly killed the firstborn son of Moses, who was so named Gersam, had not the boy’s mother run and, taking a stone, cut away the boy's foreskin; when the blood of the foreskin had been stayed, the angel spared him and departed. But Moses, after he had come to Mount Seir, ^B met his brother.

^A His name was Aaron, and having communicated to him the things commanded by God, he is said to have revealed them to both of the Israelites. At first, they were glad, but when Pharaoh’s command was issued—the withholding of straw from the brickmakers—it inflicted even more bitter pain upon those who were suffering. Being whipped and driven to complete despair, they railed against Moses and Aaron. But God, urging them on with signs and wonders—which we shall indicate species by species as the discourse proceeds—armed them. Egypt was scourged with many calamities and wounded in every way by many plagues, until at last, with the entire mass of the Egyptians’ malice, they departed with a strong hand and an uplifted arm, leaving that land in the extremity of evils. From there, they traveled through the middle of the sea with dry feet, and having been led under His guidance to Mount Horeb, they were deemed worthy of divine legislation; Moses, as is to be expected, was manifestly deemed worthy of the contemplation of God.

316 Faithful among the foremost was the priest ^B [Aaron]. This Aaron was the brother of Moses, was the high priest of God, a prophet, and led the people together with Moses.

317 As for the moon and the sun, Jesus stayed their course. After Moses and Aaron had passed away, God ordered this Jesus, the son of Nave, to lead the people to the land of promise. Having come there, and having overcome by war five kings of the Canaanites who had set themselves against him with one accord, with the sun about to set, he held it back, stopping it in its chariot for the space of three hours, until the complete destruction of his adversaries. He stayed the course ^C of the sun near the village of Gabao, which is a short distance from Jerusalem, and that of the moon near the valley of Selon. Having captured the five kings who had fled into a certain cave, he slew them by hanging them upon trees. Having taken control of the land, he distributed it to the remaining tribes of Israel.

319 And you, O blessed one, bearing the horn for the anointed, ^D [Samuel]. This is Samuel the judge, who, after Eli the priest, judged Israel; he it was who anointed Saul as the first king of Israel, and after him, David as the second. This man, when anointing kings, held a horn in his hand and placed it upon the heads of those being anointed, from which oil would spontaneously gush forth and pour over the head of the anointed one; hence he was called *Christos* (the anointed) king.

320 David most renowned among all kings. This is David, to whom God bore witness, saying: "I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart." Though he was a shepherd of sheep, he was established by divine decree as king of Israel. Among all who have reigned from the beginning of time, he stands out; he is both prophet and ancestor of God, for it is from his seed, according to the flesh, that Christ is proclaimed.

321 And Solomon, the first glory of wisdom. David begot Solomon and established him as successor to his kingdom. To him, God appeared in a dream and encouraged him to ask from Him whatever he wished of earthly goods. He requested that wisdom be given to him by the One who spoke, so that he might be able to lead the people in a manner pleasing to God and to deliver righteous judgment to those set under him. Being pleased with this, God…

promised to bestow upon him a glory and wisdom that would surpass those who had reigned before him and those who would follow; for this reason, the divine Gregory rightly names Solomon first in glory of wisdom.

^A Elias was snatched up to heaven by a chariot. The prophet Elias, burning with zeal for God, chastised the Israelites, who were sinning and falling into apostasy from God, with many plagues in various ways; having shut up the heaven for three years and six months, and having dried up the earth with drought, and having destroyed many of those who were acting impiously against God, he was translated—having departed alive, joyfully mounting a chariot of fire—as God ordained; he did not see death, and having passed beyond human limitations in the flesh, he survives even until now.

^B Who does not tremble before the mediator of the law and the Spirit, the herald of the highest light, John? John is called the mediator between the law and the Spirit, insofar as he was a prophet and the seal of the prophets, and yet saw with bodily eyes Him who was being proclaimed by him. He is called a forerunner in terms of his birth and his preaching; for he is conceived six months before Christ is born in the flesh. This John, being the son of Zacharias the priest and of Elisabeth, who was barren, was born to Zacharias while he was burning incense in the holy temple according to a certain divine oracle. On account of this, Zacharias was killed by Herod in the temple, because he suspected that John was the Christ; thus he reached the end of his life in the flesh. But John, having been saved from the hands of Herod, after living in the desert for about thirty years, practicing asceticism with plants and the ends of reeds, was sent by God to proclaim Christ who was about to appear; he came and announced beforehand the manifestation of Christ. While the multitude was flocking to him and being baptized in the river Jordan, Jesus arrived in the midst of the crowds, whom John did not fail to recognize. He tries to prevent Jesus, who was asking to be baptized by him, thinking this was not fitting. But when Christ persisted and affirmed that it was fitting in this way to fulfill all righteousness, he baptized Him nonetheless. Having been deemed worthy of the vision of God, as the divine Spirit appeared to him corporately in the form of a dove, and having received the voice of the Father from heaven, he bore witness that He was the elect of God. Having discoursed on such things to the multitude and having embraced the desert on the other side, not long after, having encountered the bloodthirstiness of Herod the tetrarch, he exchanged his life on earth for the heavenly life.

^C Who does not [tremble] before the group of twelve glorious disciples afterward? Christ, having chosen twelve disciples, showed them to be prominent through the divine gifts of power by which they worked, and having divided the inhabited world among them, He commanded them to serve as guides for the saving proclamation.

^D Who does not [tremble] before the might of the great heavenly traveler, Paul? This Paul, a Hebrew by race and a zealot, having ravaged the Church with many persecutions and raging excessively against the disciples, with letters and the authority of the chief priests in Jerusalem, he eagerly desired to travel to Damascus, if he might find there any—women or men—of this Way, to lead them to Jerusalem to be punished. As he was approaching Damascus, Christ flashed upon him from heaven and at the same time descended to speak in terms of words. When Paul asked the One who appeared to him why he was persecuting Him, and when He asked him who he was, and when Paul learned that He was that Jesus whom he was in his eagerness persecuting, he bore eyes blinded by the excess of the light [from] the One who appeared. A certain Ananias, one of the disciples leading there, having appeared to him, and having restored the eyes that had been struck, [he began] the work of restoration...

[He was] thought worthy of the water, and becomes a herald of Christ, casting as it were into the nets of Christ nearly the whole world; while in the body, he is caught up to the third heaven, and is carried off into paradise, and is deemed worthy of ineffable words which it is not permitted for men, though they wish, to speak.

394... The soul, says he, is a breath of the God who rules. 395 Falling in from without, upon the molding of God, the one who joined them beheld, 396 How [God] first breathed [in] the life, and united it to the image.

He calls the soul a breath of God; for God, having taken man from the earth from the beginning and fashioned him with spotless hands, afterwards breathing into him, grants him the breath of life, so that he became a living soul, through which both the body [is made] living and suited for its motions.

412 Which [the Son] stood [as] a father of immortality from above, 413 Having been born, [is] unbound and incorruptible, and not wasting away.

He makes mention of the divine generation; for the Father begat the Son from above, without time and eternally; the Father himself being one who is unyoked and unattached, yet having begat an unyoked child, his only-begotten Word.

416 And He purified childbirth by law.

Commanding Moses and giving the law, God purified for the sons of Israel their childbirth, having set down appointed days on which it was necessary for those giving birth to be purified, and sacrifices regarding those purifications, and certain sanctifications and observances. ^D And He established a temple, 417 With bodies most pure, of mutual sacrifices.

God commands the priests not to touch the sacrifices beforehand and not to tread upon the holy things, unless they had washed their bodies with pure springs, and changed their stoles, and washed their garments, and abstained from women, and cleansed themselves of the other, more bodily stain. 418 The witness John, a great father, not before [him], 419 Having sown a dear son, received within [the temple].

The purpose of the teacher is to suggest that it is not possible to be deemed worthy of the vision of God without sanctification, [a point] posited a little before.

422 And the end of the law, Christ [is] to mortals, ^A having loved, 423 From a virginal womb, so that marriage might [bring] to the earth.

The virgin Mary, daughter of Joachim and Anna, men altogether pious and of the dignity of the Levites; to this Anna, who was barren and was propitiating God with many prayers for offspring, Mary the Theotokos is born. Who also, according to the promise of her parents, is offered as a gift to the divine temple. Having reached adulthood, therefore, by some divine lot she is betrothed to Joseph the Davidian. She being with child before they came together, Joseph, suspecting the event from his own perception—and being otherwise a just man, he was unwilling either to expose the virgin or to keep her, unless he had been deemed worthy of a vision of God removing his fear regarding the virgin and his suspicions. And so the virgin had conceived from the Holy Spirit; for Gabriel, the angel of God, appearing, commanded her to rejoice and to be confident, as she was about to give birth to the King of the universe as a child. But to the virgin who was disbelieving and arguing that [it was impossible] to give birth without the union of a man, asserting herself to be a virgin and far from the intercourse of men, Gabriel dissolves the ambiguous suspicion thus: "The Holy Spirit," he says, "will come upon the virgin, and the power of the Most High will overshadow her." He, therefore, having spoken thus, departed; but for her, what was said was a work; for according to these [words], having conceived of the Holy Spirit, she brought forth Christ the Savior God, remaining a virgin even after the birth.

450 Who is he that delights in assemblies, and in surges? And who in contests 451 Which they fastened with myths upon short-lived men

^A He declares that Hercules delights in contests; for he is said to have completed twelve labors: first, in the region of Nemea, he strangled the strong lion; second, in Lerna, he destroyed the multi-headed hydra; third, he seized and tore apart the Erymanthian boar; fourth, he hunted the gold-horned deer; fifth, he drove away the Stymphalian birds; sixth, he brought back the shining girdle of the Amazon; seventh, he undertook to clear out the dung of Augeas; eighth, he drove out the destructive bull from Crete; ninth, from Thrace he drove off the horses of Diomedes; tenth, from Hesperia he drove off the hundred oxen of Geryon; eleventh, from Hades he dragged out the dog Cerberus; twelfth, he brought the golden apples into Greece. He calls the narratives of Homer myths, having nothing worthy of account; for he chronicled the Trojan War, if such a war ever existed: there were many kings and armies gathered for the sake of a certain harlot, Helen. He recounts certain contests of youths and of man-slaying gods, and boasts of certain Pelopidae from Pelops, and Cecropidae from a certain Cecrops, and of the Aeacidae and Heraclidae as being descended from Aeacus and Hercules; and, among all, he speaks of the wounds and falls of both gods and heroes, the overturnings and the deceitful frauds of the gods. And he speaks of the youths who died quickly—those around Priam’s son, Hector, and Paris, and Aeneas, Adrastus, and Sarpedon, and the other chieftains of the Trojans; similarly also those of the Greeks: the two Ajaxes, the Telamonian and the one they call the Locrian; and the son of Tydeus, Diomedes; Patroclus the son of Menoetius; and the son of Laertes, Odysseus; and he refers to Achilles himself, the son of Peleus; and the shield-bearers of the sons of Atreus; these, as the discourse proceeds, we shall deem worthy of wider laughter, for we shall not deem them worthy of an account.

433 Who in empty-boasting wisdom, or in his hands, 434 Or in spider-like words and webs [lies 433 Being born, and dissolving into air? ^B

Gregory compares the wisdom of the Greeks to a spider. He says that it boasts in vain, for it rests only upon spider-like words and webs, and nothing is weaker than a spider; he says that it is born in a place and dissolves in the air, demonstrating its emptiness and uselessness, and that it is more foolish than any lack of reason.

438 These are not at all the teachings of marriage, but [of Adam 439 Of ancient vengeance, a small part of which overflows; 440 Thinking he had bitten my heel, the bitter serpent [lies ^C (according to Adam). 448 The root of Cain, and of Sodom, and of those upon the tower 449 Whom Christ dispersed, and the flood extinguished the insolence of those who did evil. ^D

Cain is the root of evil; he was the first born from Adam. Having a brother, Abel, also the second one born from Adam, he was cast down by the envy of the devil and slew his own brother. This Cain, having chosen an agricultural life, kept the finest fruits of the earth he cultivated for himself, and offered the inferior things to God. Abel, meanwhile, leading a pastoral life, offered the best and finest first-fruits to God. Since God looked favorably upon his sacrifice, but pushed aside that of Cain as loathsome, Cain was greatly grieved. Cast down by envy over these things, as if for another reason, he takes Abel into the field; and, having watched for an opportunity when he unsuspectingly followed, he brings a stone down upon his head and kills him. This man was the first murderer; wherefore he is called the root of evil. When asked by God about Abel, he attempted to hide the truth. But the blood of his brother, as God says, cries out more strongly than any tongue, and He condemns him to groan and tremble upon the earth throughout his whole life, and not to find anyone to kill him, for He threatens to undo sevenfold those who would take vengeance. Thus, then, was the murderer condemned, and cast far from God.

The divinely inspired Scripture deigned not to record the genealogy of him who perished after the manner of Abel, childless. But it begins the genealogy from Seth (this being the third son of Adam). The narrative also speaks of that Lamech, of whose history we have made mention when dealing with the divine Enoch, as having found Cain and killed him; for this reason, he is said to have told his own wives that he had killed a man to his own wounding, because, he says, vengeance for Cain was taken sevenfold, but for Lamech seventy times seven. But these things do not seem to me to be plausible; for, by taking away the wives of Enoch, and he himself having been moved to repentance, it is likely that, having come to them, he said these things; since, even after the murder and the judgment, he was a brigand and an adulterer and, in his intent, a murderer. But you will find the account of the flood and the Sodomites and the tower-building earlier. ^A

454. On Pharaoh of evil counsel

Pharaoh, who was king of Egypt, bitterly enslaving Israel, subduing them with hard labor and oppressing them with force, having contempt for the threats of God sent to him through Moses, and hardening himself in an arrogant mind against releasing Israel from servitude, when he came to the Red Sea, he went upon the same path that had been cleft for the Israelites and perished, submerged, receiving this end worthy of his folly. ^B

452. On Ahab's audacity and the most bitter Assyrian kings

This most audacious Ahab became the most lawless king of Israel; who caused Israel to depart from God, and taught them to serve Baal and the groves, and caused them to worship the golden heifers in Jezreel. The spouse of this man was the harlot Jezebel, who stoned the righteous Naboth by false accusation, and destroyed the prophets of the Lord by killing them, and provided a royal table for the prophets of shame. ^C During these times lived Elijah the Tishbite, who, having shut up the heavens, parched the earth for three years and six months. But when God commanded him to show himself to Ahab, so that there might be rain upon the earth, the prophet Elijah appeared, and commanded the king to assemble the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. Ahab, being persuaded, did this. And when all Israel had arrived, he commanded the prophets of shame to offer a sacrifice in the eyes of all, and to stack the wood, and to cut up the ox, and having stacked them upon the wood, not to set fire to it, but to call upon Baal, and to beseech him that fire might spontaneously be kindled from him and consume the sacrifice. This having come to pass, and the prophets of Baal from early morning until evening calling out to Baal, and as was their custom slashing themselves with knives and lances until blood flowed upon them—with no voice answering nor any hearing—it is said that the prophet Elijah, after mocking them and turning them away from their frenzy, performed a whole burnt offering in the following manner: first, having built an altar of unhewn stones, and having formed a trench around it, and having stacked the wood of the whole burnt offering, and having placed the meat upon it, and having filled the trench with water, and having called upon God, he brought down heavenly fire, which consumed the wood and the meat, and consumed the dust together with the water, and terrified Ahab with all Israel. Thereafter, seizing the prophets of shame (for there were eight hundred and fifty of them) ^D

[... fifty in number who were eating at the table of Jezebel] ^A all in that same place. And as for Ahab, who lamented, he sends rain upon the earth through prayer, and thus provides it. When Jezebel heard of these things, and knew of the destruction of the Baalim, she terrified the prophet with threats; the mountain of Horeb receives him, having traveled for forty days and as many nights without food or drink. And having arrived there, and having been deemed worthy of the vision of God, Elijah again had the Israelite land, turning it away from wickedness, and standing at the head of piety. ^B He speaks of the most bitter kings of the Assyrians—those under Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar—who, having deported Israel and Judah, burned Jerusalem and all the cities of Israel.

Who then by the ^C stirrings of the daughter’s dance gave blood to the banquet?

He speaks here of Herod, not the infanticide, but the one who killed John. For this Herod, dallying with the wife of his brother Philip, and being rebuked by John the Baptist, arrested him and held him in prison. And when Herod’s birthday was being celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced. Herod, being pleased, and having agreed to grant whatever she might ask, she, being urged on by her mother, orders the head of the Forerunner to be brought and presented on a platter. And that he mixed the prophetic blood with the drinking is an indictment of pleasure-seeking and the highest lawlessness.

454. The wretched Herod the infanticide, and the killers of Christ the King of all, as many as became persecutors, 456. both before and after.

Here he speaks of Herod the infanticide; and this man, having reigned lawlessly over Judea, when Christ was born in the flesh in Bethlehem, and the Magi had arrived from the East by the guidance of a star, seeking the King who had been born, Herod, caught in fear, inquired of the priests of the Jews where Christ is born. And having learned that it was in Bethlehem, he ordered the Magi, after searching, to reveal the child to him. And the star, as was its custom, guided the strangers on the path to the child. And when they had arrived where Christ was, and had rewarded Him with gifts, and had been warned by an angel not to return to Herod, and had departed by another way, Herod, furious at having been mocked, kills the children in Bethlehem from two years old and under, according to the time he had ascertained from the Magi. ^D The killers of Christ are Annas and Caiaphas, Herod and Pilate, and the crowd of lawless Jews. Those who were later persecutors are the kings of the Romans, who put the apostles and martyrs to death. He says the first kings of the Hebrews were lawless, as they were killers of the prophets.

457. The last and first evil of Belial’s abyss, 458. the terrible power of Julian, destroyer of souls, 459. who from God was struck, for the struggle he undertook against Christ.

He says Julian is a terrible abyss of the devil. For this man, being a Christian and from the lineage of Constantine, the first Christian emperor (alas for the misery!), is led away into superstitious error, becoming a more miserable worshiper than the miserable idols. He was present with Gregory the Theologian himself while he was being educated in Athens, intending to be initiated into the same teachings, and as one honored for his regal lineage and suitable for studies; all the other men his age ran to him, but Gregory alone shrank from his association, foreseeing the utter wretchedness of his soul, and openly proclaiming his loathsome character. When he wished to reign [after Constantine the Great...]

he was sent into exile, yet he even obtained that man’s clemency—would that he had not! When, after Constantine, the sons of Constantine grasped the royal power, he, like some most wicked beast, desiring to tear apart the flock but unable to do so because of the vigilant guard of the pastors, remained at home, waiting for a season of wickedness. That untamed beast was restrained until the sons of Constantine had passed away; then, through the cooperation of the murderous demon that instigated him, he seized the royal scepter. ^B At first, he craftily seduced the armor-bearers and drew them into his own superstitious error; then, having stirred up an open persecution against the friends of Christ, he, having become callous in his soul, shook the whole world. While raging most fiercely against the faithful and having undertaken war against Christ, he was quickly, yet miserably, removed from life, having committed many impieties against Christ. He was snatched away by the Persians with great swiftness. For, hastening to join battle in the Persian war, he arrived in those regions and was suddenly stopped by God, the God-fighter; even until the very breath of his most loathsome soul, he did not cease to blaspheme Christ. ^C One who searches might find many other writings by many people concerning him, but especially those of the one who surpasses all in wisdom and speech—I mean Gregory the Theologian—who even while living, and after death, pierced the God-fighter with many arrows.

489 The offspring of the unshakeable Rock, who received the key.

Peter is the most preeminent of Christ's disciples. One day, when Christ asked whom men said He was, each of the other disciples answered what he thought; some said Elias, others Moses, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But when He asked ^D them whom they said He was, Peter, the most ardent, leaped forward and answered: *You are the Christ, the Son of the living God*. And Jesus said to him: *Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you*, He says, *you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven*. For this reason, then, the divine Gregory says that Peter received the key.

498 Again, the great strength of Paul from both sides, 499 Who first dishonored Christ, but afterward to all 500 Turned his fiery impetuosity toward a good zeal.

The conversion of the divine Paul having already been recounted, it remains to demonstrate the magnitude of his purpose. For it was not enough for the God-possessed soul of Paul merely to believe in Christ for salvation, but rather to turn the fiery impulse of his zeal toward the service of Christ. From that point on, the path of the entire world, though bound by the evangelical nets, seemed small to his purpose, unless he also suffered for Christ and died daily, holding an insatiable desire, always leaping forward to preach and being like cold iron tempered by his sufferings for Christ. His work becomes the universal proclamation, cast within the nets of Christ by the heat and eagerness of his zeal. Gregory fittingly calls his zeal a "fire-breathing" impulse, transformed into what is good. For one could not call the persecution that Paul first launched against Christ a [mere] persecution, but rather a kind of impulse of divine zeal.

For that Moses and the prophets and the Law should suddenly cease was more bitter to Paul than any death; but it was [fitting] that one who had fought so strongly for the shadow should be transformed, since he had clearly recognized the Truth itself. For the fact that instead of acting with authority, he preferred to suffer, and to die for the preaching, and instead of striking, to be struck, and to endure such things most readily, shows the burning, fiery nature of his zeal, and the freedom of his soul from bondage, which attained its nobility from above. Gregory, in contemplating the nature of Paul and his zeal, set it forth in a brief phrase; for it was not right for Gregory to contemplate the nature of Paul, since Paul himself is, in a small degree, another Gregory. ^A

493 From one, the first-born Cain and Abel then were, Zealous hunter of gifts to God, a noble offerer.

The history concerning Cain and Abel is set forth, how indeed Cain was jealous and a murderer, but Abel was a good priest of pious sacrifices. ^B

494 The sons of Isaac, Esau the wicked and Jacob the best: 495 And more: from one, twin offspring, not at all alike.

Isaac, being the son of Abraham, married Rebecca, who was of his own kin, from whom he begat twins, Esau and Jacob. But while they were still embryos in the mother’s womb, it was said to Rebecca that she carried two peoples in her belly, and that the elder would serve the younger. And when her time came to give birth, Esau, the elder, emerged from the womb, and immediately Jacob slipped out, holding onto the heel of Esau. When they had reached the measure of adulthood, Jacob was guileless, dwelling with God, living and being nurtured in piety, while Esau was most wicked, ^C as he was active, possessing natural vigor, and he was a hunter and an archer and altogether warlike. Now when their father Isaac had grown old and his sight was heavy and he was looking towards the end of life, he contemplated within himself to bless his elder son on that excuse; and having summoned him, he ordered him to hunt game for him, so that having tasted it, he might be eager to bless Esau, who was hastening to the hunt. His mother tricked him in this way: for, feeling somewhat kindly toward the younger child, she ordered him to bring from the flock two kids, very good and tender, craftily procuring the blessing for him. But the young man (for he was pious), fearing to deceive the old man, lest instead of a blessing he should bring down a curse upon himself, was nevertheless persuaded at long last by many words by his mother to perform what to her seemed good. And when the kids were brought, Rebecca quickly ordered that the meat be carried to the father by the child on a platter. But because Jacob, agonizing in his thoughts and setting before her the natural reasons that existed between them—how he himself was smooth, while Esau was hairy, and fearing that if his father felt him and learned of the deed, he would bring upon him a curse as one who had shown contempt for his father—the mother wrapped the skins of the kids around the bare parts of the child’s arms and neck, and having clothed him in the fine garment of Esau, she presented him to his father as one who had shared in his hunt. The old man, astonished and wondering at the speed, and yet gladly filling himself with the food, ordered the child to approach him; and having kissed him and perceived the scent of the garments, he asked who he was, and was deceived [thinking] that Esau was the one standing before him, and continuing to marvel and to examine his arms, the old man, filled with astonishment... ^D

is said to have exclaimed: ^A The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Therefore, Rebecca quickly removes from the presence of the elder one Jacob, who had been strengthened by many paternal blessings. And Isaac, having pitied Esau, who had immediately returned from the hunt and approached his father, and who, having learned from his father how craftily Jacob had come and stolen the blessings, was groaning heavily and lamenting with a loud voice, increases the blessings for the younger Jacob, but for Esau, he says he will live by his bow and sword, and predicts that he will be subject to and serve his brother. For this reason, Rebecca sends the younger son to Mesopotamia to join her kinsmen and to take a wife from their daughters, because Esau was pained, was hostile toward Jacob, and was watching for an opportunity to kill him.

496 And Solomon, at first wise, afterwards ^B most wicked, 497 When he stumbled into feminine transgressions.

We have already spoken regarding Solomon, and the cause of the wisdom granted to him by God; however, it is necessary to say how he, being most wise, was deceived, the Theologian having made mention of this history. Solomon, therefore, the most wise, having taken hold of the kingdom of his father David, and wisely conducting the affairs of Israel, and having been preeminent over those who had reigned before him in wealth and glory, being goaded by feminine pleasures, becomes forgetful of the true God. For that he became wicked has been noted enigmatically in the inspired Scripture, and moreover it indicates that he was not enumerated among the pious. But for some reason, I believe that those moved by God do not clearly denounce him, because of the natural attraction of men drawn toward the wise; ^C for not only do men love wise men who are flourishing, but sometimes they even sympathize with them and stumble along with them. The story holds that this Solomon married many women, and embraced Pharaoh's daughter, who was cherished by him above all others, and because he was deceived by the love-charm he had for her, he performed sacred rites to her gods, and openly burned incense in the groves and on the high places. The divinely inspired books of proverbs, through which he advises abstaining from women in every way, are full of this Solomon, most openly crying out: Wine and women have destroyed the wise. Yet he, having uttered such things, having been miserably captured by luxury and women, alas! forgets the God who bestowed wisdom upon him.

680 The angel was formerly the morning star; but upon falling 681 Remaining for the heavenly ones [was] a new (?) glory.

Satan is called the morning star; for thus the Holy Spirit says through Isaiah the prophet: How has the morning star, which rises in the morning, fallen from heaven? The prophet himself also introduces the cause of the fall: But you said, speaking to the one who has fallen, in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High; but you shall be cast down to Hades. Gregory also, in his poems, passing over to this, makes mention of the prophecy ^D word for word, explaining the cause of the devil's fall, [that is] that having light and great glory, having planned to snatch away the royal glory of God, he fell ingloriously, becoming total darkness instead of light.

As for the disciples 682 Judas is no reproach since he fell.

This Judas, being one of the twelve disciples of Christ, and enjoying the divine gifts in equality with the others, being greedy for money and jealous, for the sake of silver and vile gain, alas, missed out on eternal life, delivering Christ, the benefactor and teacher, to the lawless Jews for death.

DISCOURSE III. Precepts for Virgins

The whole of the present history is set forth in the first discourse, and explained according to the anagogical sense, which signifies regarding the wicked Sodomites, and Lot, and the angels, and the wife of Lot solidified into a pillar, and the city of Segor in the fields, and the ascent to the mountain afterward. But here, addressing the virgin soul, the Theologian provides ^B "precepts," that is to say, counsel; for a "precept" is that which is deposited or committed. Therefore, he says to the soul, "Do not look toward Sodom," that is, toward the world; for you would become a pillar of wickedness, having the shape of an accuser. Nor, having fled the world, stand near to worldly things, so that you are not taken away along with them (for that which is closer is somehow easily susceptible to the fire); but saved toward the mountain, he says, and ^C established from afar, and higher than the fire. For a lower and neighboring thing, the fire will consume completely; but if one is far away and above the matter itself, it is impossible for it to approach.

97 Merra, bitter water. Merra is a place in Elim, where the Israelites, having crossed the Red Sea and having ceased from the affliction of the Egyptians, rested. There, twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees were present, where, as the people paused, consumed by thirst (for the water lying nearby was bitter), God showed Moses a certain wood, which he took and cast into the waters, transforming into sweetness the bitterness innate to them, and he provided ^D sweet and very good water to the thirsty people. On account of this, he named that place "Bitterness"; for in the Hebrew dialect, Merra is called bitterness.

127 You exchange golden for bronze, if for the glittering 128 Instead of life you have accepted a small and base delight.

This history, taken from the writings of Homer, the Theologian introduces metaphorically, arguing with the soul. For Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, and Diomedes, son of Tydeus, during the Trojan War, both advanced into the middle to do battle. But as they were coming near to one another, Diomedes is said to have called out to Glaucus, asking who he might be, having seen him so far surpassing others in daring; for, he says, he had not seen any man acting more manfully than him in the glorious battle before this. Glaucus, of the race of Bellerophon, and praying as one more divine than a human, was recognized by Diomedes, who embraced his ancestral friend. Both having jumped down from their chariots, and having exchanged armor with one another, they thus ended the battle between them; but that hero, having honored Glaucus with bronze arms, was honored in return with golden ones, in which it fell to him to be clad. This, as we said, Gregory applies metaphorically the history to the soul;

for when the adversary is shining, to accept even a small pleasure and to slacken one's intensity is to exchange gold for bronze—that is, to exchange the more precious things for worthless ones.

131 "And a gleaming house, and the table of Alcinous."

Alcinous, being king of the Phaeacian nation, was in all things ambitious and hospitable. Rewarding those who chanced upon him with generous gifts, and possessing splendid houses and a table more lavish than any king’s ever had, he kindly honored Odysseus, who had been tossed by wandering, was shipwrecked, and was a pitiable beggar, when he arrived at his city. How this came to pass will be told as the discourse proceeds, for the Theologian mentions these things at length further on.

135 "Fig leaves, as formerly Adam and Eve, [might cover]." This story is found in the second discourse.

138 "Or some man cast by the gate, a burden [of the earth]," 139 "Of an arrogant man, a poor man, and another Lazarus." This is found in the first discourse.

152 "And you, O Jonadab, preeminent in counsel, for the children." Jonadab was of Hebrew race and a worshiper of God; he commanded his children neither to plow the land, nor to plant a vineyard, and to abstain from wine and everything that might favor luxury, but to live in tents, to live for God, and to attend to him alone. Scripture has named them Essenes.

164 "For I also know of a people on the land of promise" 165 "Settled, whom a pillar of fire led before [them]," 166 "And a cloud drawing them through the wilderness."

^A The people eager for the land of promise is the Israelite nation, which God led out of Egypt, guiding them in a pillar of fire and cloud for forty years. The land of promise is Canaan; for God said that he would give this into the possession of Abraham and his seed after him. Seven nations inhabited this land: the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites. God drove all these out from before the face of Israel and allotted their land to the seed of Abraham, as he had promised and pledged.

167 "Where the sea gave way and the heaven gave food."

Israel crossed the Red Sea after it had been divided, and once having come into the wilderness, they received food from heaven; this was as a wafer of honey, and Israel called it manna. When the people murmured and craved meat, God sent them a great quantity of quail—a winged bird which, falling in abundance, satisfied them of their desire to such an extent that they lapsed into cholera; for it is fitting that those who are slaves to their bellies, and who have gorged themselves insatiably on quail, should suffer, and having been seized by disease, that the majority should miserably cease to live—so that, the people having been thinned by death, the place was named "Graves of Craving."

168 "And the rock brought forth water."

To the Israelites who were in the wilderness, parched for lack of water, God made water gush forth from a rock. For when the people set upon Moses and were on the point of stoning him, God commanded him to strike the rock with his rod. When this was done, living water was poured forth, and it satisfied the thirsty people. This was called the "water of contradiction," for there the people contradicted Moses, and Moses, having struck the rock with his rod, (said), "Must..."

I bring you water from this rock, you disobedient ones?" Wherefore he also was barred from the land he desired. For when he had reached the land of the Moabites, he ascended a very high mountain and surveyed all the good land which God had promised to give to Abraham as a possession. Although Moses pleaded much to be deemed worthy of it, God did not grant his request, but ordered him to be released from the bonds of the flesh, saying, "You have seen it with your eyes, but you shall not enter into it, because," He says, "you did not sanctify me before the children of Israel at the water of contradiction."

169 A wide-flowing river. "He turned back." He speaks of the Jordan. For after the death of Moses, when Joshua the son of Nun was leading Israel, as they were about to cross the Jordan, God commanded Joshua that the priests should take the ark of the Lord’s covenant and stand in the middle of the Jordan. When this was done, the water that was flowing downward rushed toward the Salt Sea, while the water flowing from above stood up in a heap, filling the entire riverbed. When the Jordan had dried up, the people crossed over with dry feet. God commanded each of the leaders of the tribes to take up a stone and lay it aside as a memorial for those who would be born later, and also to place twelve others in that same place of the crossing, which remain there to this day. ^A And the sun stayed its course. The story is in the second book. 170 And with his hands the man set up a trophy 171 Shadowing forth the Cross. The story is in the first book. Faith bound the jaws. It is in the first book likewise.

^B 172 Elijah was fed by ravens, and found a widow 173 from Sidon, in the small drops of life. When Elijah had shut up the sky, God commanded him to go to the brook of Chorath and drink water from it; and God commanded the ravens to bring him food. They brought him bread in the morning and meat in the evening. When the brook had dried up, God again sent him to a certain widow in Zarephath of Sidon. She lived a life more humble than all others, yet she was hospitable and possessed a very rich intent. Elijah, coming and finding her gathering wood, addressed her and commanded her to make him a hearth-cake; for he had commanded her to bring him water first, and after he had drunk, said he would receive the bread from her. When she said she did not possess more than a handful of flour in the jar and a little oil in the cruse, and that she was gathering wood for this reason, to bake the flour and share it with her only son, then they would both die instantly, the prophet said, "Go, for thus says the Lord: The jar of flour shall not fail, and the cruse of oil shall not be diminished, until the Lord gives rain upon the earth." As soon as he spoke, the deed followed the word. ^C He stayed as a guest with her and lived sparingly. But the woman's son fell ill, and, as is likely, the prophet was assailed by many reproaches from the old woman, as though by coming and reminding her of her sins he had killed her son; ^D and he was moved to compassion, lamenting more than she, saying: "Woe is me, O Lord, the witness of the widow with whom I dwell, you have killed her son." Having appeased God in this, and having breathed into the child, he immediately gave him back alive to his mother. Some say that this was Jonah; and the account is plausible, since Jonah became a type of Christ's resurrection.

^A 177 The Hebrew children were desiring food, 178 Lest they be defiled at the king’s table. These children are Ananias, Azarias, Misael, and Daniel, whom we mentioned above. King Nebuchadnezzar, having selected them from the captivity of the Hebrews along with others who were handsome and of royal lineage, handed them over to the official in charge of the table, with orders that they be fed from the royal table, from which the king himself ate. But because the children were living in piety, and did not wish to be defiled by the varied dishes of the royal table, they entreated the man who had been ordered to oversee this to grant them their request and allow them to partake of things that grow from the earth. Fearing that the king might see them looking gaunt and take him to task, he was persuaded not to worry about this; and they were not defiled by the men's food, but enjoyed natural delicacies. Indeed, they were more handsome and graceful than those who were fed on the royal diet, so that the king himself was astonished by their appearance and their wisdom, for the God of their fathers had bestowed grace upon them.

^B 181 And Daniel, cast as prey for raging lions, 182 Did not feed the lions, since he stretched forth his hands, 183 And received the prophet's meal in his hands. When Daniel was cast as prey for the lions by Balthasar, the king of the Assyrians, he did not feed the lions, but he himself received food sent by God. For the prophet Habakkuk, who was in Judea and was bringing food to his own reapers (it was a pottage of lentils), was seized by an angel by the hair and, in an instant, carried off to Babylon and brought down into the pit. Having partaken of the food, Daniel again brings Habakkuk back, keeping the royal seals around the pit intact; and having brought him back to his own property, he restores him again to the land of Judea.

^C 184 From the midst of the entrails he belched forth the divine [L'Iωνᾶν] 185 Beast, just as the sea received him for three days. The explanation concerning Jonah is contained in the first discourse.

187 John's food was locusts and wild honey, 188 And his clothing was the hair of camels, having a deep voice. John the Baptist's food was locusts and wild honey. His clothing was made of camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. The explanation is contained in the second discourse.

190 Who saved Thecla from the fire? Or who restrained 191 The fierce strength of ravenous beasts? Thecla was a virgin maiden of noble birth, from the city of Iconium. Her mother was named Theoclea, and she had been betrothed to Thamyris, one of the leading local men. Now, when Paul the Apostle came to the house of Onesiphorus in the city of the Iconians and was proclaiming the word of piety to those who approached him, and discussing virginity and the blessedness laid up for those who remain virgins, the maiden (for she had her house bordering on the house of Onesiphorus) was captivated and remained motionless by a window. Her mother, thinking that the maiden had been seized by madness, summoned Thamyris and strove with many arguments to turn Thecla back, but achieving nothing, she handed her over to the governor of the city to be burned as an unwed virgin. A great disturbance having occurred on Paul's account, and a pyre having been lit, and Thecla having been thrown into the middle of it, a certain dew-laden cloud overshadowed her, which extinguished the fire and kept the virgin safe. Having escaped this fire and seeking Paul, and having arrived with him in Antioch, another man in a position of authority, Alexander by name, inflamed with passion for the girl's beauty...

attempted forcibly to drag her away. And when he was ignominiously dismissed by her, and had stirred up a riot against her, the virgin was condemned to be food for wild beasts in the middle of the stadium; yet the beasts did not devour her, but showed her reverence; for they did not approach the virgin's body to tear it, but rather to fawn upon it.

194 Nor shall I forget the holy Susanna (for she is not unworthy), 195 even if a husband had brought her under the yoke, 196 of Temperance; she possessed such a longing, that she fled 197 from defiling hands. By the unjust votes of the judges 198 she was being dragged to doom, but from death he saved her, 199 a spirit of a youth, of gray wisdom and profound counsels, 200 who bound the elders of Babylon, those most polluted and 201 lawless, by their own words and upright judgment.

^A Susanna was the daughter of Joakim, son of Helkias. Being chaste and also beautiful, she strove to preserve her conscience for God and her chastity for her husband. Two of the elders of Israel, seeing her entering her garden house constantly and becoming inflamed with passion for her at that time, lay in wait; and by withdrawing and returning again to the same spot, they revealed to each other their perverse lust for Susanna. Then, having agreed on a common plan to seize her at a convenient time and to fulfill the foul desire they cherished for her, they seized her on a day when she was bathing, when her maidens were not present with her, and tried to force her to join in a shameful act, or else, they said, they would bear witness against her that they had caught her with a young man. But when they could not persuade her even in this way, while she cried out and they shouted in return, they bore false witness against Susanna to the kinsmen who were present and those around her.

^B When those around her were ashamed and withdrew, the next day the elders assembled the people and bore such witness against Susanna; and they, having judged her ^C to be stoned as an adulteress, led her away. But as they were about to proceed to this, Daniel, still a young boy, crying out against those leading her away as being unjust, was summoned to the judgment seat from the crowd. And having bound the elders by their own words, and having shown them to be false in all things to everyone, he saved Susanna from the unlawful judgment, and having redeemed her from death, he restored her unharmed to her own people; and he delivered those men to the same death, and having made them an example, he destroyed them. He calls them elders of Babylon, since these things happened in Babylon, while the captivity of Israel was dwelling there; but also according to the meaning of the homecoming, Babylon is sin. Therefore, it is fitting that he called those lawless ones elders of sin, and not of Israel.

202 Paul, of whose troubles and grievous cares, 203 and how much wickedness he endured, he himself [Gregory] has heard.

Whenever Gregory mentions Paul, he sets out a portion of that man's virtue; for even before, having spoken elsewhere about Paul, he introduces him again. He says, therefore, that Paul endured many ^D labors for Christ. For this is indeed the case, and anyone who has gained experience with the writings of Luke and the Epistles of Paul himself would find his whole life to be one of toil in the sufferings for Christ; it is for this reason that one may also hear Paul himself writing to the Corinthians, saying that he passed his life in labors, in prisons, and in dangers. For by the Jews, he says, he was beaten five times with forty stripes save one, he suffered shipwreck three times, was stoned once, spent a night and a day in the abyss, and was often in journeys, in dangers of rivers, in dangers of robbers,

^A in dangers from his own race, in dangers from the Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers among false brethren, in labor and toil, in cold and nakedness, in hunger and thirst, in deaths of many kinds and in bonds, in scourgings, and finally in martyrdom by blood. 205. And to reach the region of the third heaven, 206. And to cast the whole world into sweet nets. It is set forth in the second discourse. 213. Therefore, the crafty one also, upon Christ the King, 214. Made trial, beholding God and man mingled together. 215. Him hungering, he ordered to change stones into food. After Christ had been baptized, and had fasted for forty days in the wilderness, Satan approached to tempt Him. For he said to the hungering Jesus: "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But Christ, having said that "man shall not live by bread alone," dismisses the tempter in dishonor. The demon tempted Him a second and a third time—first by glory, promising that if He worshipped him, he would give Him all the kingdoms of the earth; and the third time, by inciting Him to throw Himself down from the height, as if to prove His divinity. Having been repulsed, he withdrew for a time. By "time," he says, is meant precisely the time of the Passion, when, having attacked fiercely, he suffered a resounding fall, driven out from the whole earth, and becoming a laughingstock to all, the wicked demon. 571. I fear lest the foundation of my life, built upon sand, 572. Struck by the river's torrents and winds, I be scattered. Regarding the house built upon rock and that upon sand, the seed that fell upon the ground, the tares, the virgins, the wedding that was prepared, those who were invited and those who excused themselves, him who wore the filthy garment, the watchful servant, and the talents—these all are subjects of the Savior's parables, which, being interpreted one by one, will be set forth clearly. 406. Nor should you, like the sons of Eli, despise the father's command. This is set forth regarding Eli and his sons in the first discourse. 419. And for Jerusalem, Samaria, most sinful... Solomon having died, his son Rehoboam became the successor to his kingdom. When the people of Israel gathered to him and requested that he lighten their taxes, he sought counsel from the elders, the servants of his father, as to what response he should give them. Although they advised him to answer them kindly, he also sought the opinion of his younger attendants. He was persuaded by the younger men who advised him to answer the people of the land harshly. Having done this and disobeyed the elders’ counsel, he turned the people toward an opposite course; and a portion of ten tribes separated, the people saying: "We have no share in Judah; O man of Israel, to your tents." Then, the ten tribes anoint for themselves as king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, from among the children of Solomon. ^B He therefore plots so that, under the pretext of the temple, the people might be led away from Jerusalem; and he established golden calves and an idol of Baal, and many other things in Jezreel, near to Samaria, where he also set up altars to the Baalim, and caused the people of Israel to sacrifice. Therefore, Jeroboam, son of Nebat, by establishing Samaria for Israel in place of Jerusalem, alienated them from divine worship and the ancestral law. Since Scripture often accuses him of being the first to cause Israel to sin, one might find this—but also the passage regarding Solomon should be well understood here: the earth is shaken by the third, and the fourth does not endure—namely, a servant reigning. For Jeroboam was the servant of Solomon, born in his house. The divine Gregory alleges this metaphorically; for Jerusalem and Samaria are not to be equated. Ananias was of the number of those who believed in the doctrine of the apostles in Jerusalem. His wife was Sapphira. At that time, all things were common among the faithful of Christ; all the money that returned from sold property was laid at the feet of the apostles; and it was distributed to each according to their need. It happened that...

Ananias, having a plot of land, sold it; he brought part of the money, but kept back the rest, having embezzled it. Being questioned by Peter, and having lied, he received his sentence and expired, Peter saying: "Why have you lied to the Holy Spirit, tempting Him?" Ananias therefore having been taken away by the gravediggers and buried, Sapphira, his wife, not knowing what had happened, arrived; being questioned by Peter and having also lied, and having herself received the sentence, she immediately expired. And she having been buried beside her husband, great fear fell upon all who saw these things.

435 And when someone embezzled a golden tongue ^B 456 In secret from the leaders of old, 457 A small garment and treasure brought ruin upon the whole people.

Achar, the son of Charmi (who was an Israelite by birth), having stolen from the dedicated things, caused a calamity for the whole people. For after the people had crossed the Jordan and were besieging Jericho, Joshua the son of Nun commanded the people that all things should be dedicated to God, and that none of the spoils should be looted. Having entered the city, with the walls having fallen of their own accord, they slew the people inside, but did not touch the spoils. ^C But Achar, seeing a golden tongue, and a plain one [a gold ingot], despised the command and took it; while the rest of the spoils were burned, these remained with Achar. In the meantime, the people fought against those from Gae (this is a city in the mountains) and were routed. Joshua, therefore, falling upon his face, lamented, beseeching God to reveal the cause. Being instructed regarding the dedicated thing, he cast lots by tribe; the lot fell upon the tribe of Zare, and to it he gave the lot by families; this family was drawn by households, and it fell [upon Achar]. So, then, Achar the thief was caught and stoned to death with all his house, and all that he possessed was burned, and fire consumed his whole substance.

485 As justice [avenges] previously the plowman ^D whose ox was killed, 486 I fear lest God be angry with unequal judgments.

Hercules is called *Buthoinas* [Ox-Feaster] for this reason: Hercules was passing through the land of Dryopis, carrying his son Hyllus. Then, when Hyllus was hungry and asked for food, seeing a certain Theodamas, as he was called, plowing, Hercules asked for bread. He not only refused to give it, but also insulted him. Hercules then, taking one of the plowing oxen, slaughtered it and feasted upon it, both he and his son; and he was called *Buthoinas* for this reason, because he feasted on the whole ox. Hence there arose for Hercules the war against the Dryopes. For when Theodamas went up into the city and said that an enemy had come into the land, they went out against him and Hercules defeated them all. The divine Gregory, therefore, directs this history to those who prevent their own children from leading a life of virginity. For just as Theodamas, having not given bread when Hercules asked for it, sacrificed his own plowing ox and his own [original continues]

^A city, having been angered, destroyed it; so there is a fear, he says, that God, having been angered for this same reason, might turn against the parents themselves, and they might lose their intention.

491 He who mingled an incorporeal nature with flesh, ^B 492 Sent forth powerful giants from angelic desires.

The descendants of Cain, while not genealogized in the divine Scripture, yet being wicked and steeped in many sins, are depicted as men; but those who were sprung from Seth, being just, and as it were dedicated to God, the Scripture calls angels. These, while living a peculiar life on the mountains, were enticed by the female lust of the daughters of men; descending, they consorted with them, becoming defiled by sin. God, therefore, was angered when He saw the angels consorting with women; thence, as a sign of their sin in this matter, the giants were born. Giants ^C are men famous from of old, of huge size both in frame and in status, and especially most powerful. And the fact that such a one was born was a sign of the union of the angels with the women. The Theologian calls them "incorporeal," following the letter of the text, while he himself also leads the reader to a more anagogical interpretation. For, he says, he sinned who mingled the incorporeal nature with flesh, that is to say, impassibility with sin, and virginity with marriage.

495 And He cleansed the earth of the sins of the heaven-dwellers. ^D 494 To the children of the Greeks,

[These things]

Mercury is a thief; for they call him a god of gain, as Aristophanes the comic poet says, "We shall set him up as the Merchant," that is to say, the supervisor of profit. And he is mocked as taking pleasure in the savors of sacrifices; and he is called *Delakrion*, as if he were lowering himself to the meat when it is shown to him; and they represent him carrying a money-bag, as being the supervisor of theft; therefore he is called *Kerdōos* (of Gain), *Knisos* (of Savors), *Delakrion*, and *Klōps* (Thief). And *Logios* (Eloquent); but the Greeks also say he is a *Pompos*, which means messenger.

Dionysus is an androgyne; for they say he both does the deeds of men and suffers those of women, and the Bacchantes and Maenads go into a frenzy around him, and the Satyrs and Sileni dance around him. They mythologize that he is the overseer of wine, and that because he gave it to both women and men, they drank and became drunk; and having become drunk, they dance with the women around him. They say the Satyrs are shepherds; others say they are some kind of demons around Dionysus.

Ares is an adulterer. For he was committing adultery with Aphrodite; and Aphrodite was the wife of Hephaestus, who is also called the *Amphiguēeis* (the Lame). Hephaestus, then, the lame god and smith, having learned that Aphrodite was being debauched by Ares, set traps for Ares, in which Ares, having been caught, was overpowered; Hephaestus, then, having summoned all the gods, holds him up to great laughter. They also call Hephaestus the "Olympian Thersites."

^A For there was a certain Thersites who followed the host of the Greeks, not for the sake of war, but to be mocked; he was lame and squint-eyed, hunchbacked, bald, and also rash, as Homer says: "Thersites, reckless of speech, though a clear-voiced orator." The Greeks, then, call Hephaestus the Olympian (that is, heavenly) Thersites; for he is lame and soot-stained, as if from the furnace (for he is a smith), and he is rash and a joker; for as he threw Ares into the traps for his adultery, having summoned the gods against him, he caused great laughter, not fearing Tumult, Dread, and Terror, who are the sons of Ares; for "Ares" is the name for war, and the same Ares is also called "man-slaying," as Homer says: "Ares, Ares, bane of mortals."

Zeus is destructive toward his parents; for he threw down his own father, Cronus, whereby he is also called a "tyrannicide"; for Cronus, being a hater of children, used to devour those born to him by Rhea. ^B Rhea, having given birth to Zeus, wrapped a stone in a garment and gave it to Cronus to swallow; and he, having swallowed the stone, vomited up all those who had been consumed previously along with it, so that he is said to have swallowed a bitter stone. Zeus, therefore, having learned that his own father Cronus was of such a nature, rose up against him, cut off his genitals, and stripped him of his kingdom. Concerning the swallowing, it is recorded elsewhere.

Similarly, Cronus, whom they call the son of Uranus, is harmful to his children; as we said, for he used to devour those born to him from Rhea; and Rhea cleverly saved Zeus, sending him away to Crete, ^C and stationed flute-players and Corybantes around him so that they might make a sound of the crying Zeus and stifle his wailing; some say this dance is the *pyrrhiche*, others that it is the *hoplitike* (armed dance), since the Corybantes used to strike their shields against one another; they are demons.

499 Behold first him whom he became by greed, 500 Bull, swan, gold, serpent, man, *[bird, all these]* 501 *Which swift desire bade him take, a boy and a slender maid.*

Zeus becomes a bull for the sake of Europa; for becoming enamored of her, and transformed into a bull, he wandered with her. ^D He became a swan for the sake of Leda; for having desired her and Nemesis, he became a swan and consorted with them. He became gold for the sake of Danae; for it is said that he became gold, and poured down, and thus consorted with her. He became a serpent for the sake of Olympias, the mother of Alexander; for it is said that he transformed into a dragon and thus consorted with her, wherefore Alexander is also called "dragon-born." Others, however, say that Nectanebus the Babylonian seduced Olympias; yet he is still called the son of Philip. Zeus became a man for the sake of Semele, the mother of Dionysus; for with her he consorted as a man. But Hera, having found this out and having become jealous, comes into a conversation with Semele, pretending that she is being deceived and not loved by Zeus; therefore, she advises her to ask Zeus, when he comes to her, to consort with her with lightnings and thunders, just as he would

to Hera. When this happened, Semele, not bearing it, was struck by a thunderbolt. Zeus, taking the embryo within her, split his thigh and placed it therein; and when the nine months were fulfilled, he brought him forth. For this reason he is called "thigh-born," and Dionysus is considered an imperfect fetus. Some also call him hermaphroditic for this reason, as having been nurtured in the womb of Semele and in the thigh of Zeus. But it is not so; rather, as we said before, he acted like a man and suffered like a woman.

Again, Zeus becomes a bird. For being enamored of Ganymede, he became an eagle and snatched him away; and Ganymede was a Phrygian. The myth holds that Zeus snatched Ganymede to make him a cup-bearer for when he dines with the gods. Not so, however, but being enamored of him, Zeus snatched him for pederasty. Likewise, Heracles, having consorted in one night with the fifty daughters of Thestius, and having made them all pregnant, was proclaimed a god at once. They call him "three-nighted" as if he were conceived through three nights. These things, says divine Gregory, those who revere despise virginity.

510 As before she held the blood-flowing stream ^B 511 Touching it—for the god was stolen willingly—but the flowing 512 Of blood became a dry spring when it withered. The present story lies in the first discourse. (1) 688 Merciful, merciful to us, O pure Trinity, proceeding to the same from one, seeing today with bright eyes, and more brightly at the last, to whom you have shone, one God from the Father through the Son into the great Spirit, the divinity standing in perfect things perfect.

DISCOURSE IV. DISCOURSE V. To myself.

He remembers first the natural affection. He speaks of the death and weeping of children, which Jacob wept for his son. Because he was most beautiful and most beloved to his father, and fair to look upon, his brothers, being jealous, first wished to kill him; nevertheless, being more humane toward him, they sold him to Ishmaelites who were leading him down into Egypt, who themselves sold him to a certain eunuch of the Egyptians named Pentepres (Potiphar); where, indeed, aspiring to temperance by the providence of the Superior, he became master of the land of the Egyptians, which will be shown elsewhere. However, the brothers, having taken the tunic which Joseph was wearing (this was variegated), having stained it with blood, they offer it to the father; and he, recognizing it and assuming that his son had been devoured by beasts, had inconsolable mourning over him. But of precious parents, he says, as Joseph mourned over his own father; for when Jacob had come down with his whole family to Egypt after Joseph had become king, toward the ends of his life, Jacob ordered that he not be buried in Egypt, and when he died, Joseph transported him to the Canaanite land, burying him beside his fathers in the double cave, which Abraham had purchased for a price in silver from the sons of Emmor in Shechem, where Sarah was first buried. And a considerable multitude from Egypt accompanied Joseph. And there Joseph mourned his father at the threshing floor, and the sons of Israel and the Egyptians lamented with a great lamentation; and the name of that place was called "Mourning of Egypt." Of a beloved wife he says...

^A:

For Scripture says that Abraham mourned for his wife with a great mourning, and the Shechemites with him, and the Hebronites. 5 Not for a sweet fatherland, consumed by raging fire.

He commemorates the Lamentations of Jeremiah; for he, when Jerusalem was burned by the Assyrians and the people led away into captivity, mourned exceedingly, sitting opposite Jerusalem, while it was consumed by fire. 6 Nor by hateful disease are the limbs tormented.

He commemorates the misfortune of Job; for this just man was requested by the devil for testing, and although the devil destroyed all his possessions in vain, and slew his children in a single moment of time, he assailed him with a most grievous disease. And he, scraping the corruption from his body with a potsherd, sitting upon the dunghill in the vestibules, groaned lamenting; yet, bearing it thankfully, he was abundantly crowned. 99 The wandering of the original father and the sinful mother 100 The incitement of our mother of gluttony 101 And the reckless blood-drinking of the crooked serpent.

The history concerning Adam lies in the second discourse. It lies in the first discourse. 175 Nor saying a word, which inside to those becoming 176 God placed.

It lies concerning the in-breathing in the second discourse. 177 Nor fearing the law, which sometime on stone 178 Tablets, Christ, shadowing the truth, 179 The Lord carved, and lastly in the hearts.

It lies in the second discourse in the narrative concerning Moses.

DISCOURSE III

31 Another Job I am, but the cause is not ^B the same.

Already, indeed, concerning the great Job a few things have been said, but now too it must not be shirked to speak further. Job was a just man, dwelling in the land of Ausitis, by birth an Arab, a son of the sons of Esau. To him God bore witness, saying that there is none like him of those upon the earth, a man blameless, truthful, unblemished, just, pious, refraining from every evil deed. The devil requested him of God for testing; and first he destroyed all his possessions—and there were for him seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yokes of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and service very great, and his works were great upon the earth; and he himself was noble, excelling those from the sunrise; and there were for him seven sons and three daughters—all of whom the hater of good utterly destroyed along with his possessions, wishing to rouse him ^C to blasphemy. But as he bore it steadfastly, giving thanks, the devil, supposing the possessions not enough for the test, requested him again; and having taken power over his body, he assailed him with a most grievous disease; and the affliction was evil from his feet to his head.

And as he sat outside the city upon a dunghill, scraping the ichor of his body with a potsherd, the devil first stirred up his own wife as an advisor to blasphemy against God, bringing to his memory of the good things that had passed away, and sorrowfully suggesting to him his misfortunes in light of the evils at hand. And as the length of time, and the despair of unexpected salvation, and the alienation of friends and kin and relatives, and the reproaches and laughter and mockery, and to speak once for all, the whole... ^D

^A quiver of temptations was emptied upon him. And since the majority of temptations rendered the athlete more illustrious, he receives from the best Dispenser of contests a more manifest prize for his struggles, being honored with double rewards; for indeed God provided him with double of all things. But the tempter, having carried away the painful and laughable fall of the defeat with a noise, departs covered in shame.

91 Three illustrious tax-collectors are in your books, 92 Matthew the great, who shed tears in the temple, 93 And Zacchaeus.

Matthew became a tax-collector. Seeing him sitting at the tax office, Jesus said to him: "Follow me." And he, rising up and leaving all, followed Him and became His disciple; and he also wrote the Gospel. A tax-collector is one who collects certain taxes beyond what is fitting. And the whole business is greedy and sinful. Another is the tax-collector who shed tears in the temple, who departed justified before the boastful Pharisee. The story concerning him lies in the first discourse.

Zacchaeus, also being a tax-collector himself, desired to see Jesus; and being unable to behold Him as He passed by, both because of the accompanying crowd and because of his slight stature (for the great-minded Zacchaeus was small in stature), he climbed a sycamore tree to see the One he longed for. Jesus, having called him, and having been lodged at his house, makes him a disciple; and Zacchaeus, having given away all his possessions fourfold to the needy and to those he had cheated, was accounted a disciple of Christ.

94 Three, then, are those who remedy the limbs: the paralytic, the one at the pool, 95 And the woman whom the spirit had bound.

The first is the paralytic who was healed in Capernaum; for there, being unable ^B to bring him before Jesus because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof of the house and let him down upon a bed. And Christ, having seen their faith, released the sufferer, who had found a release for both his disease and his sins, healthy by the word of His mouth.

The paralytic at the pool is he who for thirty-eight years had been waiting by the Probatica pool; for an angel descending and troubling the water would provide the remedy for whatever disease the first to descend was afflicted with. For which reason, though many who were suffering from various ailments were present, this paralytic, being poor and possessing no one to cast him into the water, and being worn out by the disease and the long duration of his misfortune, endured with great youthful vigor. Seeing this, Jesus the Philanthropist felt pity, being moved with compassion for him, and having inquired if he wished to become healthy—and having heard "Yes," that he had been waiting at the pool for this reason for thirty-eight years—He bestowed health upon him in an instant by the word of His mouth, and commanded him to take up his own bed and walk away at once.

And the one whom Satan had bound, that is the one whom He released in the synagogue on the Sabbath, because of whom, while being reviled, Jesus says to the Jews: "Which of you has a sheep or cattle, and does not let it go to drink water on the Sabbath? And this daughter of Israel, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years, was it not necessary for her to be loosed?" And while He was saying these things, they were silenced.

96 Three from the dead you saw brought into the light; as you commanded, 97 The ruler’s daughter, the widow’s son; and from the tomb 98 Lazarus, half-devoured.

The daughter is the ruler’s—some say centurion’s—whom Jesus raised; for this man, being a noble and pious man, ^C first petitioned Jesus for his daughter; having...

and, having gone to the house where Christ was, and finding the child dead, and having quieted all the lamentation over her, He Himself took hold of the child, raised her up, and presented her alive to her parents. Now the child of the widow is the one in the city of Nain; for Jesus, encountering him being brought forth and his mother lamenting over him—at which point He touched his bier—raised him and returned him to his mother alive from the dead. And Lazarus is the one in Bethany who was four days dead, whom Jesus raised by calling out from the tomb, of whom we have also made mention in the first discourse.

DISCOURSE VII. To the Bishops (4).

53 And like a beast enclosed within the cavernous 54 Belly of a sea-monster, as Jonah once entered. He lies in the first discourse.

65 Nor shall I kiss the murderous hands, nor shall I 66 grasp his beard, so as to obtain a small favor.

He recalls the misfortune concerning Priam; for this man, being king of the Troad, begets fifty children, among whom are Hector and Alexander, who is also Paris. And Alexander, having prepared swift ships, departed for Greece, and having been entertained by Menelaus, the son of Atreus (for he and his brother Agamemnon were kings of Greece), he snatched away his wife Helen and led her off to Ilium, his own city, which is situated in the Troad. Now Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon, for this reason, having encamped against the Troad, were present with a great force; and Achilles, the son of Peleus, was present with them, and Ajax, son of Telamon, called the Aeacidae, and those prominent among ^A the heroes admired by the Greeks. ^B And when Priam himself was arrayed against the Greeks, and his children, especially Hector, were distinguishing themselves in the battle, many of the Greeks were slain by the hands of Hector, but he himself breathed his last at the hands of Achilles. For when both had contended, Hector, having fallen, was dragged by Achilles. Priam, therefore, having arrived before him, having honored Achilles with wealth, besought him to let him take the dead body and deem it worthy of burial. When he bore this heavily and refused, Priam, rolling before his feet and shedding tears, kissing the murderous hands and grasping his beard, entreated Achilles to consent to the request. And there was great gratitude for Priam in receiving back his son, even though dead, and in having the killer consent to this. He calls them "murderous hands" because these were the very ones that destroyed his son, which Priam was forced to kiss as if they were gentle. Gregory says, therefore, that this is a "small favor," for the sake of human glory to flatter and to assume a false appearance in order to attain it; wherefore he says elsewhere: "For it is not mine, old man that I am, to play, or to be a servant unseemly in place of a throne." It is also said that Thetis, having come to Olympus, grasped the knees and the beard of Zeus, supplicating for Achilles.

67 Neither at a holy birthday feast, nor of the dead, 68 Nor any wedding feast, running with many.

It seems to me that he wishes to mention the birthdays celebrated among the Greeks; for Herod is also said to celebrate his birthday; and they lament the dead as they did for Patroclus, and a wedding feast is especially sought after by all; for in all these things most absurd occurrences have taken place.

^A and if one were to observe the divine Scripture, he will find them called manifestations of mourning, and not of celebration.

91 Nor anywhere will I occupy the same seat as others, 92 Of geese or cranes fighting indiscriminately.

Gregory compares the councils of the cranes and geese—which are disorderly in their cries and rave in vain—to those who preside at that time; wherefore, having leaped away from the irrationality of these creatures, he considered that sitting in council with them was equivalent to being yoked together with geese and cranes. Recalling this, he introduces the example from his own verses and those of Homer.

101 These things, then, for those who wish, may there be the rule of the Cercopes.

Whether this history is meant metaphorically or is to be taken literally, we do not know precisely; however, we have read a certain scholion attached to the Theologian himself, which contains the following: "For the sons of the Cercopes are deceitful, and the animal itself (the fox) is called *cercops* because of its tail (*kerkos*); for having a large one, it is called a *cercops*; and by nature it is deceitful and crafty. Wherefore, many people rumor this about in many comic fables; for they say it will deceive the lion, the most royal of animals, as well as birds, cattle, and wild beasts. And because it possesses this craftiness by nature, they say it feigns death and swells up to deceive birds. When they descend as if upon a carcass, it tears them apart and devours them. But it even deceives dogs for the sake of mating when they attack it with swift-footed leaps." The divine Gregory says, therefore, that the deceitful and the impostors have power over the upright. ^B There is also another account concerning Passalus and Aclemon, who are among the Cercopes; for these, too, are deceitful and most unjust. The history concerning them is found in the 114th discourse, on Melampygus.

DISCOURSE VIII. On the Vility of the External Man

17 This one was blooming and valiant, the boast of comrades, 18 High-stepping, set fast in firm limbs, 19 This one was beautiful as the dawn-bearer, all men’s eyes 20 Drawing; the flower of spring among men; this one in contests 21 Glorious; this one in the works of Ares; this one, the best 22 Of beast-slayers, stirring up might in stadiums and on mountains.

In many thousands of verses, Homer and the poets of the Greeks filled their books with such encomia as these, at one moment introducing Achilles in his rage, and attesting that the premature deaths and falls of the youths were caused by his wrath; and in many cycles of words they represent him as the boast of his comrades and the defender of his country. At another moment, they marvel at Telamonian Ajax, who was firmly set in his limbs, a slayer of great beasts, and who stood as a wall for those he loved. Likewise, they praise the son of Tydeus, Diomedes, as glorious in the games. They speak of the Priamid Hector as martial; for they say that in battle he was glorified in his armor along with Ares, as Homer says: And again: For Ares led them, and the lady Enyo; And a god is ever present with him, who wards off destruction, And now Ares is present with him, appearing as a mortal man.

^A The Greeks labor greatly in honoring Heracles, the son of Amphitryon, setting much struggle and zeal upon such matters. Therefore, the divine Gregory, wishing to demonstrate the worthlessness of human things, validates his discourse from things that are brilliant in life. For he says that even if some have ever been such in their life, at least they ceased and were equated with senseless beasts; for they fell asleep and shall not rise again. So that virtue, an immortal glory, a possession that endures through time, if anyone has snatched it from among those molded from the earth, is glorious and enviable to the heavenly ones. But if anyone also says that such things are written in the Holy Scripture, let him observe that the saints have written these things for the glory of God; for one will find such persons called Nazarites, just as the champion Samson, moved from God, just as David, struggling with naked hands for the reproach against God, and as many such things you may find written for the glory of God.

DISCOURSE IX. To myself and my hardships.

We have mentioned the history concerning Job in many places, that when the devil sought him out for temptation and attacked him in many ways, he did not bring him down, but brought himself down with a crash; and the struggle became more manifest for him—for the one who was victorious—God having honored him with double the things which his adversary had expected to defeat him with.

DISCOURSE X. To myself.

That there shall be a resurrection of all, both of the just and the unjust, and a retribution for the things lived here, the divinely inspired Scripture confirms. A river of fire is said to flow before the face of God, as Daniel says: *And a river of fire flowed before him.* And he calls the lowest parts of Hades "lightless"; Hades is called an invisible place by nomenclature, which the Greeks also supposed to be a god. For Homer, bringing in Poseidon as he converses, as he is acting in the war at Ilium, and as he bears heavily the benefits of Zeus for the sake of the Trojans, says that Zeus is a tyrant, still striving also to hold the sea and the subterranean parts, because, he says, "Cronus commanded Zeus and Poseidon and Hades, the three sons, to rule over the things under heaven. To Zeus he assigned the rule over the earth and the things in it, and a portion of sovereignty; to me he spoke of ruling over all things in the waters; and to Hades to rule over the things under the earth and the dead." But let those men babble these things; the divine Gregory, however, calls the outermost darkness the lightless caverns, which is prepared for the unbelievers together with the devil according to the divine judgment.

DISCOURSE XI. To the Church Anastasia.

Bethlehem is "Christ-bearing," for in it the Savior was born. And Bethlehem is the city of David. And David is called the father of Christ according to the flesh. And a new Bethlehem, Gregory calls Anastasia. In this

^A church, because he found only a few of the orthodox gathered together there (for the impious heresy of the Arians was at that time prevailing over all), by teaching he increased it and the entire multitude that inhabited the royal city... Desideratur in codice folium unum, id est paginae duae.

DISCOURSE 19

(1) ...He commanded them to enter the cloud and to hear the voice of God, and to see Him as it was possible for man to do; but for all the others to wait at the foot of the mountain, being pure from the bed of women, in clean garments, having washed their bodies with pure water, and to hear only the divine voice; and if even a beast should touch the mountain, it shall be stoned. Gregory introduces this history so as to restrain the audacity of some who approach the holy things unworthily, possessing none of the qualities suitable for the priesthood, but priding themselves only on account of vain glory.

124 I also fear the fate of the sons of Aaron, who 125 Offering sacrifices with strange fire, strangely perished.

When God had commanded Moses to construct the tabernacle of testimony, and having chosen Aaron to serve as priest for Him, He ordained how one ought to offer sacrifice. When the sacrifices were being performed, there was a time when fire would come forth and consume them automatically. Once, then, when fire was offered from the altar, Nadab and Abiu, the sons of Aaron and priests, took their censers and offered strange fire before the Lord. And the Lord was angered at the young men because they had brought forward strange fire, and He sent upon them fire from the Lord in the tabernacle, and it consumed them immediately. But God commanded Aaron, who was still in the anointing of the high priesthood, not to mourn the burning of his sons, nor to depart from the tabernacle, nor to uncover his head.

128 As also a grievous destruction befell the sons of Heli, 129 The sons of Heli, because they had a gluttonous mind; for they thrust 130 Their wicked hands over the holy cauldrons.

We remember the sons of Heli also elsewhere in the first discourse; their names are Ophni and Phinees. These, being gluttonous, insulted the sacrifice of God, while the first-fruits were being sanctified; wherefore they also met a harsh death; for with no reverence did they thrust their hands over the holy cauldrons.

131 Nor indeed did Heli escape anger, but ^B 132 The unholy belly of his children vexed the righteous man, 133 Although he always wearied them with reproachful words.

Often Heli rebuked his sons, exhorting them not to sin against God; but because he did not carry out his zeal properly—for, says God, "your eye shall not spare your son who rebels against God"—for this reason he himself, though he was a priest and excelled in other virtues, yet did not escape the wrath; but he met a piteous end, the sin of the young men having overtaken him. "Because," God says to him, "you glorified your sons above Me, that they might be sanctified by the first-fruits and sacrifice of Israel with an impudent eye."

136 And the queenly ark, which he steadied with his hand 137 When it was tilting, he died instantly.

King David, when leading the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Abaddara [i.e., Aminadab], from the field to the city of David, called Sion, while performing sacrifices and rejoicing, was dancing before the ark of the covenant of the Lord and playing. Then truly, as the ark on the wagon was twisted and tilting, Oza son of Aminadab reached out to steady it; and the Lord was angered and struck him there, and he died before the ark immediately; for it did not please God that the ark of the covenant of the Lord should be taken by Oza...

^A seeing that he was neither a priest nor a Levite, to whom alone it was permitted to do this and to minister before the ark of the covenant of the God of Israel.

God also established a temple, 135 Untouched by hands, supports fixed therein for the [walls.

Since there was a first tabernacle and a second, the one accessible to all, but the other to the high priest alone and once a year, which was called the Holy of Holies, containing a golden censer and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar containing the manna, and the rod of Aaron which blossomed, and the tables of the covenant. Likewise, the temple of Solomon was untouched by the many in its interior parts, where the ark was and the altar and the two golden cherubim.

149 Would that they had fulfilled Gath’s suffering, 150 Holding a just punishment upon their seats.

When the ark of the covenant of the Lord was captured by the Philistines, as we related in the first discourse, ^B recounting the history concerning the sons of Heli the priest, then indeed, treating it with contempt before their own idols, they cast it aside; Dagon is the name of their god. Rising therefore in the morning, the Philistines found their god Dagon fallen on his face before the ark, and his head cut off, and the marks of his hands and feet severed; having set him up again, and finding him again fallen in dishonor, they convey the ark to Gath; Gath was pre-eminent among their satrapies. And when the ark was there, death ^C spread among them. Likewise, being carried into different places, it tormented the Philistines; boils, therefore, rose up in their seats and pained them sufficiently. Then indeed, not bearing the torments of the ark, they take counsel to send it away from their land to the land of Israel; so that they might know if the torment and the plague had come upon them because of it, having made golden mice and seats according to their satrapies, they offer them to the ark in payment for the torment; and having yoked two nursing nomadic cows to draw the wagon of the ark, they judged that if they should not turn back to their own calves, but should walk by a straight path towards ^D the Israelite land, the punishment upon their seats for its sake would be proven. This having come to pass, they drew the wagon straight, not turning back to the calves, but as if led by one leading them most eagerly; thus having restored the ark to its own places, along with the torment, they remained henceforth unharmed and unpunished.

The divine Gregory says, therefore, that upon the despisers of divine things and the unworthily ordained, would that the Gittite torment had come, and that a seat-afflicting punishment had punished them on their seats.

177 To Peter may the God-slaying Iscariot be compared, 178 And most wicked Samaria to the holy Solymis (Jerusalem).

The divine Gregory introduces these things for comparison, because of those who desert to holy offices; for while the more godly are cautious, the more malicious are seen to seize the holy things. According, therefore, to the folly that prevailed among those people, perhaps there might be someone like Judas, base in character, set before the one who is godlike in virtue like Peter; in the same way, the soul that is pious and resembles Jerusalem the pure, might be considered superior to the impious one, which is like Samaria, impure and adulterous. For Samaria,

instead of Jerusalem, was caused to be worshipped by Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who himself was the first to cause Israel to sin.

It is set down in the third speech: 184 There was a time when to the Moabites a great temple was not accessible, 185 Nor did they bear aid for the army of the Ammonites.

^C When Israel was passing through the land of Moab from Egypt, Balak, the son of Beor—who was king of Moab—sent for Balaam (for this man was a necromancer) to curse Israel, which had encamped near the territory of Moab. When he at first refused, Balak, promising to honor him with gifts, persuaded him to come. And on the way, the angel of God stood before him with a drawn sword, and attempted to kill him. The beast of burden then turned aside from the road, for it saw him, but he himself did not see him. So, striking the donkey, he tried to lead it along the straight path. As he proceeded a little further, it again turned aside from the road, and Balaam struck it a second time. When they came to a place where there was no space to turn aside, the donkey, again seeing the angel and having nowhere to turn, pressed Balaam’s legs against the walls; and he, in a rage, struck it with a whip in anger. But the donkey opened its mouth and spoke to him with a human voice: "Why," it said, "have you struck me this third time?" "Because you turned aside from the road," Balaam replied, "and if I had a sword, I would have killed you right now." And the donkey said: "Am I not your beast of burden, upon which you have always ridden from your youth? Have I ever done such a thing to you?" And now, behold, the angel of the Lord is standing in the way with a drawn sword to kill you for this third time, if I had not turned aside from the road." And ^D with his eyes opened, he saw the angel, and hastening, he worshipped. And the angel said, "If the donkey had not turned aside, I would have killed you; and now go, and do not curse Israel, for it is blessed." Having gone to Balak, and having blessed rather than cursed Israel, Balaam, when Balak became enraged at him, advised him regarding the people. He suggested that, because their God is just and hates iniquity, "You should adorn your daughters, and send them to the people; and they will commit fornication with them and turn them away from their God; and He shall put them to death, for no nation is strong against them on the earth." Balak did these things; the people poured out to the daughters of Moab and fornicated with them, and were initiated into Belphegor. The wrath was kindled, and there was a plague upon the people, until Phinehas, the son of Aaron, stood up and made propitiation, running the Israelite and the Midianite woman through with a spear, and the slaughter abated. Moses, therefore, says: "Be hostile to the Moabites." And God says to Moses: "Avenge my vengeance upon Midian and Balaam, and then you shall be gathered to your fathers."

As for the Ammonites, when the people of Israel returned from the captivity in Babylon and were building the temple, they attacked Jerusalem and plundered them, and killed them with the edge of the sword, and hindered them from their work, striking them down, until they too stood working while armed; and when they came to fight, they would leave off the building and array themselves against the Ammonites for battle. The Scripture, therefore, says that the Moabites and Ammonites shall not enter into the assembly of God.

^A Their birth is also unlawful; for the daughters of Lot, having made their father drunk with wine, entered in to him and conceived by him. The elder bore Moab (who is the father of the Moabites), and the younger bore Ammon (who is the father of the Ammonites). The divine Gregory says, therefore, that the divine altar is inaccessible to the Moabites and Ammonites, that is, to the profane and the wicked. 186 Others he numbered among the water-carriers 187 And as wood-cutters, since they were especially... Gabaon is a city, distant about ten miles from Jerusalem, inhabited by the race of the Canaanites. When the Gabaonites heard that the sons of Israel had captured Jericho and the neighboring cities, they came to Joshua son of Nun, dressed in torn tunics, carrying old garments, and broken skins, and moldy bread, and wearing worn-out sandals, as if they had come from a distant land, and spoke in favor of peace. Having deceived Joshua by these outward appearances and the things they said about themselves and their own country, they persuaded him to make an agreement with them. But when Joshua learned this afterwards, and not being able to break his oath, he appointed the Gabaonites to be wood-cutters and water-carriers for the people, and they served the Israelites in these tasks as long as Joshua lived. 188 ... But Levi, having honored the offspring of the great, 189 For He made him a servant of the heavenly Tent, 190 Here too were the limits of offerings, and of the ground, and of labor; 191 For one man held his hands over others' works, 192 As many as belonged to the temple, and from outside toiling. God chose the tribe of Levi for service to Himself; and He assigned to the Levites all the service of the sacrifices and of the ^B Tent, but He gave them no inheritance in Israel, save only tithes from all the possessions of the people. The Levites, therefore, both ate the sacrifices of Israel and received the tithes. And each family of the Levites had a specific duty assigned to them in the Tent: for some were priests according to the order of Aaron, who even received tithes of the tithes; these were the ones who took by lot the duties around the altar, and what was more honorable in the Tent, and they guarded the Ark. Others held the curtains and the poles, others the basins and the vessels; others the fire-pans and the knives, and all the vessels of the service and of the Tent; and each one, keeping his own place, recognized his order. The divine Gregory says these things, crying out against the lack of order that existed at that time; for there was no discernment of the wicked, but to anyone who wished, the things of the priesthood were easily accessible; and there was no more virtue in the Levites than in the enslaved Gabaonites. 206 I seek Noah’s ark, that I may escape the dismal fate. It lies in the second discourse. 208 And the bitter and unspeakable fiery rain of Sodom. It lies in the first discourse.

DISCOURSE XIII.

To the bishops.

^A nor to show reverence to him, even though he is a god and a manslayer. But when Diomedes approached him and was eager to kill him, Pallas held back the spear, turning it aside so it would strike nothing. Diomedes, however, having driven his spear against Ares, wounded him in the lowest part of the belly where the belt is girded. And he, he says, roared loudly, like nine or ten thousand men shouting, and fear seized all who heard Ares cry out; but he rose up upon the swiftest chariot of the clouds into Olympus, and spoke to his father Zeus concerning Athena, as she urges on an arrogant and bold man to fight against the immortal gods; for she even wounded, he says, Aphrodite in the fleshy part of the hand, and my own as well—for I was almost counted among the dismal ranks of the dead, having been brought to discord, or I lay alive and weak in my limbs. Zeus, having looked sternly at Ares, brought rebukes upon him, calling him a manslayer and a lover of war, and calling his spirit and boldness similar to Hera, who bore him, and fickle, and a soldier of a single faction. Therefore, Gregory the Theologian, wishing to show that he holds nothing as more precious than Christ, mentions these things by way of metaphor. For I have not become, he says, a bold champion for a single faction that does not look toward God; these things are judged not ^B as friendly by the judges, but they reckon it a sin that I do not sin in accordance with them all equally, and that I have my soul as the steward for the appointed times.

25 But may the abyss of forgetfulness hide these things.

This abyss of forgetfulness is also a myth held in honor among the Greeks. For some call it the abyss of forgetfulness, others of silence, as do Marcion and Manes; Pythagoras and Plato, whom Origen followed, say that souls pre-exist the body, and that they were brought down from better things to worse, for they say that the body is a bond and a prison of the soul. When, therefore, they say, the souls arrived at the body, they have fallen into a draught of forgetfulness, so that they may be ignorant of what they suffer; and these also drivel that they are poured from body into body, as will be spoken of more fully in the discourse *On the Soul* as we proceed. The divine Gregory says, therefore, that if there is ever any abyss of forgetfulness, may it hide my calamities; for many things are suffered even by those who are thought to serve God, until the final day of all shall strip bare the intentions.

DISCOURSE XIV. On Human Nature.

57 If ever the bitter penalty ^C 58 Of the accursed taste, and the envy of the adversary, Wiped away for me, 61 ... by fire-cooling the wonder. (It lies in the first discourse.)

One would not take this story to be the one concerning Tantalus, or Hercules; for Tantalus, indeed, is said to be dried up by the lack of water in the midst of the waters; and Hercules to be so much inflamed by the blood of Nessus, as even to turn the river’s stream into flame; but the histories lie as we proceed. With truth, therefore, one must understand the story of the "fire-cooling the wonder" as referring to the dew that gushed forth for the children in the furnace; it lies in the first discourse.

71 I am an image of God, and was made the son of filth.

God, having created the whole of creation, at last made man after His own image and likeness; for it is written: “And God said, Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let him have dominion over creation; and God made man, taking dust from the earth. And he breathed ^D

^A into him the breath of life; and man, Adam, became a living soul.” How then, says the divine Gregory, being an image of God, did I become a son of shame? It was, in all ways, through the sin which disobedience brought forth. 17 A creation [plasma] of God, a paradise, Eden, glory, hope, and commandment. What he means is this: if my soul be from God, is it then in vain? Or is it not in vain for me to be a creation of God, and the paradise, the Eden, the glory, the hope, and the commandment? 88 The rain-bringer who establishes the world. He who was at the time of Noah. It is found in Discourse I. The rain-bringer who carries the torch. He who was at the time of Sodom. It is found in Discourse I. 89 And then the law, a written cure. It is found in Discourse II. And then 90 Christ, having mixed our form with his own. It is found likewise in Discourse II. 91 “That God, having suffered in my sufferings, might grant protection.” Christ, having become human for mankind, having suffered, was crucified and buried and rose again, so that Christ, having suffered in human sufferings, might provide help, and make human beings into God by the form he assumed as a human. 102 ...But tell me of all the terrors, 103 The gloomy Tartarus, the Phlegethon, and the whips. Plato also mentions the punishments in Hades, speaking in the *Phaedo* about the lots and the allotments of souls, that those who have lived unjustly are punished in the Cocytus and in the Phlegethon and in the Tartarus. The Cocytus is a very cold river, the Phlegethon a very hot one; Tartarus is a place in the middle, in which there is a drawing up and a swallowing down of waters ^B and smoke, and the place is lightless; the Acheron is also in the middle, he says, resembling a place of purgation, not punishing, but, as he says, cleansing sins.

DISCOURSE XV

Concerning the vileness of the outward man.

Argument of the poem. Scholion.

having inscribed the golden apple with "For the beautiful one," she threw it into the midst of the guests. Three goddesses rose up to claim it: Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena, each asserting that she herself was the beautiful one. ^A Zeus, wishing to relieve the goddesses of their embarrassment, sent them by Hermes to Paris, the shepherd on Mount Ida, to be judged. Upon their arrival, they promised him gifts for his judgment: Hera, that she would grant him royal power; Athena, preeminence in war; and Aphrodite, Helen, the daughter of Zeus and Leda, who surpassed all women in beauty. Overcome by desire, he awarded the prize to Aphrodite. She then commanded him to sail to Lacedaemon and abduct Helen, while her husband, Menelaus, was away on a journey to Crete.

83 "And the Curetes fought, and the Aetolians, eager for battle, 84 About the boar's head and the bristling hairs."

Meleager, king of the Aetolians, having despised Artemis, did not offer her the customary sacrifices, thinking her of little account and unworthy of mention. But the myths say that Artemis rules over wild beasts and animals; she is a mountain-dweller, and thus is called the "Deer-hunter," for she strikes deer with great accuracy. Therefore, she sent a monstrously large wild boar against Meleager to ravage his land. Meleager, having called the Curetes to an alliance, killed the wild beast. Having taken the boar's head and its bristles, he gave them to Atalanta as a gift of hospitality; she was a maiden and an archer. When the Curetes learned of this, they waged war against the Aetolians, and thus they slaughtered one another over the boar's head and the pig's bristles. Now Homer speaks of the head and the hide, but the great Gregory, in place of the hide, says "hairs," whether because he was following the requirements of the meter—for it is an elegy,

450 "About the boar's head and the bristling hairs,"

as was said before—or whether he was representing the nature of the thing; for a pig is not skinned.

85 "Great song of the Aeacidae, who died, one indeed among ^B 86 his enemies, with frenzied hand, but the other through lechery."

This Aeacus was a son of Zeus, and most just. Therefore, once, when a drought occurred in Greece, the leading men of the cities came to him, urging him to pray to his father that rain might fall. Standing and praying, he broke the drought through his prayer, and abundant water poured down; and from this especially, the piety of Aeacus was demonstrated. He fathered two sons, Peleus and Telamon; Peleus grew up to be the father of Achilles, and Telamon of Ajax, who were called Aeacidae, deriving the honor from their grandfather. Achilles, therefore, after the slaying of Hector, wishing to marry Polyxena, the daughter of Priam, entered the city and was shot in the temple of Apollo by Paris, and died. Yet after a time, Achilles appeared to his own son, Pyrrhus, who was at Troy, saying that he must offer up Polyxena to him, because of whom he himself had perished. Pyrrhus, therefore, after the victory, took Polyxena and sacrificed her at the tomb of his own father, Achilles. Ajax, the son of Telamon, who was preeminent in virtue and first among the vanguard, was slain in war, as the divine Gregory says, by a frenzied hand; but as some say, he took his own life. For they say that when Achilles was slain, Ajax and Odysseus entered [the battle] to take the body of Achilles, and Odysseus, being resourceful and cunning, deceived Ajax into taking the body of Achilles while he [Odysseus] kept the enemies at bay, being hedged about by his arms. And when they met at the assembly and were judged concerning the arms, the Greeks granted the sway to Odysseus. Ajax, having become mad and deranged, through the whole night ^C...

slaughtered the sheep and herds of the Greeks, thinking he was killing the men themselves. When day came, realizing he had lost his mind and fearing the mockery of all, he is said to have killed himself with a sword. Therefore, the Greeks marvel that Ajax perished by the sword of Hector, and Hector was dragged by the belt of Ajax, having been slain by Achilles. For indeed, Hector once called the Danaans to battle, and Ajax went out; and as they were almost about to wound each other, both convinced by their own companions, they ceased from the battle against one another, and gave bright gifts to each other. The epic poem has it thus: Having spoken thus, he gave a silver-studded sword, Bearing it with the scabbard and the well-cut belt; And Ajax gave a belt bright with purple. Upon which belt the corpse was dragged from the chariot by Achilles; and Ajax perished miserably by the sword of Hector. ^A

87 The great glory of the son of Amphitryon, but he was subdued, 88 By a flesh-eating garment, that destroyer of all.

Much discourse celebrates Hercules, that he was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and being a hero, he accomplished the twelve labors. But the present history is this: This Hercules had a wife named Deianira, whom he took from Oeneus instead of a prize, she having been claimed by the river Achelous, from whom he also begat Hyllus. Therefore, as he was taking this Deianira and bringing her to his own homeland, Nessus, one of the centaurs, seeing her, fell in love, and upon a certain river wished to have connection with her. Hercules, therefore, learning of this, shot Nessus with an arrow; and as Nessus was dying, he gave of his blood to Deianira, having warned and deceived her, saying, "This blood will be for you a love-charm for Hercules, so that," he says, "if you learn that he loves another, you might anoint the garment of Hercules with this blood, and you will turn him back to your own desire." Deianira kept this blood. Therefore, when Hercules fell in love with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus, and had taken her and sent her as a captive to Deianira through Lichas, Deianira was moved to suspicion and jealousy; and wishing to turn his love to herself, she anointed the tunic of Hercules with the blood of Nessus and gave it to Hercules to put on; but the blood was man-killing. When Hercules put it on, the tunic ignited and burned Hercules; and he, burning and having cast himself into a nearby river, made the water hot; from which, thereafter, Thermopylae is between Thessaly and Phocis. ^B

89 Cyrus and Croesus did not escape their evil fate.

Croesus was a king of Lydia, very rich, as will be shown from this. Solon was a lawgiver of the Athenians. Being asked to legislate for the youth, he demanded an oath from the citizens that they would keep and cherish the laws established by him for ten years, and thereafter, if they did not please them, they could then dissolve them. He did this so that he might for a time habituate them to remain by the decrees; for he knew that if they should taste of the legislation, they would thereafter be unchangeable regarding them. Having therefore taken the oath from the Athenians and having legislated for them, Solon left Athens, being obligated to spend ten years abroad. Traveling therefore through the cities, he came also into Lydia to Croesus the king; Croesus, wishing to stir with wonder the one who had come, sent his own treasures into his sight, showing him how rich in gold Croesus was; intending to question Solon as he was returning from the treasures. ^C

^A asking whom he considered the happiest of all men, assuming that he would name him before all others. But Solon answered, "Tellus the Athenian." For Solon was defining, not wealth and pride, but one who had lived without passions, died, and excelled. Now, therefore, he calls Solon insatiable, as one who desired to see more wealth than the Lydian gold, and wealth is a certain happiness concerning external things. The discourse recognizes three types of happiness: freedom from passion in the soul, health in the body, and abundance in external things. Solon, therefore, ought to have added that even if you are excellent in soul, wealth is sufficient for you concerning external happiness. This Croesus, then, deceived by Apollo, suffered a bad fate. For Apollo is called Loxias, the oracle-giver; for in prophesying, he did not declare the oracles to those consulted clearly or explicitly, but cryptically and obliquely; hence he was called Loxias, as one who spoke things contrary to the outcomes. From this, many were deceived, among whom was Croesus. For there was an oracle given to him as follows: "Croesus, having crossed the Halys, shall destroy a great empire." Thinking, therefore, that Croesus meant the empire of his enemies, he crossed the Halys river and destroyed his own empire. And these things are concerning Croesus the Lydian.

One must also speak about Cyrus, whom the divine Gregory mentions. Darius the younger, the son of Xerxes, ^B begets sons from Parysatis: Cyrus and Artaxerxes. When Darius had died, the two contended over the kingdom; and time led Artaxerxes, as the elder, to reign, but his mother put forward Cyrus as being younger and beloved. But Artaxerxes prevailed because of time, and he himself reigns. Cyrus, therefore, not wishing to submit to Artaxerxes, asks his own brother to give him the satrapy of Asia, as a governorship; and having received it, he went down to Ionia, and sitting there, he came again to the idea of the kingdom, and having persuaded certain men of the Lacedaemonians and other Greeks, about ten thousand, he persuaded them to follow him; when they followed him, he went up as far as Persia, and a battle having taken place between those of Artaxerxes and those of Cyrus, the men of Cyrus were victorious, even though they were far fewer than the army of Artaxerxes. For the Greeks knew well how to wage war, and being few, they defeated the many by their art. Cyrus, therefore, emboldened by the small victory, rushes from his own phalanx against the phalanx of Artaxerxes, as if to slaughter Artaxerxes himself; and being alone, he is destroyed, and thus he ends his life without having reigned. The divine Gregory, therefore, wishing to demonstrate the vanity of the present life, introduces [the topic of] the highest forms of happiness, showing that even those who are considered happy, and these who are situated [in such power], are sometimes suddenly snatched away, as all things in life, both present and hoped for, vanish at once.

91 And: "Thee, Dracontides, unbridled spirit, wine destroyed." ^C Dracontides is Alexander; for Zeus, having taken the likeness of a serpent, committed adultery with Olympiad, the wife of Philip. This Alexander, therefore, possessing great aptitude from nature and prudence, mastered almost the entire inhabited world; he was also temperate, but nevertheless a wine-bibber. This one, then, departed from life badly, destroyed by drunkenness; some, indeed, say that even...

^A his body was corrupted by luxury. Such and so great a man, says the divine Gregory—even though he had conquered the whole earth—ended his life with a miserable conclusion.

94 "Hero, son of Atreus; Irus, the vagabond." A hero is a demigod. Agamemnon is the son of Atreus. Being king of Greece, he assembled the Trojan war and sacked the city of Ilium. For Tantalus was king of Phrygia; he, having a war with Ilus, the founder of the Ilium at Troy, and fearing defeat, entrusted his own son Pelops with money, sending him off to the continent, saying this: "If I win, you will return again to Phrygia; if I am defeated, you will remain in Europe." Pelops, therefore, having taken the money, came to Greece, into a region named Apia, over which Oenomaus reigned. This man had a daughter named Hippodamia. There, having competed in a horse race against Oenomaus, Pelops was victorious, took Hippodamia as his wife, and took possession of the region; instead of Apia, he called it the Peloponnese, which is to say, the "Island of Pelops." The Pelopids, then, are Atreus, Theseus, Agamemnon, and Menelaus, and lastly Orestes. Ilus, therefore, having expelled Pelops from Phrygia and built Ilium, was later destroyed by the Pelopids. For Agamemnon the Pelopid sacked and destroyed the city of Ilium. But Irus is he who lived a vagabond's life, who, being most miserable and a source of mockery, wrestled with Odysseus. Therefore, the divine Gregory says that both the demigod King Agamemnon and the vagabond and most miserable Irus died in the same way, leaving behind nothing more than a hollow name among men.

95 "Constantine, lord, my servant." ^B Constantinus became emperor of the Romans. He was God-fearing and the first among emperors to be a Christian; and because he had nearly mastered all that is under the heavens, he nonetheless died. Therefore, the admirable Gregory, setting forth the instability of life, says this: that such a great emperor as Constantine and my servant died in like manner; and there is nothing more for men in the things of this life than merely attaining greater lamentation and leaving behind a hollow inscription on stone. Therefore he says that virtue is the most illustrious possession of all for the soul, and that it is this which should be pursued more diligently.

97 "And as for the things here, such they are; but those elsewhere, who could recount 98 How many the last day brings to the unrighteous? 99 A roaring fire, dread darkness, far from the light 100 A worm, the reminder of our wickedness."

It has already been spoken of regarding the punishments in Hades, just as the wise men of the Greeks also made mention of these things, such as Plato, and regarding Cocytus and Pyriphlegethon and Tartarus and Acheron. And the admirable Isaiah says that there is fire and a worm: "For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." And the admirable Daniel: "A river of fire was drawn before him." But Christ, our life, says to the ungodly: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels." And again: "Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." ^C

105 "Where is my great glory of the first-born? It was destroyed by eating. 106 Where is wise Solomon? But he was overcome by women."

Both are in the second discourse. 107 Where was the number of the twelve when Judas 108 was covered in darkness for a small gain? It is in the second discourse.

DISCOURSE XVI. DISCOURSE XVII. Blessings of different lives.

DISCOURSE XVIII. DISCOURSE XIX. Against the flesh.

husband of the adulteress. Urias was his name, a Hittite man, and a soldier of excellent bravery among the front-line troops in the camp. When he arrived, David, having inquired about the state of the battle, commanded him to rest at home. But Urias could not endure to do this, saying it was not right that, while the army of Israel was camping in the field and fighting, he should rest at home and take his beloved wife into his arms. David therefore, having learned this, again sent Urias to Joab, the commander of the army, carrying his own doom with his own hand. For a letter had been written to Joab that he should engage with the enemy, and should station the brave man at the strong battle by the wall, even though he was eager, with Urias in the face of the enemy, and should draw back, and concede him to be captured by the adversaries. This having taken place, the prudent David supposed that such a great evil would remain hidden; but who shall escape the great eye of God? He indeed had done these things, but God sent to him the prophet Nathan, who spoke to him in the manner of a parable ^B about a rich man who, having been visited by a certain wayfarer, spared to kill any of the flock of a hundred ewes that he possessed, but snatched the one ewe of a poor man that was cherished in the bosom of its master, and feasted his guest with it. Now David, the most fervent, being inflamed with zeal for piety, swore quickly by God that the man who had done this deserved to die, and would restore the ewe of the poor man fourfold. Nathan then said to him: "You are the man, O king; and such and such are the things that God says concerning you." David, therefore, coming to his senses and the remembrance of God, said: "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to him: "And the Lord has taken away your sin." And having wept bitterly, ^C and having lain in ashes and sackcloth, and having confessed sufficiently, he was deemed worthy of forgiveness.

43 Who, seeing the lowly ones in mourning, saved Nineveh? There was a great city, Nineveh. Its cry ascended to God; and indeed God sent the prophet Jonah to prophesy to Nineveh that it would be destroyed quickly. Jonah therefore traveled to Tharsis, fleeing from the command; but a storm having arisen, he was condemned by lot and cast into the depths; a sea monster received him, and on the third day the beast spat him out. Again he was commanded, and indeed he went and preached that after three days Nineveh would be destroyed. The Ninevites, therefore, having heard the prophecy, were struck with fear, and were not unbelieving of what was said, but each turned from his evil path, fasting in multitude, and putting on sackcloth, and having subdued with fasting even their infants ^D and their cattle, they escaped the calamity of the threatened wrath, as God with a philanthropic and kind eye looked with compassion upon His own creation.

4 Who shed a tear over a younger son? He mentions the divine parable in the Gospels concerning the prodigal son. For the Savior says parabolically: "A certain man had two sons; and the younger, having approached his father and asked for the portion of the substance that fell to him, took it and went away; and having squandered his wealth disgracefully in a foreign land, at last he became destitute. Having been severely impoverished, he attached himself to one of the citizens of that region, and was sent into his field to feed swine. And being so pressed by famine that he could not be satisfied with the carob pods which the swine were eating, having come to the memory of his fatherly goods, he resolved to return to his own father, and..."

^A considering himself unworthy to be called a son, he determined to pray that he might be accepted and numbered among the hired servants. But the father, anticipating him and seeing his wretched, wandering son from afar, had compassion; and shedding tears over him, he embraced the neck of his evil son, and taking him by the hand, he joyfully drew him back into his own house. He called the servants together and commanded them to rejoice at the arrival of his son; he honored him with a gold ring, adorned him with a splendid robe, and having quickly cleansed him of his filth, he sacrificed the fatted calf for his friends and made a feast, brightening the symposium with symphonies and musical dances. And when the good son, who had remained so steadfastly with his father, was grieved that he had received the second place after the wicked son, the father, by his gentle words, changed his grief, persuading him that it was necessary to rejoice and be glad, since the lost son was found and he who was dead had come to life again.

45 Who, rejoicing, cast far away from the pure, nor ^B [tax-]gatherers? The present story is found in the first discourse.

46 Who placed the wandering sheep upon his shoulders? The Savior tells this parable also in the Gospels, saying that a Shepherd, having a hundred lambs, when one was isolated and had wandered off into the mountains, leaving the ninety-nine, follows in the steps of that one; and having found it, he takes it upon his shoulders, and rejoicing, he numbers it with the others. "The good shepherd rejoices," he says, "with joy over the finding of the one that was lost, more than over the many that did not wander."

47 Who cleansed the lepers? Christ granted cleansing to ten lepers, of whom one was a Samaritan.

48 Taking away bitter diseases, ^C Granting good things to bodies and to souls? Christ, having healed every disease and every infirmity, granted good things to souls and bodies.

49 To thee, O blessed one, these gifts, light of mortals; but may you ^D [step upon] 50 Our swelling wave, and may the surge quickly fall. Jesus, having come to the disciples who were being tossed about by the storm, walking upon the waves, made a calm. We set forth this story in the first discourse. Gregory, therefore, the speaker of things divine, according to the discourse of anagogy, after the sufficient confession, says: "Step upon our wave," that is, upon the tumultuous passions; and the surge (he calls it the dark swelling of sin) will immediately be broken.

DISCOURSES XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII. In enigmas in these discourses, the divine Gregory speaks of Adam and of the tree of eating, of Sodom, of Tartarus, of the Lamentations of Jeremiah and the destruction of Jerusalem, of Elijah the prophet, of Moses and the child-murdering decree of Pharaoh, of Jonah, and of Daniel; we set forth the history of all these in the preceding discourses. He mentions again, however, the cloud of forgetfulness, which he prays might cover his mind, not yielding to the doctrines of the Greeks in this opinion, but rather saying that the burden of his own calamities should be covered in this way: "If ever," he says, "that were granted to me, burdened by a multitude of calamities, it would be good and very dear to me."

DISCOURSE XXVIII. On the Genuine Scriptures

DISCOURSE XXIX. The Plagues

DISCOURSE XXX. The Decalogue

DISCOURSE XXXI. The Patriarchs

DISCOURSE XXXII. The Disciples

DISCOURSE XXXIII. Concerning the Genealogy of Christ

^A the union of the two tribes thus: Naasson, prince of Judah, took to wife the daughter of the great Aaron, and Aaron was a Levite. Furthermore, he says that the Persian war caused the order of the tribes to be mixed up through the captivity. But since Christ is God and man, and was born of a virgin mother, one must believe the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: *And his generation who shall declare?* (Isa. LIII, 8).

CARMEN XXXIV. Genealogy.

Therefore the Son of God and God is Christ, and he is the son of David, and both priest and king. Regarding the genealogies from Adam in reverse according to Luke, the God-seeing Gregory makes mention thus: Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, ^B Maleleel, Jared, Enoch, Mathusala, Lamech, Noe, Sem, Arphaxad, Cainan, Sala, Heber, Phaleg, Ragau, Serug, Nachor, Thare, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judas, Phares, Esron, Aram, Aminadab, Naasson, Salmon, Booz, Obed, Jesse, David, Nathan, Mathan, Mennas, Maleas, Eliakim, Joannan, Joseph, Judas, Simeon, Levi, Matthal, Jorem, Eliezer, Joseph, Her, Elmod, Cosam, Addi, Melchi, Neri, Salathiel, Zorobabel, Resa, Joannan, Judas, Osok, Semein, Mattathias, Joseph, Janne, Melchi, Levi, Matthal, Heli, Joseph. Thus for his part the divine Luke; but the admirable Matthew traces the series from Abraham to David according to Luke, and from David he leads it down through the progeny of Solomon in this continuous line: David, Solomon, Roboam, Abias, Asa, ^C Josaphat, Joram, Ozias, Joatham, Achaz, Ezechias, Manasses, Amon, Josias, Jechonias, whom they led captive into Babylon, Salathiel, Zorobabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Sadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph.

CARMEN XXXV. Miracles according to Matthew.

CARMEN XXXVI. Parables of the same.

The Great Gregory makes mention of the divine miracles and parables of each of the holy evangelists. He says, therefore, that Matthew recorded so many miracles: of the leper, of Peter’s mother-in-law, of the centurion’s boy, of the storm of winds, of the legion, of the paralytic, of the woman with the issue of blood, of the ruler’s daughter, of the blind men on the road, of the mute, of the man having a withered hand, of the blind and deaf man, of the five loaves and two fish, ^D of the walking on the sea, of the Canaanite woman, of the seven loaves, of the transfiguration, of the lunatic, of the blind men of Jericho, of the receiving of sight by the blind, and of the healing of the lame in the temple, and of the casting out of those who were defiled, of the fig tree, of the cross, of the burial, of the resurrection. But Matthew writes down these parables: of the one who built his house firmly and the one who built it insecurely, of the seed that fell on four types of ground, of the seed sown with weeds, of the mustard seed, of the leaven, of the treasure in the field, of the pearl and the merchant, of the net, of the lost sheep, of the cruel debtor, of the laborers and the equality of the reward to the last and the first, of the wicked tenants, of the

^A son sent by the father into the vineyard, of the plans at the wedding, of the ten virgins, of the distribution of the talents, of the sheep and the goats.

Discourse XXXVII. The miracles of John [(1)]

John the Theologian recorded these miracles: the wedding in Cana of Galilee, the king’s son, the paralytic at the pool, the five loaves, walking upon the sea, the man blind from birth, the four-day-dead Lazarus, the Passion, the burial, the Resurrection, the conversation with the friends, the touching by Thomas, and the eating after the Resurrection.

Discourse XXXVIII. The miracles of Luke [(2)]

Discourse XXXIX. The parables of the same [(3)]

Luke likewise recorded these many miracles: of the demoniac, of Peter’s mother-in-law, of the leper, of the paralytic, of the man with the withered hand, of the centurion’s servant, of the widow’s son, of the sinful woman, of the winds, of the legion, of the woman with an issue of blood, of Jairus’ daughter, of the five loaves, of the Transfiguration, of the healing of the only son, of the dumb man, of the woman bound by ^B Satan, of the man with dropsy, of the ten lepers, of the blind man of Jericho, of the signs on the cross, of the burial, of the resurrection, and of the ascension into heaven. He recorded these parables: of the one who built his house safely upon the rock, and of the one who, having suffered more, loved more; of the seed falling into four natures, of the one who fell among thieves, of the one knocking at the door out of season and receiving what is good, of the spirit that moved in with seven others, of the one who calculated pulling down his barns and building larger ones, of the virgins and the bridal chamber, of the one who treated his fellow-servants well, of the fig tree being manured, of the mustard seed, of the leaven, of the poor at the wedding, of the drachma, of the lost sheep, of the prodigal son, of the steward who cut down the debts, of Lazarus the beggar, of the widow who prayed earnestly, of the publican and the Pharisee, of the distribution of the minas, of the wicked husbandmen and the murderers ^C of the Master.

Discourse XL. The miracles of Mark [(4)]

Discourse XLI. The parables of the same [(5)]

Mark recorded these miracles: of the demoniac, of Peter’s mother-in-law, of the leper, of the paralytic, of the man with the withered hand, of the winds and the sea, of the legion, of the woman with an issue of blood, of Jairus’ daughter, of the five loaves, of walking upon the sea, of the Syrophoenician woman, of the deaf and dumb man, of the seven loaves, of the man who spoke with difficulty, of Bartimaeus, of the barren fig tree, of the blind and lame healed near the temple. He recorded these parables: of the seed falling upon the uneven ground, of the tares, of the mustard seed, of the heir who died at the hands of the unjust.

Discourse XLII. The parables of the four [(6)]

The divine Gregory speaks generally of those parables which the four evangelists wrote ^D down.

^A And these are: a house built upon sand, unequal seed of weeds, wheat growing with them, the burning of the seed along with the weeds, mustard, a pearl, a treasure hidden in a field, a net, a vineyard, sons sent by a father into a field, evil tenants, a wedding feast given by a father for his son, a guest cast out for having filthy garments, ten virgins keeping watch, the sudden arrival of the master, the dividing of goats and sheep, a lamp shining on a lampstand, a servant always expecting the master, one falling among robbers, a spirit entering a house with seven others, a barren fig tree, a drachma, a sheep, the prodigal son, a harsh master to an ungrateful slave, a prudent steward, a lender, Lazarus the beggar, the Pharisee and the tax collector, the widow’s importunate petition, bread and fish given to children, storehouses being sealed, and a rich man clutching at hopes, the distribution of talents, the partitioning of minas, a servant being praised, and likewise another being condemned.

DISCOURSE XLIII. On silence during the fasts.

^B 71 I do not sing of Troy, nor of the poorly-sailing Argo. Ulysses, son of Laertes, after the sacking of Ilium, returning to the land of Greece, having wandered much—a naked man, a shipwrecked survivor—came to the Phaeacians. Seen by the daughter of Alcinous, who was a maiden, and having moved her with his wise words, he was shown by her to the Phaeacians and to King Alcinous. Though a stranger and naked, he was nevertheless worthy of respect and highly esteemed above others. Coming to the banquet, he heard of the calamities and heroic deeds of Troy sung to the lyre; and when he inquired about the wooden horse—whether anything of these things was known [to them]—upon learning what they were, and listening to those speaking, he groaned heavily, weeping and causing astonishment to those looking on. Being advised not to do this before them (for it is not fitting to ruin festivities with groaning tears), he eventually spoke the secret, that he was Ulysses, who had been brought by wandering up to that point.

^C 72 Nor of a boar’s head, nor of much of Heracles. The Curetes and Aetolians slaughtered one another over a boar’s head. This story is recorded in the 15th discourse. And Heracles finished his twelve labors. This is recorded in the 2nd discourse.

99 And a strange fire destroyed the sacrificer in former 100 [times] Children, not cleanly touching the sacrifice. This is recorded in the 12th discourse.

101 I heard once of the holy ark of the great God, 102 How even in its tilting it killed the one who touched it. This is recorded in the 12th discourse.

DISCOURSE XLIV. On silence.

Fearing the smooth path, he devised such grief. The ring he loved, his father’s, he cast into the sea.

Polycrates, king of the Samians, being fortunate and having everything go smoothly, feared this smooth success (for he had never been grieved), and wishing to procure grief for himself, he took his father’s ring, which he loved, and threw it into the sea. And he seemed to be grieved about this; for indeed the ring was very precious to him. But a fish swallowed the ring, which was stuck to the line. The fisherman, then, gave the catch to the king, and the king gave the fish to his servant; but having cut it open and found the ring inside, the king...

kept it for himself; the daughter of the king, however, accepted the one who had caught the fish. Thus, it did not befall him to be saddened, even though he wished to be.

DISCOURSE XLV. DISCOURSE XLVI. Heroic poem and iambic verse.

Proteus, a sophist in the theft of shapes, And Melampus, or some other unstable one; Christ came as my helper, ^C Who also saved the disciples from the storm, And freed many from the bonds of sufferings and demons, By desiring the grace of the people.

The present histories are set forth in the first discourse. "By deceits he stole the leader of the race." It is set forth in the second discourse.

DISCOURSE XLVII. Journey prayers.

^A The divine Gregory says, therefore, in a supplicatory manner: "Christ the King, O pillar of fire, restrain for Gregory, for his soul wandering through the most bitter desert of life, Pharaoh—that is, the devil, who counsels evil—and stop the bitter taskmasters, that is, the demons. Deliver me from the mud of sin and the tile-making of filthy labor; subdue my enemies with unseemly blows, those who are struck by pure and godlike thoughts, and by the practice of the commandments (for these are, for the demons, unseemly scourges). Grant an even path for this mortal life, along which I walk hastening toward the divine fatherland. And if the enemy should overtake me as I hasten, you, for my sake, divide even the sea, leading me by a path which You know, unusual and more divine. May I traverse the strong, untrodden track, hastening to the promised land, that is, the kingdom of heaven, my inheritance which You promised and to which You have bowed. And may You halt the floods, the passionate seedlings of flux, and turn the wars of the aliens—evil thoughts—to flight, having blunted the most grievous dart of sin. And if I should step upon the holy land, having been released from the body, and having passed the things previously mentioned, having arrived at the land of the meek and been declared an heir, Christ the King, Light of men, I shall there glorify You with eternal hymns without ceasing."

ORATION XLVIII. On Principles

ORATION XLIX. On the Son

^A the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. It is said of us: for the Virgin is a human being, bearing God incarnate in purity, and without the intercourse of man.

David’s race, but Adam’s [kin]. God promised to David that He would raise up Christ from the fruit of his loins according to the flesh; and David was king of Israel, the son of Jesse, a Bethlehemite of the tribe of Judah. Therefore Jacob first said: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler from his loins, until he comes for whom it is reserved, and he is the expectation of the nations. Christ is therefore the son of David according to the flesh, the creator of Adam, but Adam was the first man created in the image and likeness of God.

65 And a manger received him. When the decree had gone out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled, and all were hurrying to their own native land, Joseph, being a son of David, went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of David, to be enrolled with Mary, who was betrothed to him and was pregnant. And the days were fulfilled for her to give birth, and she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And a star led the Magi 66 And they came as gift-bearers, and bowed their knees. When Christ was born, Magi arrived from the east, guided by a star, and having worshipped Christ, they offered Him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

67 As mortal He came unto the contest, but stood firm as ^B invincible. 68 The tempter with three struggles. The devil tempts Christ with three assaults: he proposes stones to be turned into bread for Him who is hungry; he shows Him the kingdoms of the earth, asserting that he will give these to Him if, falling down, He will worship; and having led Him to the pinnacle of the temple, he says to cast Himself down if He be the Son of God; but having failed in all, he departs disgraced. The explanation is [contained] in the third discourse.

69 He endured hunger, and He fed thousands. The Savior partook of food as a human, yet He fed thousands from five loaves. It is [contained] in the third discourse.

He changed water into wine. Christ having come into Cana of Galilee to a marriage, when the wine ran out and His mother made this known to Him, He ordered those standing by to fill the water-jars with water, and He prepared wine from water, cheerful to the guests and very pleasant.

70 He washed (others), but He cleansed sins; but ^C He helped. 71 Under the Spirit of a thundering voice, the Son of the Unbeginning [One]. Christ, being baptized in the Jordan by John, is testified to by the Father as His beloved Son, and the All-Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form as a dove. It is [contained] in the second discourse.

72 As mortal He accepted sleep, and as God He lulled the sea. Christ, sleeping in the boat, while a tempest disturbed the disciples, arose and rebuked the winds; and the sea presently smoothed itself out at His command.

75 He bent the knee, and to the exhausted [He gave] strength, and ^D bent the knee.

^A Christ, weary from the journey, sat by the well at Sichem and spoke with the Samaritan woman. Having foretold to her what had been done, and having been made known by her to her fellow citizens, He preached the Gospel of the kingdom to those who had come to Him; and He Himself strengthened weakened knees, invigorated outstretched hands, set disjointed limbs, straightened the lame, and healed every disease. 74 He prayed, and for those who supplicated, He hearkened to the weak.

Christ, being about to be crucified, prayed: "Father, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou [wilt]." He prayed indeed as a man, but as God He hearkened to the prayers of the weak; Christ is the combination of both. ^B Christ is both victim and high priest; He offered His blood to God, He purified the world; He was crucified, and He nailed sin to the cross; He was mixed with the dead, but He raised the dead; those were things of the flesh, these of the divinity. Do not, therefore, says Gregory the divine, insult the divinity of Christ with human sufferings.

DISCOURSE L. On the Holy Spirit.

When Christ, having fulfilled the saving economy, was taken up, He sent the all-holy Spirit to the disciples on the day of Pentecost, as He had promised, from the Father; and there appeared a sound as of the rushing of a violent wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting; and there appeared to them cloven tongues as of fire, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. ^C For it sat upon each one of them, and they spoke in tongues the greatness of God. And there were present in Jerusalem devout men from every nation, who, hearing, glorified God and believed in our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 From one progenitor, woman and Seth were begotten; 40 not "wrought" and "workman," but mortals they were nonetheless.

God, having formed Adam from the earth and having breathed into him the breath of life, brought him into an ecstasy and sleep, and taking one of his ribs, He fashioned Eve; and from this same Adam, through the conjunction with Eve, Seth also came to be; and Eve was indeed neither born [in the same manner] nor was she from Adam [in the same way], but Seth was born, and he too was from Adam. ^D And while both had their existence from Adam, not in equal wise, however; it is said that the woman is not "wrought" [by birth], and Seth is "wrought" [by birth], both having come from one father.

DISCOURSE LI. On the World.

DISCOURSE LII. On Providence.

Gregory the Theologian, refuting the opinions of the Greeks and wishing to prove concerning Providence that this entire universe is moved by the rudders of God, offers the echoes of their trifles concisely and through riddles. For they assign providence to the stars; whence they introduce chances, and fates, and destined lots, and births. Gregory the wonderful, therefore, aimfully strikes at their intent. It is good also to speak briefly about the stars, whence they lapsed into such opinions. The divine man therefore says:

27 Star is contrary to star; but who is it that has mixed them? 28 For He who has bound them, also, if He wishes, has loosed them. 29 But if it is God, how did He first shake God off [away] from me?

^A

The wise men of the Greeks have set forth many opinions concerning many things, and especially concerning the stars, but concerning most of them they have gone astray; for, wishing to support [the notion of] fate, they have published their views regarding the stars in this manner. They speak of a certain crown of Ariadne and a lock of Berenice, raving about such things. Ariadne, they say, was the daughter of Minos, the king of the Cretans, when Theseus came for the destruction of the Minotaur. From Theseus, then, Dionysus took her and led her away to Naxos, and had intercourse with her, and in her honor he depicted a crown in the heaven by means of the stars. And this is the [account] of the lock of Berenice: Berenice was a woman, the wife of that Ptolemy in Alexandria who was called Euergetes. Now, as her husband Ptolemy was in the wars, she made a vow that if he should return unharmed, she would cut off her own hair and dedicate it as an offering in the temple; and Berenice did dedicate it. Now there was a certain astronomer in her time named Conon, and flattering her, he said that the gods had placed this lock of hair among the stars; and even now there is a certain cluster placed [there] of stars in the heaven, which they call the lock of Berenice.

Similarly, they speak concerning the swan: Zeus, having fallen in love—as some say, with Nemesis, but others with Leda—wishing to have intercourse and not to be caught by Hera, was likened to a swan and had intercourse with his beloved. Now this swan is established in the heaven, and it is, they say, the swan depicted beneath [the stars] and as a star.

Regarding the bull they say: A certain bull was given by Poseidon throughout Greece; this one was ravaging the land and doing much harm. Theseus came upon this one and killed it; ^B and the gods, wishing, they say, to show the great work of Theseus, and to show honor [also] to Poseidon, established the bull in the heaven, and it is depicted by means of the stars.

Regarding the lion, they say that a certain lion was a wild beast in Nemea (this is a region of the Peloponnese); this lion, then, was ravaging those in that region. Eurystheus, therefore, reigning over the Mycenaeans and being angry with Heracles, sent Heracles for the destruction of the lion; and Heracles came and killed it. The gods, therefore, wishing, they say, to make the struggle of Heracles famous, depicted the lion itself in the heaven by means of the stars.

Regarding the Serpent-bearer [Ophiuchus] they say: This Ophiuchus is Asclepius, the patron of medicine; the serpent is a symbol of that which never grows old; for it is said that the serpent sheds its old age and becomes renewed. Since, therefore, Asclepius, through medicine, renews human bodies, they make him with the serpent. Wishing, therefore, to consecrate him instead of a statue, the gods placed him in the heaven by means of the stars.

Regarding Orion they say: This is the Orion who was established [there]; and he is the one born from the urinating of the gods into the hide of the ox that was slaughtered for the hospitality of the gods by the king of the Thebans. A certain priest of Boeotia was king. The gods, wishing to see if he were hospitable, came to him as men as if to be entertained by him. And he received them and slaughtered an ox, and entertained them. Having been entertained and departing, the gods saw the hide of the slaughtered ox lying on the ground, and having urinated into it, the gods produced Orion from that very urine and the hide. Having become this, he fell in love with Artemis; but she brought a scorpion against him, and having been struck on the foot, he died. The gods, therefore, taking pity on him, depicted him in the heaven with the scorpion. Regarding Erigone, they say that...

because she learned through the dog of Icarius that he was dead, she lamented and was distressed; and they say that, having pitied her for this suffering, they transported her to the heaven, and now Erigone is among the stars. So much for the things laid down, as the Greeks babble ^A them.

We must speak concerning what they call the zodiacal circle. Zarathustra, being a barbarian, was the first to investigate this. After him were Zames and Damotas, his sons; then Oroësus, son of Damotas; and in succession after them, Ostanes. These divided the zodiacal circle into houses and gods and co-habitations and different airs. They believed there were seven gods, I mean the sun and the moon and the five planets, and from this they composed the seven-stringed lyre. They maintain that there is an eternal God, the supreme Ruler of all, from whom all the others proceed—the Titans and demons and earth-born and Curetes and heroes and divine images and the dæmons ^B of men, which, as they say, rule. They name seven overseers through whom the effective events come to pass: Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysus, Athena, Hephaestus, Artemis; and some also add Asclepius, as a helper to the sick. Others, naming the seven "zones," enumerate them thus: Cronus, Zeus, Helios, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, Selene.

Regarding the zodiacal habitation, they say it is divided into six houses in this manner: the houses of Cronus are Capricorn and Aquarius; of Zeus, Sagittarius and Pisces; of Ares, Scorpio and Aries; of Aphrodite, Libra and Taurus; of Hermes, Virgo and Gemini; of Helios, Leo and Cancer. ^C The co-inhabitants of these are: of Helios, Apollo; of Hermes, Muse; of Aphrodite, Anteros; of Ares, Ate; of Zeus, Hera; of Cronus, Rhea. These, then, are their co-inhabitants in the six signs, such as Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn; and next, the co-inhabitant of Zeus is Poseidon; of Ares, Pluto; of Aphrodite, Iros; of Artemis, Nephele. Selene has no house, but exists according to sympathy. Thus the co-inhabitants of Helios are Leo and Cancer; and these [are also] in the other six signs, such as Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Gemini, Aquarius.

The names of the thirty-six gods divided throughout the air are as follows: Aïdōneus, Persephone, Eros, Charis, Horae, Litai, Tethys, Cybele, Praxidice, Nike, Heracles, Hecate, Hephaestus, ^D Isis, Sarapis, Themis, Moirai, Hestia, Erinnys, Couros, Nemesis, Nymphai, Leto, Kairos, Loime, Phore, Ananke, Asclepius, Hygieia, Tolma, Dike, Phobos, Osiris, Oceanus, Dolos, Elpis; from whom they say sixty others exist; and from these, the infinite motion of the zodiacal circle and of the planets.

The divine Gregory, briefly refuting the opinions concerning these (for they imagined that effective events happen through them, wandering on an inextricable path), says thus, that to the stars there are contrary stars, through which the removal of Providence will come about, which is the undoing of God; for one might suppose God himself to be mutable, involving Him among the stars.

^A

Thus the Greeks have imagined things; and deservedly their manifold deception has been exposed. Lest, however, men should again be led astray by the same things, the divine Gregory, anticipating them, says in his poems:

32 Those men, by such arguments, would keep God far off. 33 For now there is God, or else the stars are rulers. 35 The Word of God, moving here and there, 36 Established whatever is above with intelligence; to some he gave 37 Harmony and a regular course, immovable forever; 38 To others, a changing life and diverse forms, 39 Which he has revealed to us in part, while others he keeps hidden. 40 This is his wisdom; but he refutes the empty boast of a mortal.

And elsewhere the divine man himself says: To Thee, O King, the high-pacing star-bringer conceals, Rising high in a fiery circle, the light as Thou renewest it. For Thee, the eye of night—the full-faced Moon— ^B Lives and wanes in turn, then comes again. For Thee, the life-bearing circle and the measures of the dance, Brings measures in the tempered seasons. The fixed stars and the wandering ones, darting back and forth, Are a discourse of the holy wisdom of the stars.

Thus the great Theologian speaks, refuting superstitious deception. In the same way, Basil the Great also sums up the nonsense of the Greeks concerning the seven zones and [the celestial] urns; he asserts that they have fallen away from what is reasonable.

53 Let the star, the great glory and messenger of Christ, be silent, 54 Which led the Magi from the East to the city 55 Where Christ, the ageless offspring of man, shone forth. ^C 56 For it was not one of those of which the claimants 57 Are astrologers, but a stranger, and one not seen before.

When Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, Magi arrived from the East, guided by a star. Gregory the marvelous says, then, that the star was a stranger and had not appeared before, the one which led the Magi on the road to Bethlehem. If anyone should say: "How is it that, when the belief in the stars is false, a star preceded the birth of Christ?" let him consider this: that among the Hebrews it was invisible; for to them the birth of Christ had been foretold through the prophets, both where he is born and whence he comes. But to the Chaldeans, who spend their whole lives in star-gazing, a star appeared that was naturally adverse to their own opinions; for it was strange, and not in accordance with what they supposed to be their interpreters and founders of their race. Even Gregory, the great interpreter of sacred things, indicating this, says that it appeared at the time when the counsels of the astrologers' art had fallen, [as they began] to honor the Master of the heavens along with the things of heaven.

There is also another account concerning the Pythia, and the tripod, and the other gods mentioned by the Greeks: that when Christ was born, some rejoiced, saying that Aphrodite had given birth; but others, who understood clearly, wept, because it was not Aphrodite who had given birth, but a certain Mary—He who would do away with their deception. And this is plausible; for it is likely that each was convinced by the source of their certainty. ^D The Greeks long ago observed a feast on this day, at which they were initiated at midnight, entering into certain inner shrines; and coming out from there, they would cry: "The Virgin has brought forth; the light increases." Epiphanius the Great, the bishop of the Cyprians, says that the Saracens also observe this feast to Aphrodite, whom they worship with special honor, and whom they call in their own language, "Chamara."

DISCOURSE LIII. DISCOURSE LIV. On the Soul.

38 Bringing a certain circle of the most sinful Ixion, 39 They have made it a beast, a plant, a mortal, a bird, a serpent, a dog, a fish.

The wise men of the Greeks have set forth various views concerning the soul, and they say this: that upon exiting the body, the soul is fashioned and falls into another body, often becoming a beast, a plant, a man, a bird, a serpent, a fish, a swine, an ass; and, to speak simply, whatever it happens to come upon, that it becomes. And it happens a hundred times...

and a thousand times, if it should so chance, and it becomes oblivious of what skin it has shed and what skin it has put on.

To such nonsense, the God-revealing Gregory replies, saying that the Greeks apply the story of Ixion’s revolution—which they invent in their myths—to the soul, because it is unstable. They say the following about Ixion: Ixion fell in love with Hera, and Hera reported this to Zeus. Zeus, therefore, wishing to know if this man was in love with her, fashioned a cloud in the likeness of Hera and set it before him. Ixion, thinking it was Hera, united with the cloud. Zeus, angered, punished him in this way: having stretched him out upon a wheel, he caused the wheel to be borne along forever, and it is always revolving and being carried down—this is the punishment of those who… He is whirled about, bound to the wheel and rolling with a violent speed; for this is what it means to be "whirled." The divine Gregory says, therefore, that the Greek doctrine concerning the soul is suited to the revolution of Ixion.

POEMS LV, LVI, LVII

The poems set before us are: On the Testament, On the Epiphany of Christ, On Baptism. These, then, are also in part exegetical of the poem concerning the soul; for the Theologian himself explains the creation of the whole universe, and concerns himself with the Incarnation of Christ, with the written Law, and with the grace of the Hebrews in addition to these, and with the kings who ruled over them, and with the newly chosen people, that is to say, us Christians. Concerning baptism, the divine Gregory says that among the Hebrews of old, the blood of the lamb was smeared on the doorposts during the night of the destruction of the firstborn in Egypt. ^B This is also our seal and baptism; for the tenth plague was the destruction of the firstborn. God therefore gave instructions to Moses concerning the Passover—how it was necessary to sacrifice and to prepare for the exodus (for after such a plague, He said that they should no longer remain in Egypt)—and yet He commanded them not to go forth from the house until that very time, but to partake of the Passover sitting inside. The meat was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Therefore, God commanded them to sprinkle the blood of the lamb upon the doorposts of the houses where they were, as a sign that the destroyer should not touch them. When this had come to pass, the Lord descended into Egypt and every firstborn in it perished, from man to beast; but upon the houses of the sons of Israel, the destroyer did not strike; for the blood of the lamb was a sign upon their doorposts. When this had happened to the Egyptians, they hurried them to depart from their land, and they departed. The divine Gregory says, therefore, that just as for them the blood of the lamb was a sign, so too for us are baptism and chrism.

POEM LVIII

On the Incarnation, against Apollinarius

If indeed you persuade me, O Word, or if you blacken The page with thousands of verses, Come, let me scratch these few-lined letters with my stylus Upon your tablets—letters that have no ink at all.

The God-seeing Gregory says these things directed at Apollinarius of Laodicea. For this man, being a presbyter and stemming from Greek learning, was an interpreter and teacher of Greek doctrine. Often, therefore, having been admonished by the bishops of the Church not to expound the doctrines of the

^A Church, and having been forbidden to exercise his ministry, the man, having been provoked to jealousy, turned to heresy; for the madman dogmatized that our Lord Jesus Christ was mindless. Many indeed were the other youthful zealotries of the divine Gregory against the impious Apollinarius, but the greatest was the gift of metrical verses provided to men by God through him. For when Apollinarius had come to the region of the Cappadocians, within the borders of Gregory, many were being stolen away by a longing for his discourse, and, deserting to him, were receiving his poison.

Knowing this, the elder, the athlete who had won many Olympiads in life, that droplet which bedewed the world, the unfading sprout of purity and the unadulterated offspring of temperance, who joined his pure lips with the pure lips of passionlessness, and, having been deemed to possess the incorporeal nature within a body, he whose mind was intermingled with the Mind, and who had performed the liturgy of the Word with the word, and having conceived the grace of the Spirit within him, prepared the books of the theological metrical verses, being very much an elder and looking toward the end of his life in the flesh. For Apollinarius himself was also setting forth certain metrical pieces, stealing the opinion some had concerning him; for the leaders of the Church loathed him as a defender of Greek education. ^B Wishing, therefore, to prove that this man was, in terms of both divine wisdom and that which he seemed to defend, most senseless and entirely uneducated, the great Gregory composed in a wondrous way the final verse made against him, with the accompanying elegy, taken from the ancient history of outsiders and indeed also from ecclesiastical writing. And indeed, what is not full of amazement in the works of Gregory? Nevertheless, he says: "If with many thousands of words, O fellow, you blacken the parchment, come, let me write these few lines on your tablets with my stylus, which has no ink."

Now, to say "You blacken the parchment" is a story from the literature of outsiders. It is told concerning the tyranny of the Samians. It is this: Histiaeus the Samian was by birth, and having become a friend of Darius, the king of the Persians, he was captured by him in Persia, and living there, he desired to see his own fatherland; and not being released, he writes to his own nephew, Aristagoras, to plot a revolt, and he persuades some of the Ionians also to revolt. He writes thus: having taken a faithful servant, and having shaved his head, he inscribes on his head what he wished to make known, then he blackens the inscription, and having let the hair grow back, and after he had become hairy, he sends him away, telling the servant to be shaved there again, so that he might read the letters of Histiaeus. ^C When Aristagoras had read it, therefore, and learned what was written, he caused the revolt of almost all the Ionians. Then the king in Persia learns of it, and consults Histiaeus as a Greek as to what must be done. And he is advised by Histiaeus to send him to Asia, as being capable of resolving the matters concerning the revolt. Having come to Asia, therefore, Histiaeus, having become suspect regarding the whole matter, heard from Artaphernes, the satrap of Sardis: "This shoe Histiaeus stitched, but Aristagoras wore it"—he called the whole conspiracy a "shoe."

Therefore, the Theologian Gregory says to Apollinarius that his thousands of verses blacken the parchment in this manner. For his teaching is a desertion from God. But the saying that "I will write on your ^D tablets with an inkless stylus" demonstrates the divine teaching.

For when God wrote the ten commandments for Moses, he did not need ink; for it is written that the writing was of God, and the work was of God. There is no doubt that he who follows the words and dogmas of Gregory, having become a partaker of the brilliant and incomprehensible divinity, seems to be something heavenly, and not groveling upon the earth.

POEM LIX. To Hellenius.

145 And the sacrifice of the great father he will imitate, the ancient one. The history concerning Abraham lies in the first poem. 183 And previously, from earth to heaven he saw it stretched, 184 The descendant of Isaac, Jacob, our forefather, 185 A ladder, ascending which, he might see God himself.

After Jacob was blessed by Isaac and had obtained the blessings by deceit, as we have written in the second poem, and since Esau was opposed to him and expecting the death of their father in order to slay Jacob, their mother Rebecca, wishing to save her younger son, and being annoyed in her soul with the daughters of the Canaanites among whom they dwelt, sent him to her brothers in Mesopotamia to stay with them for a time and to take one of their daughters in marriage for himself. And having come to the place called Lammaus, he saw a ladder fixed upon the earth, the head of which reached to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending upon it, and the Lord was resting upon it. And he arose in the morning and marvelled, saying, "The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." And he said, "How fearful is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." And he took the stone that he had placed at his head, and poured oil upon it, and said, "If the Lord God be with me, keeping me in the way that I go, and give me bread to eat and a garment to put on, and bring me back with safety to the house of my father, the Lord shall be my God, and this pillar which I have set up shall be a sign for me, and of all that you shall give me, I will tithe a tenth part to you," and having prayed, he departed to Mesopotamia.

225 And as many virginal women as shut [out] the king, 226 The bridegroom joining himself to the purest hearts, 227 Those who think to behold Christ with sleepless lamps, 228 Are caught with flames that never fade.

He makes mention of the wise virgins, who entered with the Lord Christ into the bridal chamber with burning lamps. For the Saviour says that the kingdom of heaven is likened unto ten virgins, of whom five are wise and five are foolish. The foolish ones, therefore, not carrying oil for the nourishment of the fire, as their lamps were being extinguished, since it was not possible to meet the bridegroom, had their end outside the wedding, because they had consumed the time of preparation in buying. But the wise ones, having prepared in the opposite way and adorned their lamps with the oil which they carried with them, were immediately welcomed into the bridal chamber, bright and ready; and indeed, those unhappy ones who shouted at the door and arrived later, because the speaker from within did not recognize them as he answered, were ignominiously sent away from the joy of the bridegroom.

235 Indeed, even for them the great power, with an inexpressible spirit, 231 Casting out deceitful Eve from the heart.

For Eve, the wife of the first-formed, having been persuaded by the counsel of the serpent, and having tasted the fruit prematurely, and having presented it to her husband, experienced the bitter condemnation. Therefore, having calmed the conceptions toward men with the austerity of virtue, he proclaims that the softer Eve, in whom the female weakness is discerned, having become no longer susceptible to the enslaving evil, should strip it off and rectify the fault of our ancestress. 245 It is no great thing; for Christ, coming down from the starry heaven, 246 assuming human flesh and coming upon the earth, 247 and having gone through an immaculate Virgin as a mother to those living the day, 248 so that he might fulfill the human law 249 with undefiled births, and having leaped from the tomb 250 on the third day, 251 the first ones beheld him with warmer desires, and reported to their friends, 252 having tasted Christ, a remedy for the former taste.

The Theologian, caring for those women who were piously disposed, says that they reached such a degree of virtue that one should not marvel at such virtue being seen in women; since Christ was born of women, having dwelt among us in the flesh, and women were the first to see Christ himself rising from the tomb. For to those who spent the night in longing and whose souls were melted for the dead one, he appears no longer dead, but living, he who had died; so capable are women of virtue, and they received the fragrance of the vital myrrh from the tomb of the dead, shaking off the filth of the ancient, foul sin. Rejoice, He said to those first ones, to whom Christ commanded no longer to suffer and to grieve, speaking with a loud voice, and He directed them to announce the joy to his friends. ^B 263 Gold was gifted to the Lydian houses by legend, 264 and the stream of the wealth-giving river, 265 and the gold-bearing ants for the swarthy Indians 266 scooped the treasure from the hollow sand.

Pactolus is a river in Lydia, in which gold-sand is produced; and in it there is a certain plant, under whose roots the gold is found. Therefore, those who pull out this plant would bring back the gold-sand in its roots along with pieces of gold; but if anyone were to labor without the moss, he had nothing of what he had hoped for. Likewise, in the land of Ethiopia, there is gold-sand in certain hollows of sand, from which men are able to procure nothing; but many ants, being in that place, bring this up from the hollow sand, and the Ethiopians, taking the gold-sand from the ants, smelt the pure gold. Divine Scripture calls this land Evilat; and it says the gold of that land is good.

337 And Christ was mingled with mortals when the tax was present, 338 when Caesar was registering the whole earth, 339 and he himself gave the end.

That Christ was registered came to pass under Augustus, by whom a decree went out that the whole world should be registered. For then Joseph went up to Bethlehem to be registered with Mary, the wife betrothed to him, who was pregnant; and when the days were fulfilled for her to give birth, she gave birth to Christ, God the Savior, the Lord. And then, when the tax was present to be paid to Caesar as tribute in the time of the Herodians, it came to pass that when Christ was by the sea, he commanded Peter to cut open the fish that was being caught, and having found two denarii lying in the entrails of the fish, to pay them to the collectors on behalf of both; which also came to pass. ^C 345 Not enough that he brought a heavy yoke upon mortals, 346 the ancestral wickedness, and the man-killing plant, 347 the envy of the dragon, and the transgression of the woman, 348 and the deadly taste of the rival of knowledge.

The story concerning Adam lies in the second discourse. ^D

Discourse 60. On Julian the Equalizer

^A He washed away the thirsty earth of [the time of] Oros, who had bound it. Elijah the Tishbite. For he, having prayed, shut up the heaven for three years and six months, and by prayer brought down the rain after he had consecrated the sacrifice and put the prophets to shame, as they were unable to do the like in the face of the challenge. It lies in the second discourse.

2. And another drew the whole world out of the waters. This refers to Noah. For he, having enclosed in the ark for himself pairs of all the beasts and cattle and creeping things, saved them from the flood. It lies in the second discourse.

3. And someone warded off a disease. This refers to Elisha the prophet. For Naaman the Syrian, being a leper, came to him, and having washed in the river Jordan by the command of the prophet, he left his leprosy behind, cleansed.

"And he who saved by wars." He speaks of Joshua, the son of Nun. For he, having made the sun and moon stand still, destroyed the enemies; and Moses, by having his arms formed in the shape of a cross on the mountain, routed Amalek.

Again, he hints at Gideon. For he smote the Midianites, numbering about one hundred and twenty thousand, along with three hundred men. For when the people were gathered with him for the battle against Midian, God commanded him to lead the people down to the water, and to set aside those who lapped with their hand in the manner of a dog, while turning away the rest of the people. ^B This having been done, with only the three hundred who had lapped remaining, he descended upon the camp by night with lamps and trumpets; and with the trumpets the three companies of one hundred sounded; and the pitchers in which the lamps were, these they shattered, and they threw the camp of Midian into confusion, having terrified them; and the Lord gave the sword of a man against his neighbor, and the whole camp perished; and their kings, Zebee and Salmana, and their leaders, Oreb and Zeb, having gathered them in, he slew by the mouth of the sword.

And Barak and Deborah the woman delivered the people being vexed by Midian, and having joined battle with Sisara, they routed him. And Sisara, having fled for refuge to a woman—Jael is the woman’s name—having received him under the tent, and having given him milk to drink, persuades him to sleep and to rest; and taking the opportunity from his sleep, having powerfully braced herself, she drove the tent-peg into the temple of Sisara, and pinned him to the ground while he was piteously moaning and kicking against her thighs.

And Samson, the Nazarite of God, tore a lion apart like a kid, and slew a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, from which cold and very sweet water was also given to him when he was thirsty; and he tore away the gates of a city by the strength of his arms, and carrying them, he ran off to a high mountain, light-bearing; ^C and having tied a thousand foxes by their tails, and having lit lamps about their tails, he burned the harvests of the foreigners; and with seven new cords woven into the locks of his hair, he broke them as if they were nothing, and he strongly rent the bonds of his hands and feet, for the sake of a vow of unshorn hair. For he was a Nazarite. But when, vanquished by a woman, he revealed the secret, he was capturable, his hair having been shorn from him; and having had his eyes gouged out by the enemies, he sat in a prison house, and with a roaring noise, a swift-running mill he pulled, circular in its motion; a small [portion] ...

with his hair growing out, having made a vow, he was in the midst of the aliens, when, in sport (the place was a sanctuary of their venerated things), having taken hold of both the pillars on which the shrine was founded, and shaking them vehemently, he made the entire shrine a tomb for the aliens all together, dying quickly. ^A And David, a tender little boy, defeated a strong warrior, flashing with weapons and boasting of his limbs like a great beast. The hero Goliath from Gath insulted the array of Israel; there was no one to contend with him, though he challenged it. Being proud, the alien armed his mouth against God, puffing himself up, and David was jealous for God, and did not endure the God being insulted, and he leaped over the people of Israel like a deer, and like a gazelle he ran in opposition, he roared like a lion, he flew over like an eagle; armed with a staff, and three stones, and a sling, and the vessel which he had at hand for carrying water, having hit Goliath’s head with stone-casting precision, and thrown him prone, he ran and cut off his head, and brought victory to his own people, for they had fought bravely against all in the battle, and they stretched out the camps of their opponents. 4 Another brought down great food from heaven. This is Moses. For God provided manna to the sons of Israel from heaven, and quails. It lies in the third discourse. 123 To the descendants of Aeacus, or to Meleager of Aetolia. ^B The story concerning Achilles and Ajax lies in the fifteenth discourse; likewise that concerning Meleager regarding the boar’s head. 127 I long to possess an ancestral lot as once a spear. 128 Spartans. The Spartans, sown by Cadmus from the teeth of the dragon of Ares, which he had killed at the spring, grew up armed, as the myth says. Then, having turned upon themselves, they were left few in number; but having inhabited Lacedaemon, they handed down to those who came from them both the arms and the use of them. 129 And the scepter of fathers traveling always to sons. He says the scepter of Atreus, which in the same royal lineage lasted for a long time, and began from Hephaestus and Zeus, but ended at Agamemnon, as Homer says. ^C The Pelopidae race of the shoulder. Tantalus was king of Phrygia. He begot Pelops. To this Tantalus the gods were once guests. So Tantalus, having taken his own son Pelops, slaughtered and butchered and boiled him and served him as a feast to the gods. But Demeter, having taken in her hand some of these pieces of meat, ate from the shoulder. But the other gods, pitying Tantalus, and marveling that he had despised his own son, gathered together the pieces of meat and made Pelops whole again; but there was a flaw near that piece of flesh which Demeter had eaten from the shoulder. They added, therefore, an ivory one in place of the shoulder, and made Pelops whole. Thus, then, all the race of the Pelopidae, from this time on, was marked, all of them having the ivory mark in their shoulders. 130 The descendants of Cecrops, a cicada of tresses above a branch of the earth. 131 Earth-born. 11 Lazarus at the gates, giving crumbs of others. It lies in the first discourse. 15 And Christ was mingled with mortals while tribute was present. It lies in the ninth discourse. ^D

DISCOURSE LXI

^A Cecrops became king of the Athenians, and he greatly adorned Attica. This is the man who is called "double-natured," because he was accustomed to two languages, one of Greece and one of Egypt. For it is said that the Athenians are colonists of the Egyptians from the city of Sais. Cecrops, then, is the leader of this colony; and having come to Greece, he learned the Greek language, while possessing the Egyptian as well. The story that says the Athenians are "earth-born" is a myth, taking its fabrication from the fact that those who once inhabited Attica never moved, but rather stood their ground. For since this land has shallow soil, it was not particularly highly sought after, such that its inhabitants would be driven out and others move in in their place. Therefore, the Athenians are called Cecropidae, bearing the honor derived from Cecrops. They are also said to wear a cicada on their braids, which is to be understood as signifying eloquence. For the cicada is always talkative and pleasant, a lover of the sun, and dwells in fields adorned with flowers.

140 But I, for my part, bid you to do the best: 141 To follow, and to offer a hand, Father; but if 142 I should take pleasure in evil, cast me far from your children, 143 As a bastard, separated by the streams of the noble Rhine, 144 Or by the rays of the sun, as a false offspring of pure eagles.

In this passage, the divine Gregory says that the streams of the river Rhine distinguish legitimate children from bastards; elsewhere, he claims this happens at Cynosarges. For Cynosarges was a specific place in Athens where bastards were judged to determine whether one had been born of a lawful union. Among the Athenians, those who were manumitted were also called "bastards"; and these, too, were bastards relative to those who were free by birth, and these also were judged and tested as to whether they had been fully manumitted. And the place took the name "Cynosarges" from this: a sacrifice was taking place in a shrine nearby, when a dog entered, snatched the meat of the sacrifice, and brought it to this spot; a temple was built, and it was called Cynosarges, as if "dog's flesh" (kynos sarkes), from the flesh and the dog; later, the *kappa* was removed and the *gamma* entered. ^B Eagles judge their own offspring by the rays of the sun. For whenever the eagle brings the chicks out of the eggs, the father appears, and he recognizes his own children, but casts the bastards out of the nest. Some say that even the mother eagle kills the bastard if she finds it born; and she makes the distinction by the sun's rays.

^C DISCOURSE LXII. Nicobulus to his son (1).

83 If you are poor and crazed and not firmly established 84 in your limbs, 85 Will you provide a hand to the father’s scepter— 86 As a son of Anchises [carrying] his parent out of the war?

The divine Gregory refers to Aeneas, son of Anchises. He was a Lycian who had come to the aid of the Trojans, and he is said to have carried his own father, Anchises, on his shoulders to get him far from the war. And this certainly happened, even if it avoids the battle; though Aeneas himself is said to have been taken far from the war by Aphrodite (for he claimed to be her son, as the myth goes), or [rather] she, snatched by the hands of Diomedes, saved him, putting him down far from the battle; thus it is said that Diomedes, pursuing her, wounded her at the very tip of the hand with his sharp spear. The epic verse has it:

But when he reached the great crowd, rushing, Then the son of bold-hearted Tydeus, reaching out, Wounded the tip of her hand, darting with a sharp spear, A soft wound; and immediately the spear pierced the skin, Through the immortal robe, which the Graces themselves had fashioned, Upon the top of the palm; and immortal blood flowed [down]. (2)

^A According to the fable, Diomedes put an end to the battle when he saw Venus drenched in blood and tears. The Theologian, therefore, has introduced the story by antiphrasis; it is his custom to do this, especially when he says: "Either as a solid shade, or a mist." For he has taken "solid" here in place of "weak"; this is a common practice among the wise.

There is also another story about a father and his son, which is as follows: Sicily is a very large island lying near Italy. In it there is a city called Catana. Above Catana is a mountain from which much fire is emitted continuously; it is called Etna, and by the Greeks, "the craters of Hephaestus." This fire sometimes overflows to such an extent that it flows like a river, and flows like water along with the substance that is emitted with it; there is also something divine about this fire. For it is said that once a certain father with his son happened to be on this mountain, and suddenly the fire flowed like a river, and it became impossible for them to pass. The son took his father and carried him, and the fire, revering the son's action, was held back in its flow, and the father and the son passed by unharmed. ^B

193 The Orphic lyre, they say, was a myth, as I suppose, 194 Leading all things with its melodies, though they be good and base alike.

Orpheus was Thracian by birth, from which he is also said to "worship" [threskeuein], that is, to revere the gods; and he is said to have been the first to introduce the rites, according to the manner of the mysteries. This Orpheus is the one said to charm even inanimate things by means of his lyre, and to tame wild beasts by the striking of the strings of the lyre; and it is said that in this way his songs were so gentle and sweet that even the oaks and irrational animals were led along, and stones and rivers. There are poems attributed to him, which the Greeks hold as if they were theology. The divine Gregory says, therefore, that if there ever was a lyre of Orpheus, I suppose it to be the *Logos*, because, he says, Orpheus had such power in his words as to transform souls that were hard, stony, and resistant. ^C

495 As the Amphionian lyre also persuaded the stones, 496 Souls resistant, stony.

Here too the divine Gregory says the lyre of Amphion is the *Logos*, which transforms stony souls. It is said that by Amphion and Zethus the seven-gated walls of Greece were built by means of the lyre; and these are worthy of wonder.

Note (1): One must know that Epimetheus is said to have invented the lyre and the other musical arts; whence Prometheus, the molder of men, is mythologized because he transformed the extremely uneducated into education through the wisdom he possessed. ^D

I know the messenger's 197 Medicine, as the account went, which to one coming against 198 Circe, the Laërtiad, he gave as a gift, so that he might ward off [the curse for] the swine, 199 For his comrades, that he himself might not eat the swine-feeding food.

The messenger is Hermes; he met Odysseus as he was wandering toward Circe (this woman, possessing her dwelling on a deserted island, and being a sorceress, provided food for those who came to her), and gave him a medicine so that he might help his own comrades who were [becoming] swine, and that he himself might not eat the swine-making food. For Circe, providing a certain food to those who happened upon her, turned them into swine; and Odysseus encountered her in his wandering. She, having provided such nourishment to his comrades, made them swine; but Odysseus, having the messenger's medicine, did not become a swine, but even helped his comrades who had become such. For having given them the messenger’s medicine, he transformed them back into human nature. The myth, therefore, speaks of a certain swine-feeding food of Circe; others—

say that it is a desire for shameful intercourse; and likewise, that the messenger’s medicine, the very act itself, is the ransom for this. For it is told in myth that Odysseus so mastered Circe that he persuaded her to lie with him and come together for that unusual union. But the divine Gregory asserts that the medicine is ^B *reason*. For he says that Odysseus, being so prudent and skilled in words, did not become a swine, which is proof of insanity, but rather that he helped those around him who had suffered this in their minds.

200 A myth, and Polydamna mixed for him, the wife of Thon, 201 An Egyptian; and she gave Helen a noble gift, 202 *Nepenthes*, and free from anger, forgetful of all evils.

Helen is the one on whose account the much-famed war was waged for a long time between the Greeks and the Phrygians. Having greatly repented of her being with Alexander, she suffered terribly in her soul, as Homer says in her dialogue with Hector, by these verses (1):

Helen replied to him with words, though a lady: "Brother-in-law of me, a dog, a contriver of evil, a shivering thing, Would that on the day when first my mother bore me, An evil storm-wind had carried me away— To a mountain, or to the wave of the roaring sea, Where the wave might have swept me away before these things came to be. But since the gods ordained these evil things in this way, I wish I had been the wife of a better man, Who knew indignation and the many shames of men. This man’s mind is not steady, nor shall it be Hereafter; therefore I believe he will reap the harvest of this. But come now, enter and sit on this chair, Brother-in-law, since toil has troubled your mind the most For the sake of me, a dog, and for the sake of Alexander’s folly, Upon whom Zeus has placed an evil fate, so that even hereafter We may be themes of song to men yet to be."

To Helen, suffering in this way, Polydamna provided a medicine to drink, one that causes forgetfulness of evils. The myth, therefore, goes thus; but the divine Gregory says that this was a *consoling word* from Polydamna, by which ^C she was able to comfort Helen’s great grief. He says that Polydamna was an Egyptian. For indeed, Menelaus is said to have found Helen on the island of Pharos with Proteus after the Trojan War.

*Scholium* (2). It must be known that Homer calls the medicine *cyceon*, which, having such power under Circe, was able to change those eating it from human shapes into beastly forms.

208 Imagine then Odysseus, who escaped from the deep, 209 Naked and worn by the limbs, a wandering beggar, 210 Meeting them with clever words, as a suppliant. 211 Being a maiden and a queen, she felt shame, 212 And showed him to the Phaeacians and to King Alcinous, 213 A guest, a shipwrecked man, honorable above all others.

Odysseus, in his wanderings, was cast as a shipwrecked man among the Phaeacians; and the king of the Phaeacians was Alcinous, who was of good disposition. Now, the daughter of Alcinous went down to the seashore and saw Odysseus sitting naked under some shelter; upon bringing him and inquiring what had happened to him—although she was a maiden—she was so captivated by the discourse of Odysseus that she ordered him to be clothed in her own father’s royal garments, and showed him as something great to the king, Alcinous, and to the other Phaeacians, because the guest, although naked and a shipwrecked wanderer, was more honorable than all others, excelling in words and wisdom.

256 And a dolphin, over the shining backs of the deep, 255 Wheeling and curving, winding its body at the end, 236 Leaps through the wave, guiding thy life, 237 As once it carried on its back the fame-worthy singer.

The citharode was Arion.

254 Like an old man urging on the great athletes 255 With well-known words around the dust of Pisa.

*Scholium*. We have read in the discourses of the divine Gregory concerning the dust of Pisa, as it is found in Homer. By the old man urging the great athletes, I mean Nestor. For indeed, in the games...

^A he is called Hector, urging the Danaan chiefs of the Greeks, while everyone else was fearful; and he himself, chiding, discourses, introducing that which concerns the club-bearer Ereuthalion, the son of Lycurgus, how he himself had slain him, having fought when he was still a youth in stature, beyond all others, in the hand-to-hand battle against the Arcadians. And Neptune is said in Homer to be an old man; he who, having been made like to Calchas, spoke to the Ajaxes first, and to them as they were eager; and the verse holds thus:

But Neptune, the earth-shaker who girdles the world, / Urged on the Argives, having come from the deep sea, / Assuming the form and tireless voice of Calchas, / He spoke first to the two Ajaxes, who were eager themselves. ^B And further: / He set out to go past the huts and the ships of the Achaeans, / Urging on the Danai, and he brought grief to the Trojans. / And Idomeneus the spear-famed met him by chance.

To him, then, Neptune discourses again, having been made like to Thoas in voice, and so on: / But the Earth-shaker / Quietly changing, he urged on the strong phalanxes / To Teucer first, and he went to urge Lyctian, / And the hero Peneleos, and Thoas, and Deipyrus, / And Meriones, and Antilochus, the counselors of [the battle].

The divine Gregory therefore says, as if from Nicobulus to his son who is eager for learning, that indeed: "I do not hinder you from what you are pursuing; rather, I even urge on one who is eager all the more, encouraging him, as an old man urging great athletes with experienced words, and heartening them for the contest." And it is set forth more broadly in the 119th discourse concerning the dust of Pisa. . . .

DISCOURSE LXIII

. . . ^C as these things were being seen by his eyes, a terrible darkness was poured around him. And as he was wandering, the archers having shot him accurately in the flanks, they were speeding toward him like swift dogs eager for the hunt. And he was entreating his armor-bearer to draw his broadsword upon him; but when he would not be persuaded, he pierced his own self by falling upon his sword, and drew down upon himself a death both bitter and long. This news an Amalekite, hastening to relate to David as if to a friend, came with the bracelet that was on the arm of Saul and the royal diadem from his helmet, and, as he thought, laying up a favor, he recounts the other things with truth; but that he himself had also struck Saul, he uttered a lie against his own head. Immediately, therefore, the God-loving David, being drawn by pity, mourned sufficiently for Saul and Jonathan; and saying to the one who brought the news, "How were you not afraid to lay your hands upon the Lord’s anointed?" he ordered one of the shield-bearers to slay him, and he says this: "Your blood be upon your head; for your mouth has testified against you, that you ^D struck the Lord’s anointed." And in this way also, David lamented Abner after he was plotted against by Joab, and as he was dying he charged Solomon to bring down Joab in blood to Hades in place of Abner; and upon the sons of Remmon, the Berothites, Baana and Richab, he inflicted a wretched punishment, because they had slain Ishbosheth in his bed, thinking to please David, and having brought the head of Ishbosheth to him to Hebron; but they were shortly slain by the edge of the sword and hanged near the pool. For virtue and gentleness were more to be desired by David than kingship.

327 Neither have we stripped you of your father’s honor, O king.

^A He says that the insults brought by children against their parents, which even the law sets down as grounds for them to be disinherited from their father’s proper lineage, are by no means to be offered to an angry father by the children; nor have we deprived you of the fatherly honor that is so often brought to a father by his children. For Zeus, having cast his own father from the heavens, as the myth concerning this goes, deprived him of his royal honor; and Absalom, having played the tyrant against David, drove him from his kingdom. 328 Nor did we misuse the ears of your field; although Absalom burned the harvest of Joab, we have never heard that such a thing was done by a son to a father. Yet it could also be understood in this way: that it is the first of the works of insolence and a symbol of ultimate madness. 530 Nor did we mount the bed, which is not dear, while wandering. Absalom humiliated the concubines of his father David, wishing to shame his father and hurrying to separate him from his paternal honor. But Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, humiliated his father’s concubine Bilhah, casting shame upon his father, just as Jacob himself, in his blessings concerning Reuben, says: "You have behaved harshly and with harsh insolence; for you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled the couch onto which you went." 331 Nor did we devise a snare with hostile men. The brothers of Joseph devised a snare against Jacob concerning Joseph. For because he was beloved by his father and foresaw his future exaltation through more divine dreams, his brothers, seized by envy, plotted to kill him. And when Jacob had sent Joseph to a certain place where they were pasturing, to check on his other sons, when he arrived, they threw him into a dry pit in the desert; and having devised something more merciful for him, saying that it was not right to kill their brother, they sold him for thirty denarii to Ishmaelites who were going down into Egypt. And having stained his multi-colored tunic with blood, they brought it to their father, and by trickery claimed that he had perished by a beast, causing him unbearable grief. And he, having been brought down into Egypt and bought by a high-ranking official of Pharaoh, was desired by his mistress (for he was indeed beautiful), and having stood firm in his self-control, was slandered, imprisoned, interpreted dreams for the servants of Pharaoh, and later to Pharaoh himself; and filled with grace, having ruled over all the land of the Egyptians, he was the protector of his race and the master of his plotting brothers. Indeed, with David, Achitophel and Absalom plotted together. ^B

ORATION LXIV (1). To Nemesius the Archon, a Greek.

83 Or by the sign of the great cross, nor while remaining 84 did he write in the midst, but established a trophy as a type, 85 as formerly in the palms of glorious Moses. The present history lies in the first oration.

91 O you who in your passions 92 have dared to establish gods who are sinners, ^C 93 liars, parricides, crooked, vomiters of perjury, 94 ravishers, androgynous, adulterers, riders of men. 95 Observe first of all who he became in his gluttonous lusts: 96 A bull, a swan, gold, a serpent, a drunkard, a bear, every one 97 that swift desire moved him toward, and a weak boy. All the present histories lie in the third oration.

103 Observe for me another army of noble youths, 104 lofty, gain-seeking, stiff-necked, half-serpents 105 with savage, animal-mixed, and mocking shapes. ^D

^A Ithyphalli are those associated with Dionysus. For during the feast of Dionysus, the Greeks used to fashion phalluses made of leather into the likeness of a man's private parts and attach them to themselves in honor of the god. Some would hang these phalluses from their necks, while others bound them straight to their waists, imitating an erect member—these they called "ithyphalli"—so that of the phalluses, some were "ithyphalli" (upright) and others "plagiophalli" (sideways). They did this out of honor for the lover of Dionysus. For it is said that a certain youth was enamored of Dionysus; then, before he could satisfy his lust, he drowned in the vicinity of Lerna and died. Dionysus, therefore, wishing to sanctify the love of the deceased youth, fashioned a fig-wood member, hung it around his own neck, and went about in this fashion. Ever since, the Greeks, out of honor to Dionysus, have bound such phalluses to themselves.

^B The "Anaucheni" (neckless) are these: The Greeks consider Hecate a goddess; some say she is Artemis, others the moon, others a goddess named Odice, who appears to those invoking her in strange phantasms, especially to the cursed. Her phantasms appear as dragon-headed men, towering and huge, such that the mere sight of them strikes with terror and frightens those who behold them. The "half-serpents" (hemidrakontes) are these: The Greeks say that Athena, while a virgin, gave birth to a dragon-shaped man in the following way. Zeus, they say, wishing to give birth to Athena from his own brain, needed a helper to take a hammer and strike his head so that she might be born. He offers his terms to Hephaestus regarding this; Hephaestus, however, refused to cleave the head of Zeus except on the condition that he would deflower the one being born. Zeus agreed. So Hephaestus, taking a hammer, struck the head of Zeus, and Athena came forth. Hephaestus then pursued her to unite with her, and in his pursuit, he spilled his seed onto the thigh of Athena. Athena took some wool, wiped the seed away, and cast it upon the ground. From the earth and the wool, a dragon-footed man was born, who was called Erichthonius, taking his name from the wool (erion) and the earth (chthon).

^C These are the "beasts" (theres) and "animal-mixtures" (theromigeis). The Greeks claim that, on the very day they were sown, giants sprouted forth. The story is this: In Thebes of Boeotia, it is said that Cadmus, or someone else, having taken the teeth of the Delphinian dragon, sowed them into the earth, and armed men were brought forth; they were brought forth from the thigh upwards, and as they stood, they fought among themselves and against others. It is absurd, he says, that they had this form, since they were composed in a multifaceted way from different beasts, cattle, and wild animals. Triptolemus, too, having boarded winged dragons and taken Celeus along with him, vied in distributing seeds. For Demeter, wandering in search of her daughter Persephone, came to the village of Eleusis and, having learned from Triptolemus that Pluto had abducted her, she ceased her wandering. Hence, as a return for her favor, she gave the seeds to Triptolemus and taught men to sow the fruits of the earth and eat them. Before this, they used to eat wild acorns and seeds of beech (phēgou)—and from this, the act of eating (phagein) was so named. ^D There are also certain other small statuettes among the Greeks in which there was the head of a dog, with another head of a cat sprouting alongside it, and yet another of a hawk. The Greeks worshiped these and painted them in their houses; nor did they paint only this nature, but also other animal-formed things, which the Egyptians worshipped. 15 Again, a new man is seen by them in a fighting shape,

^A 135 More solemn, seen by the wise, two-faced 136 Hermes is double-sculpted, as if one face in front, another behind. Regarding such falsely-named gods, he says, even the face itself is downcast and mixed with a whorish form, so that to the intelligent it is seen as double-faced in those beings; and Hermes is double-sculpted, one thing in front, and another behind; for thus do the Greeks dedicate Hermes.

148 Who, as you sail past the crags of Scylla, urges 149 you to hasten to Ithaca, lest perchance you perish here before? A beast is fabled to exist in the Tyrrhenian Sea upon the mountains, which is a woman most beautiful down to the navel, and from either side six dogs' heads have grown onto her, and the rest of her body is snaky; which beast, he says, would devour those sailing past these seas without restraint and savagely. Odysseus, therefore, being an Ithacan, is said to have wandered much after the Trojan war back to his home. And indeed Homer says thus regarding him in verses: "Tell me, Muse, of the man of many turns, who wandered very much, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy." This man, therefore, came against the crags of Scylla; before he arrived, Circe says these things to him by way of counsel, wishing to keep him with her, and revealing the danger from Scylla, through which Odysseus while sailing past lost six of his comrades, Scylla having snatched them from above toward herself with her six heads and devouring them terribly, as they cried out, and Odysseus looked on and was unable to give aid.

150 Who, moreover, ^B [would urge] you toward the deadly Scylla; who [would urge you] toward the source 151 of the pure divinity while you are lingering in the mire; 152 the mire restrained [you] before, but the bright water escaped. Concerning this Sicilian and Tyrrhenian sea, there is a place in which the sea experiences ebb and *rachia* (a breaking of the waves), and the water divides, so that the bottom of the sea at this part, if it were possible, could be seen. *Ampossis* (ebb) is as it were a certain drawing back and sucking in; the water slips away into certain cavities of the rocks, and again bursts forth, which is also called *rachia*. This place was impassable for those sailing, dangerous and full of death. For the ship would become submerged in this place, if it happened that while the ship was sailing, a *rachia* and ebb occurred. Homer also makes mention of these, saying thus in verses: "On one side Scylla, on the other side divine Charybdis," and he called Charybdis opposite, comparing it to Scylla.

241 May Orpheus lead the beasts, and may the Ascraean 242 Hesiod sing to the Persians, and Homer [sing of] Troy and the pains of the beast, 243 and Musaeus, and Linus, may they bring measures from the gods, 245 may Hermes, the thrice-greatest, assist my verses, 246 and not wishing it, may he worship the Cross with the measures of Sibylla, 247 being driven by the darts of the great divinity. 248 I pay no heed, and if any have come near, 249 not from God, but having stolen them from my books.

Already it has been said by us concerning Orpheus, that he was of Thracian descent, and that he is said to strike the lyre skillfully, with which he drew stones and calmed beasts, and such things; and the manner of the cithara, according to the simple and indeed the more elevated mind, we have set forth clearly. It lies in the ^A discourse.

^A Hesiod is of Ascra, whose father, because of poverty, dwelt in the village of Ascra. However, the songs are certain discourses designed for censure, and just as he says that [the manner of] worshipping belongs to the Thracians, so also the [manner of] sacrificing to gods the Chaldaeans invented, or the Cyprians (for history vacillates on this). The Chaldaeans are a Persian race. It is said that the Babylonians were the first to discover astronomy through Zoroaster, and the Egyptians received it secondarily. The Egyptians discovered geometry, having been taught by the measureless nature of the land and the division of the districts, and having thus written it down and put it into practice. ^B Regarding magic, he says the Medes were the first to discover it, then the Persians. But magic differs from sorcery: for magic is an invocation of benevolent spirits directed toward the accomplishment of some good—just as the oracles of Apollonius of Tyana came to pass through good things. Sorcery, however, is an invocation of malevolent spirits haunting graves, directed toward the accomplishment of some evil; and *goeteia* derives its name from the *gooi* (wailings) and lamentations that occur around graves. Pharmacy is when something is administered to someone by mouth through some deadly preparation as a love-potion. One must know that they say Atlas, the brother of Prometheus, discovered astrology, and because of his knowledge he is rumored to carry the heaven itself; but the tragic poet Euripides said Atlas was a mountain above the clouds. ^C Hesiod speaks of a Theogony; he himself is also among the practicing poets, of whom three poems are current: the so-called *Theogony*, the so-called *Works and Days*, and the so-called *Shield*. Therefore, in the *Theogony*, Hesiod begins to enumerate the generations of the gods; for he says: "In the beginning there was Erebus and chaos," that is, darkness and abyss. "Out of chaos and the ether were born heaven and earth; out of heaven and earth, Cronus; out of Cronus, Zeus, Poseidon, Pluto." ^D Then he brings down series of generations and gods with newer names, and [relates] that these gods fought among themselves, and these were defeated, and these tore apart this one or those ones. For the Titans are said to have dismembered Dionysus. And the Titans are certain beings beneath Tartarus, as Homer [says]: "Those beneath Tartarus, who are called Titans" (1). The prophet Ezekiel also makes mention of these, saying "in the valley of the Titans," calling those who are with the Antichrist "Titans," a term taken by interpreters from the example [of the heathens]. For they use many things from those outside, and especially those who derive their name from the nature of the thing itself, such as *Hades* and *Ameidetos* ("the Joyless"); for indeed, the place is unpleasant and mirthless. And Pluto, again, is so named because he always receives and never gives; and as many things as are thus named according to their nature, or were called so metaphorically. ^A And so Hesiod introduces names of such a sort; he says certain ones were born of Cottus and Briareus, having a hundred hands. These, he says, fought the giants alongside the gods. For the giants are mythologized as having risen up against the gods, until Zeus struck them with lightning; likewise, Hesiod speaks concerning those with serpent-feet, that serpent-footed men were born. The divine Gregory also mentions the lightning-bearers in his own discourses and elsewhere; and he calls Zeus a lightning-bearer because he hurled a thunderbolt at the giants; and this same one also consumed Semele, the mother of Dionysus. The Greeks, in their delirium, say that Sterope and Bronte are certain entities...

who hammered out the lightning and the thunder for Zeus and the thunderbolts; whence he also speaks of diseases, tombs, and certain arrows being unleashed by the gods. These things, therefore, Hesiod mythologizes; he says that the bitter offspring of these—that is, from the blood of the giants—are those deadly creatures, such as the ones he himself enumerates, the hydra around Lerna; this is the nine-headed snake, though some say fifty-headed, which they say was killed by Heracles; and the Chimera, of which Homer makes mention in his verses, speaking thus:

First ^A he bade her rear the unconquered Chimera; she was of divine race, not of men, In front a lion, behind a dragon, and in the middle a Chimera, Breathing out the terrible might of blazing fire.

Bellerophon killed this creature, having found through divine guidance the horse Pegasus in Patara of Lycia. Similarly, he also speaks of Cerberus; this was a dog at the gate of Hades having three heads; and it would fawn upon those entering Hades, but would devour those coming out; it was killed by Heracles when he went down for the sake of Persephone to carry her off, and was coming up with Peirithous. He also says about the Gorgons that they were three women, having faces so terrible that those who looked upon them would die; and it is said that Perseus killed one of them with the curved sickle. Such are the things concerning the Theogony of Hesiod.

Homer relates wars and slaughters throughout his poems, and introduces ^B them as laden with the calamities of ten thousand evils, and certain absurdities—things which, because of their multitude, it is not opportune to narrate one by one; yet we shall set forth a few of his absurdities. For in the much-celebrated history of his poems, he brings Zeus and Cronus into his myths, and Hera and Aphrodite, and Athena as well, Apollo and the bitter Enyo, and as many as we simply know from poetry. He is at one time a writer of comedy, and at another a writer of tragedy: a writer of comedy when he introduces certain mockeries spoken by him against the gods, such as when Hera, having adorned herself and made herself beautiful, went to Zeus, and deceived him, and slept with him, and whatever else he asserts that is more ridiculous than this; and a writer of tragedy, such as when he tells mythological tales of certain mournful things concerning the gods, as that he cast down ^C Hephaestus into Lemnos, and suspended Hera in the air and clouds, weighed down by iron anvils and bound with golden chains; because, he says, she had led him into a sleep, having urged Sleep to come upon him; and because she stirred up the swell of the sea against Heracles when he was returning from Troy, having sacked it along with Telamon. For it is said that Hera had jealousy toward Heracles, and for this reason she led Zeus into sleep, so that, as he was perishing, Zeus might not quickly arise and bring aid; and he says that Zeus, having been awakened, learned of this and inflicted such punishments upon Hera.

And elsewhere, he tells how Aphrodite and Ares were wounded by Diomedes; and that Apollo himself was in danger of suffering this; further, that Otus and Ephialtes held Ares captive in a bronze vessel. For they, being sons of Aloeus, dwelling around Thessaly, and being tyrants by nature, plotted ^D an insurrection against the gods. Ares, he says, went against them; then, having been defeated by them, he was bound in a bronze vessel—a "bronze vessel" meaning the city so called, or a kind of difficult and inescapable shackle. It is said concerning Otus and Ephialtes that, being nine years old, they had a height of nine fathoms and a width of nine cubits; and they grew every year by one cubit in length and a span in width. They therefore plotted to move Ossa...

onto Athos (these are mountains in Thrace) so that, having ascended into heaven, they might make war upon the gods. For this reason, Zeus struck them with a thunderbolt, the oracle having been betrayed to their mother, Molione, that because of their arrogance they would be struck by lightning. By these, Mars, as we have said, was defeated and severely tormented. As Homer himself recounts, one may hear through these verses:

"For thirteen months he was bound in a bronze cauldron; And then would Mars, insatiate of war, have perished, Had not his beautiful stepmother, Periboea, Told Hermes... Already worn out, for the cruel bond was crushing him."

Likewise, concerning Hera and Heracles, how he had wounded her in the right breast with a three-barbed arrow. The verse has it thus:

"And Heracles, the mighty son of Amphitryon, Wounded her in the right breast with a three-barbed arrow."

Again, he brings forward Dionysus fleeing the threat of Lycurgus, leaping into the sea, where Thetis received him in her bosom. The verse has it thus:

"For not even the mighty Lycurgus, son of Dryas, Lived long, who strove against the heavenly gods. He once pursued the nurses of raving Dionysus Down through holy Nyssa; and they together all Cast down their thyrsi, beaten by man-slaying Lycurgus With an ox-goad. And Dionysus, in terror, Plunged into the wave of the sea, and Thetis received him In her bosom, trembling; for a violent trembling held him at the man's shouting."

These things are indeed worthy of tears; for tears follow tragedy, and laughter follows comedy. He says that so many evils occurred that the gods themselves feared the calamities. For he says that when Achilles was proving himself strong in might, fear seized Zeus, lest Achilles, according to fate, should sack Ilium. Fearing this, he says, he permits the gods to go to the assistance of whomever they wish—whether of the Trojans or of the Greeks. When these had been permitted, Zeus thunders from heaven, and Poseidon shakes the sea. But Hades, since the sea and the heavens were being shaken, feared lest, the earth also being shaken, there should be a rending of the subterranean regions, and what was beneath them should be made public. These are the verses:

"And he leapt from his throne in terror, and shouted, lest the Earth-shaker Poseidon should rend the Earth asunder from above."

Musaeus and Linus are ancient, and were fellow-nurslings and contemporaries of Orpheus, who are also said to have learned their meters from the gods and to have been the first to be inspired by them. They are esteemed in the more ancient histories, and regarding these, this account is sufficient. We shall make mention of the meters, the laurel, the divinatory draughts, and the Muse-inspired ones elsewhere, and we shall set forth the histories regarding these in greater detail. For the divine Gregory, in his work against Maximus the Cynic, made mention of all these things.

Hermes is the preeminent one among the theologians of the Greeks, whence he is also called "Thrice-Great" (Trismegistus); for he seems to prophesy many things regarding the Trinity and the saving economy, very luminously and wondrously. This Hermes lived in the times of the divine Moses, and with Moses himself was initiated into the wisdom of the Egyptians. And while some assert that Hermes is Moses himself, Moses is in fact not Hermes; but Hermes was a fellow-student of Moses, and having taken his themes from the Mosaic books, he is a more esoteric theologian. He is called "Thrice-Great," for he was the first to discover how to speak of a Triune God. Sibylla was a queen, and a philosopher who gained distinction in the meters of speech, and in many other philosophies throughout her life. She pro-

- phesied beforehand concerning the cross, and concerning Christ, and the salvation of all nations that would come later; and these things they have spoken of in this way here as well. ^A However, the divine Gregory turns away; for he does not judge them worthy of theology, but refutes them as thieves. For the wise men of the Greeks, having stolen from the holy books, have added them to their own myths, as did Homer. For he transformed the entire history concerning Saul and David into his own nonsensical tales. For all the feats of valor are David’s, with which Homer strives to equate his own gnats; and indeed, even the feats of the mighty sons of David, who, being strengthened by God, were shown to be those who demonstrated supernatural things. For the divine Apostle himself testifies, saying as it were: "Time will fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, and women received their dead raised to life again." For these things were done by Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb, Jephthah and Gideon, Barak and Samson, and David, and Jonathan, and the most mighty sons of David; one of whom, ^B by barring the way alone, checked the entire power of the enemy, and standing alone against myriads, held back the onrush of their assault, so that it was impassable for them; and another, who in one onrush and a leap of zeal slew eight hundred, and so muddied the sword of the enemy that it was difficult to detach from his palm; and those who brought water from the well of Bethlehem and turned back the entire camp of the adversaries, and those who tore apart lions like a kid, and those who approached the giants unarmed and subdued them, and those who with a rod and stones overturned the battle line from above, and all the other things that were done with truth by those who are God-bearers. These things Homer, murmuring and bleating with his own myths, refashions; and a proof of the falsehood is also the composition of the names. For someone might see that they are composed cleverly, both by themselves and in patronymics. For in all these numerous names one would not find a phrase, but both short and long syllables, as if they were placed together by composition; which is clear to those who think soundly, that by transferring the true glory into fictions, he mocks those who have not yet come to be as if they were existing, putting on feathers like a jackdaw, and adorning himself with foreign flowers. Let no one ^C therefore turn his attention to such words (for it is not right), hearing the divine Gregory with his thundering voice saying:

248 I pay no heed, and if some have approached, 249 Not from God, but having stolen books from me. 253 May Phoebus divine the fate of gods no longer existing.

Already it has been said concerning ^D the oblique god Apollo, that he provided oracles unclearly, whence the outcome turned out contrary to what was oracularly spoken, and for this reason he was called Loxias. Now Phocis is a region in Greece; in this region is a city called Delphi; in this city is a temple of Apollo which is called Pytho; in this temple was the tripod, and the oracles, and lots were in the head of the tripod. Therefore, when the person consulting the oracle asked concerning the prophecy, the lots would leap and be moved within it. Then the prophetess would be filled and say whatever Apollo wished. And the prophetess was called Pythia, whom elsewhere

^A the divine Gregory says becomes fulfilled and inspired by his words, no longer being able to use her accustomed ways. And indeed, elsewhere he speaks of a statue that spoke; and this, too, was in Delphi at that time, uttering an articulate voice precisely. For the voices of demons are inarticulate, because they do not have organs for the formation of the voice as it emerges. But how, he says, when the gods no longer exist, does he prophesy death? I think the oracle which Apollo provided in Cyzicus to those asking about whose temple it would be, said: "The house shall belong to Mary, a certain obscure virgin," having proclaimed a thrice-holy, high-ruling God, of whom the Word shall be seen as offspring; and just as a fire-bearing arrow passing through the midst, he shall capture the whole world; continuing by saying, "God self-begotten, self-authorized, good, God known before the ages."

236 Castalia and Daphne, let the oracles of the oak rest, 257 No longer excelling among men in foolishness.

There is in Antioch a spring called Castalia, at which it is said Apollo sits, and that oracles and prophecies are given to those coming to the water. It is said that whenever someone was consulting the oracle, the water would give off light mists and breaths, and when such breezes were released, the priests around the spring would say what the demon wished. And Daphne was a girl, the daughter of the river Ladon and the Earth, who was fortunate in her birth. This girl, he says, being very beautiful in form and eye-catching, stirred Apollo to love; and Apollo, moved by love, pursued Daphne, if he might succeed in having intercourse with the maiden. So the girl, wishing to keep her virginity, prayed to her own mother, the Earth, to help her; and the Earth, opening ^B her own bosom, received the girl, and wishing to gratify Apollo, brought forth a plant of the same name as the girl, which Apollo, having taken, wears as a crown by the tripod while prophesying, and is gratified regarding Daphne, who is beloved by him.

But the oracles of the oak are these: Dodona is a city in Epirus; in it, there was an oak in which it was said Zeus would overshadow and give oracles to those in need, with certain movements from the oak itself interpreting them. Homer speaks about the Dodonian oracle, saying that the Selloi, a tribe of the Dodonaeans, were set forth as priests of the beech-tree, and in the beech-tree itself was the oracle of Zeus, the so-called Dodonian oak. These priests, therefore, being as it were servants of the god, keeping themselves pure, neither bathed nor slept on a bed, but on the ground, as Homer himself says here in verses, as Achilles is praying:

"Zeus, king Dodonaean, Pelasgian, dwelling afar, Ruling over winter-bound Dodona, and around you the Selloi Dwell as interpreters, unwashed of feet, sleeping on the ground."

Another, however, says that this oracle which is called the Dodonian oak, that of Zeus, belonged to women, those being the prophetesses. And those who were consulting the oracle would approach the oak; and the oak, supposedly, would move, and then the women would speak, saying that Zeus foretells these things. There was also a cauldron in Dodona; for a certain statue stood on a height holding a staff, and next to it stood a cauldron. Those, therefore, who were seeking omens would come to this place and pray. When, then, the god wished to utter an oracle, he says, that statue would strike the cauldron with the staff, then the cauldron would ring, and from the cauldron a certain harmonious sound was produced, and the prophetesses would be filled and would say what the demon put into them.

^A 258 The Egyptian demon is the vain-speaking god Ammon. Alexander, king of the Macedonians, marching against the Persians, passed through Libya and arrived in the Ammonian land; having performed sacred rites to the local god Ammon, he besought him to utter an oracle. Learning from his own mother Olympias that this god was his father, he supplicated him like a father. Ammon provided the oracle in a dream as he had requested, and commanded him to build a sacred precinct and a city for him by the Protean island of Pharus, which he did upon returning from the Persian war. Gregory, therefore, the divine, speaks of Ammon as a "vain-speaker," that is, a speaker of vanity, because he also delivers the oracle in imitation of Apollo.

259 The Branchidae and the seers of Epidaurus. "For he says that the gods of the Egyptians are fish-formed, having gills and a crest above the head; and 'Epidaurus' is the name for that which is elevated and high."

260 And secret rites and those opposite to the eyes, 261 the shames of famous Eleusis by night.

The secret rites are those involving Celeus and Triptolemus. For Demeter had a daughter, Persephone; Pluto snatched her away. The mother, going around searching for her daughter, came into Attica and lodged with a certain Triptolemus in a village called Eleusis. She learned from Triptolemus that Pluto had snatched Persephone away, and for this kindness she gave Triptolemus seeds—I mean wheat and barley—commanding him not to be begrudging, but to travel around and scatter the seeds to all men, so that they might learn to sow and farm and eat our fruits. For previously they had eaten acorns from beech trees, whence the verb *phagein* (to eat) comes from *phegos* (beech tree). It is said that Triptolemus, having taken a chariot of winged dragons and having taken along also Celeus, wandered in this way, and out of ambition gave the seeds; but he also taught a certain ordinance of mysteries, which the Greeks celebrate. For just as there is illumination among the God-taught Christians, so among them is this one. Such a festival of the Greeks is called the Mysteries, and Eleusinia, and Demetria. It is said by the Theologian elsewhere that Demeter both did good and suffered good. To "suffer good" means to have suffered concerning Persephone and to cease from her wandering; to "do good" is the giving of seeds to men in return for such a benefit.

In Phrygia, Rhea, the mother of the gods, was worshipped. Rhea was the mother of these gods—of Zeus, Poseidon, Pluto, and Hera—and she was the wife of Cronus. Therefore, certain rites used to take place for her in Phrygia, and those initiating and those being initiated, being filled with enthusiasm and beside themselves, would cut their limbs with swords, not perceiving that they were cutting themselves; and certain flutes would play, charming them and stirring them up to the cutting. Even to the present time, certain witless Greeks near the mountains of Caria cut themselves, as the saying goes, held fast by this ancient custom. The Phrygians, therefore, as we said, cut themselves with knives, not wishing to kill themselves, but only to draw blood; they did this while the flutes were playing, so that they might simply bear being struck; and after the wounds, they proceeded to impure acts of union, I mean of women, not of men.

262 The Phrygian madness is the sixth sound.

263 The Dictaean Corybantes, raging in armor. Cronus having become a bedfellow to Rhea, would swallow the children she brought forth; and so...

when Rhea gave birth to Zeus, fearing lest this infant also be swallowed and perish, she swaddled a stone and gave it to Cronus as the infant to be swallowed, while she hid Zeus away in Crete, and commanded the Corybantes and Curetes to dance for this infant, and to clash and strike their arms, and create a certain sound capable of concealing and drowning out the noise of the child’s crying, so that, he says, Cronus, not knowing where the child was hidden, might not find it and swallow it. ^A Of these things the divine Gregory reminds us elsewhere in his own words, saying thus: "Are these the births and thefts of the tyrant of the Cretans, even if the Greeks be displeased? Or are the sounds and clatterings of the Curetes, and the armed dances of the god, concealing the sound of the weeping, lest the father, the hater of his own children, escape notice?" For it was a dreadful thing, as for an infant, to be crying, when he was being swallowed as a stone. Cronus was a father who hated his own craft, since he would swallow those born from Rhea; but Zeus is the infant who was crying; and the Curetes and Corybantes are those appointed by Rhea to dance—for they call this dance the *pyrrhic*—for they would make a certain striking of their shields to drown out the infant’s crying. ^B The wise men of the Greeks say that Zeus is a god. But Gregory, the divine Theologian, even if he presents the common story, makes him out to be a tyrant of the Cretans, speaking thus: that Zeus was a tyrant of Crete, and the subjects, wishing to favor him, invented the myth that he had his birth from a certain Cronus and Rhea, since he was a sorcerer and a most impious man, wherefore he also adds, "Even if the Greeks be displeased." For the Greeks do not wish for him to be a man, but a god. And the great teacher of the things of God, Gregory, rebuking their folly, says that the tomb of Zeus exists in Crete. For Zeus, having been reared there and having died, was placed in a tomb, which tomb has an inscription that Zeus lies there, which is a refutation of those who say he is a god. For they are exposed through the fact that he was both a man and died and lies in Crete. And some say that he was struck by a lightning bolt, the true God pouring down from heaven fire and sulfur and a spirit of storm as a portion of the cup upon the sinner ^C for the sake of the most impious and falsely-named god.

264 "Bacchi, and those who roam the mountains around the offspring of Semele." Bacchi and Sileni are certain demons, attendants and companions of Dionysus. Divine Gregory makes mention of these also elsewhere, speaking thus: "Dionysus knows these things, and the thigh of the birth-pangs, the immature fetus, just as another head before, and a god androgynous, and a dissolute army, and a chorus of drunkards, and the madness of the Thebans, and the thunderbolt of Semele being worshipped." ^D Semele was the daughter of Cadmus, the king of Thebes. Zeus fell in love with her and consorted with her, and stirred up Hera, his wife, to jealousy and envy. So Hera, filled with jealousy, goes to Semele and says to her, "All of this is a deception of yours; for it is not even Zeus who consorts with you. For," she says, "when he consorts with me, he does so with lightning and thunderbolts. If, therefore, Zeus comes to you, say to him: 'As you consort with Hera, so come to me.' And if he consorts with you with thunders and lightning, forsooth it is Zeus who is consorting with you; but if otherwise, it is not Zeus." Having suggested these things, when Zeus came to Semele, she asked of him to consort with her as he consorts with Hera; then, having consorted with a lightning bolt, she died. [D (line 4)] Zeus, therefore, immediately [took] the fetus which was in Semele...

and placed it into his thigh, and he kept it in writing until the nine months were fulfilled. This Dionysus was an unfinished fetus, this being the embryo placed into the thigh. Another poet, however, calls Dionysus “twice-born,” saying thus: “And he called the offspring of twice-born Bacchus.” To say, “As if it were another head before,” he says regarding Athena; for Zeus brought her forth from his head fully armed. So, too, regarding this one, the aforementioned poet said: ^B 244 “Athena, flashing with armor, he darted forth.”

This lightning bolt, the foolishness of the Thebans venerates and worships. For the Thebans are accused of stupidity, and there is a proverb which says: “A Boeotian pig.” They worship the lightning bolt because it burned Semele, who was the daughter of Cadmus, their king. Now, this Dionysus is said to be the patron of wine and drunkenness, and they depict him as a drunkard; and they declare the Bacchi and Sileni with him to be drunk as well. For Hera introduced drunkenness to him so that he might become deranged; for ^C Hera was angry with him as a son of Zeus, since she was jealous of those born from Zeus.

265 And the evil phantasms of nightly Hecate

The Greeks think Hecate is a goddess; and some say she is Artemis, others the moon, while others call her a certain chthonic goddess appearing in strange phantasms to those invoking her, appearing especially to those who are cursed. Her phantasms appear as human-like but with dragon heads, and they are unnaturally long and huge, so that by the mere sight they astonish and terrify those who see them.

506 ^D As if from a temple

266 The evil works and orgies of Mithras are no longer unbelievable.

Some have perceived Mithras in one way, others in another; for some [say] the sun, others the patron of fire, and others a certain chthonic power. There are certain initiations for this Mithras, especially among the Chaldeans. Those who were initiated into Mithras were initiated according to a certain scale of punishments; first, they would undergo lighter punishments, and then, in this way, the sharper ones. For instance, first they would let those being initiated hunger for perhaps fifty days; then, if they performed well, they would make them get scraped for two days; then again, to be cast into snow for twenty days. It is said that there are eighty punishments of Mithras, which the one being initiated must pass through by degrees. In addition to those we mentioned, there is also swimming through water for many days, throwing oneself into fire, living in a desert, fasting, and many other things, until he has passed through the eighty punishments. It is impossible among them for the initiations of Mithras to be performed by anyone who has not passed through all the punishments and shown himself to be chaste and dispassionate.

267 The ululations of the Gallic Cybele.

The Egyptians honored beasts and reptiles, worshiping the ibises, the crocodiles, and the snakes, the cats and the weasels, and certain kinds of fish, procuring for themselves dishonor through irrational worship. We have learned of the cry of this Gallic change from a narrative: that in a certain prominent place there was a statue of Zeus. To this statue they offered certain sacrifices, and they perceived a Gallic voice coming as if from the statue.

[... ] of the one arriving to take part. The priest who persisted in this, performing certain lamp-lightings and illuminations for a reason, as if they were coming from the statue, used to corrupt the women in this way: He would say to them, he asserts, "Zeus, having become enamored, wishes to lie with you." And when she followed willingly, he would make such cries and [play with] lamps as to terrify the one present; and he himself, taking the form of Zeus, defiling such a one through the whole night, would send her away at dawn. But sometimes, when he encountered a chaste and husband-loving woman, he was caught and suffered the ultimate shame. ^A Gallae is Rhea. For a certain Gallus, going to sing and play the drum at her temple, when a sharp winter overtook him, fled into a cave having with him the cymbals; and shaking the drum, he terrified the wild beast. Having dedicated a temple to her, he named it Cybele of the Galli; and to this the god-possessed dedicated themselves.

"As many as the Nile ^B 268 / Fruit-giver they honor in pollutions, with androgynous [people]."

The Egyptians honor the Nile as a god during its rise, and they praise it as the cause of fertility, thinking the rising water itself to be a god. Aristaenetus the historian asserts, therefore, that the Egyptians celebrate a festival to the Nile, everyone together, men and women coming to the theaters of the cities, and there banqueting—each what he possesses—and women, having formed choruses, sing songs to the idol, which are sung to Zeus as to the Nile, doing the work of Zeus and watering the land. He says as regards the honors of the androgynous, that in the general festival the men together with the women abandon themselves to Bacchic frenzy, and very often in drunkenness [they act] licentiously.

269 "The tearful lowings of Isis and Osiris."

This Isis was deemed to be Io, who was snatched away by Zeus. For Zeus, he says, snatched Io, being afraid of Hera, his own wife; he cast Io into a cow—and sometimes into a white one, sometimes into a black one, sometimes into a violet one—and thus he wandered with her. Zeus therefore came also wandering with Io. And the Egyptians honor Io, that is, Isis; wherefore upon her statue on the head they engrave the horns of a cow, signifying the transformation of the maiden into a cow. ^C And Osiris was considered a god among the Egyptians; and some say he is Dionysus, others say [he is] someone else. This Osiris, therefore, they say was torn to pieces by Typhon, and that there was great mourning among the Egyptians, so that for all time they hold a memory of the dismemberment of Osiris. Just as they say that Dionysus was torn to pieces by the Titans, so also [was] Osiris by Typhon—and this Typhon was also a demon. He speaks of lowings worthy of tears, that Isis was transformed into a cow and lowed, and that Osiris was torn to pieces and mourned.

270 "And Serapis having a dry wooden stick with poison, 271 And the fleshy calf Apis and [Memphis...]"

For the Egyptians, after a certain time, according to a period, a calf was born, conceived from the light of the moon; this calf was called Apis among them. It has also certain marks around the tail and the tongue, from which marks it was recognized that it is Apis. When this calf was born, therefore, the Egyptians would hold a festival, as if a god had arrived for them, and they would set before the calf in the manger a great banquet, feasting the god.

272 "And you, wretched Lacedaemonian woman, stretching hither [and thither 273 The altar-side courage of youths being cut with whips."

The Lacedaemonians, training themselves for endurance, would perform a festival in which they whipped one another, and from this they were instructed in a certain bravery, that they might have endurance.

The Lacedaemonians honored Artemis during the festival of the whips. For they say that this goddess is a virgin; for the virgin is constant and above all cowardice and passion. The Theologian says that the Lacedaemonians honored effeminacy and boldness, as he states elsewhere in his own discourses: "For the same people both honored effeminacy and revered boldness; effeminacy, either because they performed a certain festival called the *syssitia*, in which all ate together and feasted and became effeminate, or because the base passion of pederasty also spread there, just as we have regarding Pausanias and Argilius, because Argilius was once a boy-lover of Pausanias. And that they revered boldness refers to the matter of endurance and bravery; for a prize was given to the one who endured most." However, the goddess Artemis, being a virgin and sober, still rejoiced in the blood upon the altars and [the blood] of the sacrifice of strangers.

^A There is also, elsewhere in his writings, a story which he recalls, about Abaris the Hyperborean; this Abaris, as Herodotus says, was some individual from the Hyperboreans; the Hyperboreans are situated more towards the north and deeper than the Scythians. Thus this Abaris is said to have become possessed, and to have traveled around Greece with an arrow, and to have uttered certain oracles and divinations as one possessed. The orator Lycurgus mentions Abaris in his speech against Menesaechmus, saying that when famine occurred among the Hyperboreans, Abaris came to Greece and hired himself out to Apollo, and was taught by him the art of giving oracles, and thus, holding the arrow as a symbol of Apollo (for this god is an archer), he went about giving oracles throughout all of Greece.

^B 275 "All the evil sacrifice of the Taurians for strangers." The Taurians are a nation near Scythia. Among them, Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, was transported by Artemis when she was about to be sacrificed for the Greeks at Aulis; for her, the goddess substituted a hind and gave it to be sacrificed. This Iphigenia, therefore, being among the Taurians, because she was not known by those who were being sacrificed as strangers, permitted them to be sacrificed to Artemis; and this was the slaughter of strangers which the divine Gregory mentions elsewhere, saying verbatim: "Nor indeed the slaughter of strangers of the Taurians"; and again: "And the hind given in exchange for the virgin." Later, Orestes (himself also a son of Agamemnon), being terrified by the Furies, came to the Taurians and was seized as a stranger for slaughter, and was brought to Iphigenia as priestess; he was recognized by the ivory shoulder, and was released from the sacrifice. Thus, finally, Orestes, having taken his own sister, I mean Iphigenia, brings her to Greece.

276 "And the god of the beautiful Polyhymnus, [loving] the phallus." 277 "The wooden [image]." It is said that a youth fell in love with Dionysus; then he, before he achieved his base desire, etc., as above in discourse 24 [Delta], shortly after the beginning. The divine Gregory recalls these matters elsewhere as well, saying: "Nor are certain phalloi and ithyphalloi shameful both in their forms and in their deeds; for in the festival of Dionysus, leather phalloi, etc., as in the place cited." But they did this honoring the lover of Dionysus; [and] this boy was called Polyhymnus.

"And [honoring] the lustful Cypris." They say that Cypris is Aphrodite, about whom the divine Gregory says elsewhere: "Not through the impure mysteries of Venus, which are shamefully conceived, and shamefully practiced, as even the Greeks themselves admit."

^A This Venus, then, is fabled to have had her birth from the genitals of Uranus. For Cronus, it is said, the son of Uranus, taking a sickle, cut off his own father’s genitals and cast them into the sea; and these genitals, having fallen and gathered foam, gave birth to Venus; wherefore she is called Aphrodite, as having come from the foam (aphros) and the falling (katadysis). For this reason the great Theologian declared her birth and the honor paid to her to be shameful. For her honors were performed through shameful acts and her festivals through licentiousness and fornication; for indeed they say that this Venus is the overseer of fornication. And everything that is voluptuous and erotic is called "Cypris" and, in turn, "aphrodisian."

278 *Cunning, and Lindos abusing with sacred rites.* "Kerdo" is the name for the fox, whence "kerdale" (cunning) signifies malice and deceit; for the fox is a deceitful and malicious animal. He says, therefore, that the Greeks craftily honor a lewd festival in the name of Cypris; for they were truly honoring the very passion of fornication. Lindos is an ancient city of Rhodes. In it, at the sacrifice where the priest was sacrificing and feasting on the ox, those who were sacrificing would curse and revile him and offer unholy insults.

281 *Empedocles, you immediately...* ^B 282 *And the craters of Aetna's fire showed, O mortal,* 283 *Having cast out the sandal of the light-minded god* ^C 284 *Bronze, and set you as an object of shame to all mortals.*

This Empedocles was a Pythagorean in his philosophy, a Sicilian by birth; and wishing to be vainglorious, thinking that he had been deified and had ascended on high into the heavens, ^D he cast himself into the fire being emitted by Aetna; the Greeks called this fire the craters of Hephaestus. And while he himself perished by the fire, God, wishing to make his vainglory public, caused his sandal to be spewed out of the fire intact, and thus it was known that he had not ascended on high, but had been burned as his vainglory deserved.

*Hercules, Empedotimus, Trophonius, cease these myths.*

We have already spoken about Nessus and Hercules in our 15th discourse, stating that Nessus the centaur, having been shot, gave Deianira of his own blood, telling her to keep it, and if it should ever happen that Hercules fell in love with another woman, she should smear his tunic with the blood and bring him back to his love for her; which Deianira did, and she made Hercules fire-consumed. For the tunic caught fire from the blood of Nessus, and he cast himself into a river, burning; and as the river's current grew hot, he perished thus, near what is called Thermopylae. The verse says word-for-word as follows: *The great glory of Amphitryon’s son, but he was conquered* *By a flesh-eating garment, that destroyer of all.*

Trophonius and Empedotimus were from the Boeotian city of Lebadea, and were diviners by trade; wishing to be vainglorious and to show that they had been taken up, they cast themselves into certain deep, submerged places with the intent of dying and having no remains of themselves found at all; but it was known that they had died in caves, because the place appeared to be an oracle. There is a proverb that says: "You have divined in the cave of Trophonius"; it is said of those who are joyless and pale. For everyone who descends into that oracle would come up joyless and perpetually pale; this was a proof of...

their having sacrificed from their own wealth. Trophonius and his brother Ganymede were deemed worthy to prophesy because they had built the temple of Apollo at Delphi at their own expense. Gregory the Theologian mentions them elsewhere, saying this: "And the amusements and oracles of Trophonius under the earth; those who entered the cave of Trophonius performed certain rites to prophesy, and having received the oracle, they came up pale and joyless." ^B 287 "And you, faithless eyebrow of the vain-boasting Aristaeus." This Aristaeus was also a Boeotian from Levadeia, like the man from that city; he, too, perished in a manner similar to Trophonius, having been ruined by vainglory.

DISCOURSE LXV

Against women who adorn themselves (1)

Penelope was the wife of Odysseus. Odysseus, after the Trojan War, is said to have wandered much for a long time. The suitors therefore gathered around Penelope and sat with her, eating of the possessions of Odysseus. They told Penelope to choose whomsoever she wished and to be joined to him in marriage. But Penelope, knowing that Odysseus was alive and awaiting him, by weaving a variegated tunic, deceived the suitors for a long time. For she said to them, "When I have finished this web, after that I shall be betrothed." The suitors were deceived in this manner; sitting during the day and seeing Penelope weaving, she would rise at night and undo what she had woven during the day. Having done this for a long time, she is said to have been discovered, and then all of them assaulted her and lay with her; hence, having conceived, she brought forth Pan, which is why he was called Pan, as is stated in the sixty-third discourse. ^C Helen is she on account of whom the Trojan War against the Greeks was assembled; the harlot is Helen. For even though she was the wife of Menelaus, she became enamored of Paris Alexander, and having gone with him to Ilion, she caused ten thousand evils for the Greeks and the Trojans; she stirs up Alexander himself to war, as Homer says through him: "Hector, since you have rebuked me in accordance with what is fated and not beyond fate, Therefore I will tell you, and you must understand and listen to me, That I am not so much in wrath and indignation against the Trojans As I was in my chamber, but I wanted to be turned to grief. But now my wife, having persuaded me with soft words, Has urged me to war" (2).

Hecuba is the mother of Hector, Alexander, and Polyxena, and the wife of Priam, king of the Trojans. She was most prudent and very dear to the goddesses, as one may hear Homer himself saying through his verses: "She descended into the fragrant chamber, Where there were robes, richly embroidered, the work of Sidonian women, Whom Alexander himself, godlike, Brought from Sidon, having sailed across the wide sea, Upon the journey on which he brought back Helen of noble descent. Lifting one from these, Hecuba carried it as a gift to Athena, Which was the most beautiful in embroidery and the largest, And it shone like a star, and it lay beneath the others. She set out to go, and many old women followed along" (3).

The meaning of the Theologian saying to women who adorn themselves that they are Hecuba inside and Helen outside is this: that it is impossible for those who adorn themselves in a harlot-like, excessive manner to profess self-control.

53 "The garden of Adonis, and your grace is fruitless." This Adonis was considered to be a god. Him Julian honored, as the divine Gregory said in his invective orations; being a man, he was loved by Aphrodite, and he was killed by Ares, because...

^A of her jealousy, the love returned by Aphrodite to Ares. Whether, therefore, the Greeks say that Adonis had his own beauty and for that reason perished, according to the story already mentioned, we do not know; or whether they mean to say he had a garden which destroyed its own fruits, we cannot say. For the fact that one who is loved is envied and perishes in this manner leads to the following suspicion. But it is good, while remembering the invective orations, to set forth the thesis regarding why Adonis is Julian. For this polluted man changed the name of Christians to "Galileans," mocking their religion; but the God-bearing Gregory, in turn mocking the fool, justly calls him by various names: he calls him "Idol-man," since he clung to idols; then "Pisan," as one honoring the god in Pisidia—for Zeus was honored in a preeminent way in the city of Pisa in Elis; and "Adonaean," because of Adonis, whom he honored and worshipped; and in addition to these, the divine Gregory named Julian "Sitaurus" [bull-slayer], because he sacrificed and burned whole bulls to Zeus.

55 How dost thou, having the form of a daw, if indeed the daw 56 Has a myth of winged feathers belonging to others, 57 Again render it naked of its ludicrous [borrowings].

There is a myth as follows: There was a judgment, he says, concerning the beauty of birds, and Zeus was the arbiter of the judgment. A day was appointed on which the birds had to assemble ^B before Zeus; on the day before the appointed day, the birds went down to the river and washed their wings in the streams, so that the natural beauty of each might shine forth. The daw (for this is a bird very small in body and ugly in appearance) put on the feathers that had fallen by the waters, and he also arrived before Zeus as if he were about to receive the prize for beauty; but when the wind blew and uncovered the alien feathers, he was found stripped of the beauty, and having the ugliness which by nature surrounded him, he thus enjoyed his shame.

105 If perhaps they should fall into swinish darkness 106 Shut in by the beast-producing drugs of Circe.

Circe is said to be the daughter of Aeetes, carried off in her father's chariot to a desert island. Being a sorceress, she offered some food to those who chanced by, and, as the myth says, turned them into pigs. Odysseus also encounters her in his wanderings, but was not captured by the drugs of Circe, having an antidote from Hermes the guide. The divine Gregory therefore compares the women who adorn themselves to Circe; and those who fall into their nets he calls pigs. For those who are pleased by women’s painted makeup are confined, as if by Circe’s drugs, among the swine.

115 They describe Pandora as the retribution— 116 Earning the reward for the stolen fire— 117 Instead of fire, another fire, a beautiful evil, as it is ^C burned.

The wise men of the Greeks call Pandora the first-created woman; and they say she is called Pandora ["all-gifted"] because she was given to all. Just as they say that Noe is Deucalion, and they introduce the flood in his time as a myth. For it is their custom, as we have said before, to cut off the histories from the divinely inspired books and reshape them into their own myth. They say, therefore, that fire existed before the woman, and that men could not share in it. The fire was stolen by Prometheus; the gods, therefore, he says, made Pandora a woman, and provided men with another fire in place of the stolen one, in order, he says, that it might burn men, having devised this as a punishment for them, and indeed, having thus devised her very nature to be a kindling of the heart. It is treated more broadly elsewhere. ^D

^A 129 Do you not hear how he deceived the father, 130 and the splendor of the man-slaying plant, how it blossomed? He makes mention of the transgression according to Adam; the history is in the second oration.

^B 139 This is even more ridiculous, as he knows 140 of the disordered form, and he walks upon Danae’s path. Danae is a woman who was the beloved of Zeus, the daughter of Acrisius and the mother of Perseus; she contrived this through her manner of life, being crowded and beset by shameful configurations; wherefore Zeus, appearing to her as gold, slept with her. For as Danae adorned herself with the gold, it is a form into which Zeus transformed himself—in such a comely way, for the gold flowed through and he was united with her. Therefore, the divine Gregory says, a woman who adorns herself imitates Danae, even if she has a comely form, by further devising certain tints through which she attracts men, as did Danae.

^B 153 I inquire how some, desiring a hollow and formless, echo-like sound, 154 wandered over the heights. Concerning Pan it has already been said that, being a flautist of the mountains, he delighted in the echoes of his own voice. ^C 155 And once, desiring his own form, 156 he leapt toward the shadow of ruinous beauty back at the spring. This is contained in the sixty-third oration. This Narcissus was a hunter, who, being excessively graceful in appearance and raging with desire for Aphrodite, came to a spring to drink; having fallen in love with his own form, he leapt into the spring, and at once, for the sake of that ruinous beauty, drew death upon himself through the shadow.

^C 157 Another went mad for the beautiful currents of a river, 158 she raved, and did not leave the beloved banks, 159 she lapped the water, she was distracted by her hands, she grasped at the foam; 160 but not even so did the burning desire cease because of the waters. 161 Thus love is blind and hostile. Juno once went mad for the waters; others, however, say that it was Tyro, the local woman, who loved the river Enipeus, where having come, she sat by the banks of the river, and burning with desire she performed acts of laughter/folly; she drank the water, she drew it with her hands, she grasped it, drawing near, she bathed in the foam, she drew it continuously and could not obtain the object of her desire; for it was not possible for the water to be united with her. And as she did these things, she was ignited all the more, and the love that had been inflamed in the waters did not wish to cease. Thus, the divine Gregory says, love is something very blind and unjust, and often casts the prudent man out of his mind; he says this against women who adorn themselves, because they are goaded to madness in many ways, by painting themselves with antimony, by tinting, by dressing up, and by simulating modesty; through these very practices they reveal the love that is in their hearts. It is contained in the 142nd oration.

^D 165 I am persuaded that once a wise man deceived a bull with art, 166 having formed a wooden heifer with colors. 167 A strange love, upon lifeless forms, proceeds to living things, 168 whenever you too might plan such a defilement for the young. The story is that a certain wise painter of the ancients crafted a wooden heifer and painted it; as some say, by mixing the colors into the water of the heifer and thus preparing it, he stood up the wooden heifer; yet a bull, being brought forth and standing by, began to rave over the wooden heifer, showing a strange love. The divine Gregory says that women who are painted with white lead and rouge and other colors attract men toward love. For if such things have caused a frenzy in a bull toward inanimate objects, how much more so toward men who are held in the same flesh!

^D 169 Orpheus used to persuade wild beasts, but you persuade men, whose 170 mind belongs to the beasts, and whose life is woman-mad. The narrative concerning Orpheus is contained in the 60th oration.

183 But how can you, leading such a cestus of love upon men, 186 O woman, remain far from the wickedness that dissolves marriage?

^A They say that Aphrodite is the patroness of prostitution and of all erotic matters and of those who look toward the pleasure of the flesh. Whence, as Homer says, one might see in many places that Aphrodite possesses things suitable for deception, especially from the accounts regarding Hera. Rather, it is told in myths by Homer that Zeus favored the Trojans and prepared for the Greeks to be defeated on account of the supplication of Thetis for the sake of Achilles, so that the Greeks, being defeated, might seek him out; for there was a provocation between Achilles and Agamemnon on account of Chryseis and Briseis. For Chryses, being a priest of Apollo, was present at the camp of the Greeks to ransom his own daughter, who had been given as a prize to Agamemnon by the Greeks; for she and Briseis were young women chosen from the captivity for Achilles. Though many ransoms were offered by Chryses, Agamemnon did not pay attention, but actually dishonored the priest in addition to this. He encounters Apollo against the Greeks; and when a pestilential disease was ravaging the camp, and Calchas had explained the truth, Agamemnon was forced to return Chryseis to her own father. But he was alienated from Achilles, as if it were he who had prepared Calchas to declare the oracle in this way. He therefore takes Briseis away from Achilles, on account of whom they had entered into arguments and quarreled. And with Achilles weeping for the girl, his mother Thetis is said to have come up and changed him with wheedling words; then, having arrived at Olympus, she announces to Zeus to defend the Trojans, that the Greeks, being defeated, might stand in need of Achilles. Zeus, having accepted the supplication of Thetis, moved his brows in promise, and is said to shake his hair upon his head with a nod, and to shake the whole heaven as his hair moved. ^B Wishing to fulfill the supplication of this Thetis and bringing it to completion, Zeus helped the Trojans and planned evils for the Greeks. But Hera, caring for the Greeks, plans to entice Zeus to union and to draw him into sleep, so that when Zeus was asleep, the Trojans, having become helpless, might be defeated by the Greeks. Having planned these things, she takes the adornments from the cestus of Aphrodite—but the cestus is a certain band, an embroidered belt, in which all things for beauty and elegance and graces are stored—then, having adorned herself, she goes up to Zeus and stirs him to pleasure and lust. She therefore draws him into a sleep of three days; and while they were sleeping, he says, the earth brought forth sweet-smelling plants, I mean the crocus and the lotus and the hyacinth; and the verse is as follows:

1. Beneath them the earth sent forth quick-growing grass, 2. Lotus dewy and crocus and hyacinth, 3. Thick and soft, which lifted them from the earth.

The divine Theologian says, therefore, that a woman who is set out with such adornments for the deception of men and for lust carries the cestus of Aphrodite. But how can a woman who carries such a cestus be chaste, even if she might often think herself so? And he calls the cestus "marriage-dissolving"; for it is a servant and a promoter of those things that lead to shameful union, having things laid out for deception, as Diomedes says to her, to Aphrodite:

1. Withdraw, daughter of Zeus, from war and battle! 2. Or is it not enough that you deceive cowardly women?

Marriage could not be called that which has its composition through shame; a woman, therefore, who uses such things dissolves the marital bond.

^A The Keltoi have a judgment concerning offspring by the river Rhine. The Keltoi are a nation, and a river called the Rhine flows past their territory. They distinguish the nature of offspring in the waters of the Rhine; for when those walking along the river wish to know if a child is legitimate or alien, the water makes the lineage clear to them, and if the child is a bastard...

Esther

Esther was one of the daughters of Israel during the Babylonian captivity; she was very beautiful in appearance. Therefore, Artaxerxes, the king of the Persians, falling in love with her, took her as his wife. Now there was a man powerful under Artaxerxes named Haman, who held the second place in his kingdom. Being inflamed with zeal against the Jews, Haman persuaded Artaxerxes to have all the Jews put to death. A certain Mordecai, a man prudent, wise, and full of the divine Spirit, was of the same kin as Esther. When the day arrived on which the king had ordered the decree to be fulfilled by all who were set under him, Mordecai stirred Esther to speak, urging her to adorn herself and approach the king contrary to custom; for ^B it was not possible for her to come unless she had been summoned. But Artaxerxes, having seen her adorned in various ways and approaching him, became broken with pleasure and was quite undone; but she, wishing to excite him all the more, on the contrary, loosened herself, twisting and softening her demeanor; while he was holding her and entreating her not to refuse him, using kisses and stroking and whatever else is used to win over those who are undone, when Esther made known the unassailability of her virtue, the king immediately annulled the injunction, ordering that nothing of what had been decreed should happen to the Jews. And having hanged Haman, the author of this counsel to him, on a gallows, he destroyed him, and bestowed all his authority upon the wise Mordecai. The divine Gregory therefore says that Esther, by adorning herself, saved the whole nation; for she struggled not to deceive, but to save souls. Judith did this as well when Holofernes was besieging the city with a great force, going out and surrendering herself to the enemies, and having adorned herself, she slew Holofernes through deception and found salvation for her fellow tribesmen.

293 Write of the eyes of the harlot Jezebel, wild… 294 Wash yourself, indeed, of the harlots with the blood of a brothel.

This is Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, of whom we made mention in the narrative concerning the prophet Elijah. She was still reigning after Ahab had died and Elijah had been translated, having her son Joram as king of Israel; Elisha was prophesying at that time. It happened, then, that the princes had assembled in Ramoth-Gilead, among whom Jehu was sitting as one of the leaders. Elisha therefore sent his young servant to anoint Jehu as king in the midst of the princes; and having come, he says to him: "A word of the Lord for you, O prince of the army." He arose and went with him privately; and he says: "Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you as king over Israel." And having said this, he went away. Those who were there were inquiring what the word might be; but Jehu says: "The man is a madman, he says such and such things to me." But they turned among themselves (for the Lord, he says, changed their hearts), and they cried out each one, and rising up, they anointed him. And Jehu reigned in Ramoth, and he put to death all... ^C

the priests of Baal, and pulled down the altars. But Joram, having heard this and seeing him coming on the chariot, and going out to meet him for battle, was struck, fell, and died. But Jezebel, being a harlot, painted her eyelids and changed her robe, and leaning out from the window, wished to charm Jehu; but he, passing by, saw her and commanded that she be thrown down from where she was looking out. And so, as she was scattered, the dogs licked up the blood, according to the prophecy of Elijah, in the portion of the field of Naboth where he had killed him; and the harlots washed themselves at the fountain with her blood.

POEM LXVI. To Olympias.

98 An inspired image of every word and deed for you, 99 A more feminine Chiron under the footsteps of marriage, 100 Which you received from your father and formed with noble morals, 101 Own sister to the great and blameless high priest 102 Amphilochius, whom I sent to God along with holy Thecla.

This is the Olympias who, according to John Chrysostom, was, in the times of Gregory the Theologian, a young woman—still a virgin—deemed worthy to hear his discourses. For this reason, she climbed to such a height of virtue that the choir of God-bearing men boasts of her as one of their own. For both the divine Basil and Gregory, his brother, make mention of Olympias, praising her with many encomiums, as one may hear from Gregory of Nyssa in the book of his discourses *On the Beatitudes*. Since she was thus deemed worthy of the discourses of the great Gregory the Theologian when she was about to be joined in marriage to a man (for she was compelled to do this by her parents—since they were among those who were preeminent in wealth and station almost everywhere under the sun), she nevertheless did not neglect the divine teachings. ^A For this reason, the Theologian wrote this poem to her, Olympias being experienced in all wisdom, as to how she ought to approach marriage and live with her husband. Having therefore sufficiently instructed her, he brings forward as a model the sister of Amphilochius, the bishop of the Iconians. She was wise in all things and shone with virtues according to God; or rather, she had also received Olympias from her tenderest years and molded her in solemn habits. He calls her a "more feminine Chiron," boasting of her through the paradigm regarding Achilles. For when he was born, he was entrusted by his mother Thetis to Chiron the Hippocentaur, to be his foster-father and teacher at once. ^B Chiron, therefore, having taken Achilles, mounted him on his hindquarters according to the equestrian custom, and trained him in the arts of war, and especially taught him archery; whom he also fed with the marrow of deer and other animals. For this reason he was called Achilles, having not partaken (*a* = not; *cheilos* = lip/pasture) of the lip—for "lip" is what one calls the grass-like food. Therefore, he calls the sister of Amphilochius a "more feminine Chiron," in that she was preeminent among women, having received Olympias from her father and having molded her in solemn habits. For as Chiron, being experienced in the arts of war, made Achilles such as he was by his training, so too she, being a worker ^C and teacher of virtues according to God, displayed Olympias as such—bringing up and training so great a student by means of great teachers; so that one might mention the ancient saying, that the disciples of great teachers will also be great. For just as a soft

^A material receives the impression of a basket, so truly do the ways and habits of the teachers, according to which, whether the students happen to be sluggish or alert, they are re-molded. To this Olympias, Seleucus was a nephew, to whom Amphilochius wrote an iambic letter, as if out of habit, both encouraging and rousing the young man toward words, in which at the end he makes mention of Olympias, saying thus in wonder: "An image of majesty and of the practice of purity, An ensouled copy of faith, and a seal, Call your nurse Olympias."

Divine Gregory says that he sent Amphilochius along with the renowned Thecla. For she had passed away before him, belonging to his lineage; he was bishop of the Iconians, from whence the victorious disciple of Paul set out—I mean Thecla, the chaste and beautiful-virgin martyr. ^B

SPEECH LXVII. SPEECH LXVIII. On Virtue, by verses.

23 "Come, Alpheus, great wonder, sweet stream, even if it is not mixed." The Alpheus is a river of Arcadia. Arcadia is a city (region) of the Peloponnese; and there is a spring in the island of Sicily, Arethusa by name. It is said, then, that the river fell in love with the spring of Arethusa, and having fallen in love, it crossed the sea and appears again in Sicily beside the spring, not having mixed with the salt water of the sea, but keeping the water pure for the beloved. And since we have made mention of Arcadia, it is good also to cite the Arcadian question according to Homer; for the divine Gregory also makes mention of this in his ^C Invective against Julian: Homer, the poet, having traveled through Arcadia, encountered some fishermen who were infested with lice, and he asked them thus: "Men of Arcadia, fishermen, have we caught anything?" The meaning of this question is this: "Men of Arcadia, fishermen by trade, did we catch anything?" And the fishermen answered this verse; and Homer was blind in his sight; and the fishermen say: "What we have caught, we have left behind; and what we have not caught, we are carrying." The meaning of the verse is this: "The lice which we caught, we do not have; but those which we were not able to catch, we are carrying in our clothes." And Homer did not understand what was being said, and having remained there a short while, he died from grief. They say also that the prophecy had been given to him before this, that whenever a question was proposed to him and he could not find it, he would die at that time. They say also concerning Aristotle, that he was a student of Plato, and although he especially applied himself to the physical part of philosophy, he was diligent in explaining the causes and natures of all things beneath the celestial bodies, such as of earth, sea, air, aether, animals, plants, rains, snow, earthquakes, comets, of everything simply. This man, then, having investigated the nature of all things, he was enslaved also to explain the nature of the Euripus; and not being able to grasp it, he threw himself into this part of the sea, having cried out this: "Since Aristotle did not capture the Euripus, let the Euripus capture Aristotle"; and thus Aristotle died. The Euripus is a place of the sea between the island of Euboea and Attica, which changes seven times of the day; the water in this part changes by retreating and, as it were, being swallowed, and again being vomited back, and the water being replenished ^D again as it was; and this happens, as I have said, as...

seven times each day. The divine Gregory says, therefore, in his *Invectives*, that both Homer and Aristotle are dead in a common way; for Homer died because of the Arcadian question, and Aristotle because of the puzzle of the Euripus.

POEM XXIX. POEM XXX. On Himself (1)

21 And harlots hold the reasons; but the sword, [alas, alas, 22 Who shall sharpen Phinees with harlot-slaying palm? 23 Zealous in soul and name.]

We have already spoken concerning the Moabites and Ammonites in the twelfth poem, in which we recounted the history concerning the necromancer Balaam and Balac the son of Beor, having made mention of the zeal of Phinees; but now it is a suitable time to set forth more broadly regarding this matter. When the sons of Israel were coming up from Egypt, the Moabites, having come into their land, set forth their daughters, adorned, for the purpose of seduction; and the people poured themselves out and committed fornication with them, and they were initiated into Beelphegor, their god. A great slaughter, therefore, occurred among the people, and the wrath having been kindled, the people perished, struck in an invisible manner. Phinees, therefore, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, having seen according to a certain account an Israelite entering in (Zambri was his name), and the daughter of a prince of Madian, being moved with zeal, taking the spear, pierced both of them as they were upon one another, having driven the spear through the belly, as it is said; and thus it happened that the slaughter was stopped, Phinees having made expiation, as David sings: *And Phinees stood, and made expiation, and the slaughter ceased, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness*; God having testified that he was appeased by the zeal of Phinees. Therefore the divine Gregory says, "Alas, alas," lamentably, that the harlot-like arguments of the Arians, who divide the Trinity, hold sway, and there is no Phinees to exterminate their fornication with the harlot-slaying argument of piety; for even when he himself had departed from the royal city, the impious man was lifting up his eyebrow.

24 And ^A who shall ward off the dogmas 25 By which Hebrews are unjustly struck? 26 Shall Moses suddenly destroy the Egyptian tale?

We have spoken broadly concerning Moses in the second poem: Moses, having seen one of his own brothers, of the sons of Israel, being struck by an Egyptian, became zealous and struck the Egyptian, providing him with a termination to his most wicked conduct, and finding for those who were about to suffer the same manner of thing at his hands an immediate release as a redemption. The God-inspired Gregory, therefore, as we have said before, having been exiled from Constantinople, and having learned that those who were the shield-bearers of impiety were murmuring again and trampling upon the pious dogmas, says by way of digression: "Who shall sharpen Phinees against the harlot-like argument? Who, according to Moses, shall aid the Hebrew dogmas—that is, the pious and genuine ones—by causing the Egyptian argument to vanish, that is, the dark and shadowed one, which is far removed from the divine light?" For Gregory does not say: "I am present, who alone having received the power from God am able to do this, and possess it"; nor, he says, is anyone able to acquire such glory among the great crowd—so great was the power and boldness of the man, thundering in his speech and lightning in his actions; for these things were not said by him in vain. For it is marked that from generation to generation Moses, Phinees, and Elias are held in high esteem by Scripture...

^A being pointed out with the finger; and Gregory alone, shining forth beyond all others by his discourse, possesses great glory, being admired by all in the Church of God.

35 Nor as the much-wandering stream of the Euripus 36 Should he turn this [faith] hither and thither, flowing.

Who, he says, will guard the faith unchangeable, ^B by no means himself turning it this way and that in the manner of the wandering streams of the Euripus? For the Euripus is a place of the sea between Euboea and Attica, etc. Who then, says the divine Gregory, could keep the faith unchangeable, by not becoming like the Euripus?

63 For indeed you bound the great one before, ^C [but you were subdued]. 64 As the great judge of the games crowned him, 65 And set his victory as a proclamation renowned. 66 And he gave him everything to have in double, having scattered [his goods].

Job was a certain just and wealthy man, whom the devil, having requested for a trial, caused him to lose his property and his sons in vain, and afflicted him with a most grievous disease. But because he endured it thankfully, the devil was defeated; and God, having made his victory renowned, honored his own servant with everything in double.

69 I am, among the dead, a new Lazarus; but cry, 70 Awake, and may the corpse live by your words.

71 I am a young man [delivered] from limb-loosening disease, but cry, 72 Be set firm, and I shall walk, bearing my bed on high.

73 I steal a remedy for your tresses with my hands, but the stream 74 Of blood ceased its speed in the withering flesh.

75 But toward you I bow down, my lot, like the Cananaean [woman], ^D 76 Having a curved body, but raise me up, O King.

There was a certain Canaanite woman whose daughter was grievously possessed by a demon. Having approached Christ and asking for salvation, she received the gift, [He] having said that it was not right to put aside the children and give the bread to the little dogs. But since she was rolling at the feet of Christ, being persuasive and full of faith, [saying] that even the dogs enjoy the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters, Jesus, having testified that He had not found so much faith in Israel [as in her], granted the grace, not only delivering the little daughter from the demonic affliction, but also making her herself formidable to the demons.

77 But since sleep is sweet to you, yet most quickly 78 Awake, and may the surge cease at your words.

Christ, when the disciples were sailing, indulged in sleep in the boat. But because violent winds and sea waves were crashing against the hull, the disciples standing around awakened Jesus; who, arising, rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was immediate calm.

86 Nor do hairs possess slight strength.

Regarding those who have long beards and drag their tunics and who are effeminate in their humble manner of clothing, the divine Gregory, wanting to mock them, says: If you have acquired a great beard, O fellow, and you speak a barbarous tongue and are an utter simpleton, yet to those who see you, you are an angel. But this, he says, let it be a sufficient possession toward virtue for him who desires it. And the power of hair is said to be great, just as that of Samson, who tore a lion as if it were a kid, and thousands were capable of being taken who did not withstand the strength of his hands; and the gates of the city were tossed about, carried on his back; and the bars were shattered, and the bolts were torn out from the earth, and the enclosures were pulled down, with no one resisting the force of his hands.

^A Samson the Nazirite accomplished all this by the benefit of his hair. But if any magistrate among the people seeks office, and wishes to be held in honor by all, let him remember that a long beard, a tunic trailing on the ground, and a belt contribute most to this. Let there be added a pallor of the cheeks, a neck slightly bowed, a thin voice, flatteries that are all but canine, a countenance servile toward his masters, a demeanor more than modest, witty and brief sayings, and the semblance of learning; let there also be added, for the sake of delight, delicate metaphors. For he who delights in such things, will he ever come to his senses? All these are sepulchers filled with decaying corpses. For while the heaven, adorned with stars, is looked upon by the blind with worldly eyes, then he is proclaimed the greatest archangel of the bodiless spirits.

CARMEN LXXV. To the Beloved.

Who shall place ^B a flaming sword in my paradise? Who shall provide a guardian for great virginity? God has ordained a flaming sword turning to guard the way of the tree of life, having driven out the forefather from the possession of delight. And you will find the history related in the second poem; but the divine Gregory says that virginity is compared to the divine paradise: "Who shall place a guard for my paradise?" that is, for the godlike virginity, so that no one may run and rob the fruit prematurely.

"Avoid all that is male," and especially "the associate." O virgin, heed me, "the bitter water of Marah." The divine Gregory compares the life of the "associate" to the bitter water of Marah; for the spring of Marah gave forth a bitter stream. And this history is found in the third poem.

CARMEN LXXVII. CARMEN LXXVIII. That one may also play with gravity.

"O ye Heliconians, and laurels, and the frenzies of the tripods." ^C The superficial meaning assumes the Heliconians to be those who whirl about in a circle. For when people laugh, some bend themselves in a disorderly fashion, and when playing, they leap indecorously, and as they dance, they spin around. And Helice is a city of Boeotia in which there was much indecency. He speaks of "laurels" as if from the maiden who was loved by Apollo, signifying, I think, the dissipation arising from indecent laughter, and the irrational frenzy. And the "frenzies of the tripods" surely refers to leaping upon the tripod; for the story holds that the oracular lots leap upon the tripod.

CARMEN LXXIX. To Philagrius and concerning patience.

"Great is the glory of Epictetus among those of old. ^D There is Anaxarchus; of whom the one, having his leg broken, did not care, and the other, holding his hands together, being beaten, cried out: 'Crush the pouch.'" Epictetus was a philosopher. He had his leg bound by the Lacedaemonian tyrant, and his leg was shattered; later the tyrant wished to release him. So he asked him thus: "Do you wish, O Epictetus, that I release you?" And he replied: "Why? Am I bound?" implying that his soul was not bound. Hence it is said that man is not the body, but the soul. Likewise, Anaxarchus was a philosopher; he, having been seized by the tyrant Archelaus and thrown into a mortar, was crushed.

But while being crushed he said this: "Crush the pouch of Anaxarchus, for you do not crush Anaxarchus," hinting, as a philosopher is wont to do, that he took no account of the body. The divine Gregory, therefore, for the sake of Philagrius, who was suffering severely for a long time in his body and taking no account of it, brought forward these present histories, showing the nobility of Philagrius’s soul; for he, though suffering, worn out by sickness, and with his body ruined, was nonetheless brave and strong in his soul.

POEM 80, POEM 81, POEM 82. On the Giant Builder.

Another built the seventy-gated wall for Babylon’s chariots, Another built the pyramids of Egypt. And one crossed the sea on foot, and through the land of Thrace led well-decked ships.

The divine Gregory makes mention of these in his funeral oration for the divine Basil, saying verbatim the following: "What are the seven-gated Thebes to me, and the Egyptian pyramids, and the Carian tomb of Mausolus, and the immeasurable bronze of the Colossus, and the magnitudes and beauties of temples, which are nothing?" ^A Now, concerning the tomb of Mausolus and the temples, it will be spoken of as the discourse proceeds, for he mentions these verbatim in what follows regarding the tomb-robbers. But concerning the seven-gated Thebes, and the pyramids, and the walls, we must say: The seven-gated ^B ones are those of Greece, which were built by Amphion and Zethus to the sound of the lyre. But the Egyptian Thebes are hundred-gated; it was the greatest of old, and so great as to have a hundred gates. The Babylonian walls are said to be most strong; for they were built of baked brick and bitumen, and having a width so great that chariots could even run upon them; and they also have much length and a large circumference. ^C But the pyramids, also, are sights worthy to be seen, built in Egypt; which pyramids we Christians say are the granaries of Joseph, where he stored the grain of the seven years of plenty. For they are houses of extreme size, crowded with enclosures worthy to be admired; but the Greeks say they are the tombs of the kings, of whom Herodotus is one. The Colossus, moreover, is the bronze statue once standing in Rhodes, most marvelous, of immense size, having—as some ^D say—a height of eighty cubits and a width of twelve. The Agarenes, plundering Romania, pulled down this statue during the times of that Constantine who was killed in Syracuse of Sicily. No one is said, with truth, to have crossed the sea on foot, except Moses and the sons of Israel, and that when it was split in two; but Christ, and Peter with Christ so willing, came walking on foot through the waves. And as for dragging ships across dry land in Thrace, many have done so before, but Constantine the Younger also did it, having driven the ships across the dry land. For there is a place in Thrace having a dry space of six miles, separating the seas; whence Thrace is easily accessible to the Goths; and Gothia is adjacent to the Thracians; and the Goths, coming over, cross to the Thracians in their own ships (these are monoxyla—dugout canoes); and the Thracians often drag their own ships from there across dry land to Gothia. There is a great circuit for those passing through the narrow sea, whether they are going up or going down to that point; for the sea is narrow which leads through Abydos (this is a city of the Troad) to Constantinople, and thence sends them on to the Pontic Sea.

So then, says the divine Gregory, such a giant, being a stonemason, having shaken mountains, prepared for me a garden irrigated without water; he points toward the useful pattern of virtue.

POEM LXXXIII. On the sophist Prohaeresius.

harmonic art, or the speeches of his own sophist Proaeresius, ^A which are borne about like thunder throughout Greece; and having contemplated them as newly thundering, he says these things.

POEM LXXXIV, POEM LXXXV. To Martinianus.

If any Tantalus is present in unfaithful waters, If any stone [is] forever frightening [him] above his head.

Tantalus was a son of Zeus. This man, as the Greeks ^B say, was deemed worthy of the table of the gods, and having been deemed worthy, he revealed their mysteries, and is punished for this with such a punishment: In the places of judgment beneath the earth, he stands having a stone above him, and below, much water and fruit-bearing plants, and the stone has been lifted against him. If, therefore, he wishes to drink from the water lying nearby, the stone falls upon him, and he is punished. Thus, therefore, he wastes away with hunger and thirst, seeing what he ought to eat and drink, ^C but being unable to do so because of the stone poised over him. The divine Gregory also mentions these things elsewhere, saying: "To be persuaded by the myth, to wither with thirst in the midst of the water."

He mentions this also elsewhere, saying the liver is devoured by birds; this is the history concerning Prometheus. This Prometheus is said to have stolen fire from the gods and brought it to men, and because he deceived Zeus concerning the meat of the sacrifice, he provoked a double anger. Zeus, therefore, wishing to punish him, made an eagle devour his liver; and it devoured ^D the liver by day, but by night it was replaced, and again the eagle would come and eat it, until Heracles arrived and shot this bird with an arrow. And he says it is unaging, as we said, because by being filled throughout every night, the liver of Prometheus was devoured every day. The divine Gregory mentions these four stories in one place in the second of his Invective Orations: I mean, that concerning Tantalus, in which he says that he withers even with the waters at his chin, because he touches the water with his beard, but, burning with thirst, he is unable to drink because of the fear of the stone poised above; likewise, the turning of Ixion, concerning which it has been spoken by us in the discourse On the Soul—that Ixion, having fallen in love with Hera, is bound to a wheel by Zeus and is perpetually revolved, and is punished in this way; then also concerning Prometheus, that, having stolen the fire and deceived Zeus regarding the meat of the sacrifice, his liver is perpetually eaten by an eagle.

And Tartarean nooks and wild-spirited demons. And a fiery river and unending gloom,

He speaks concerning Phlegethon and the gloom and Tartarus and Cocytus and Acheron in the fourteenth poem. Plato the philosopher also discoursed about these in the Phaedo.

And other punishments of the dead in Hades.

Tityus is said to have fallen in love with Leto, and having fallen in love with her, he grabbed her by the head-dress. But Artemis and Apollo, being the children of Leto, shot him with arrows and killed him; and now, he says, he has the arrows pierced in him in Hades and is punished. And this is what the divine Gregory says: "And other punishments of the dead in Hades."

How fearful are the scourges of unholy souls: This one brings iron with my stones, This one to me, alas alas, where is the stone of Sisyphus?

539 COSMAS HIEROSOLYMITANUS. Sisyphus, a crafty man and one who committed many sins against Zeus, as the myth tells, showed his daughter to the river Asopus, whom Zeus had carried off. He binds Death for a long time; and since no one was dying for such a long time, Death, once released, takes him away. Having become one in Hades, he suffered this punishment: Zeus commanded him to roll a great stone up to a certain hillock; and the stone, once it had reached the top of the mound, would roll down again until it reached the plain; and Sisyphus, dragging it up again, endured a never-ending punishment with great labor.

ORATION LXXXVII, ORATION LXXXVIII. On Euphemius.

^A The Graces to the Muses: "What shall we say? Is Euphemius no longer an image of our hands among mortals?" And the Muses to the Graces: "Since envy is... mischievous."

^B The Graces are three: Pasithea, Peitho, and Irene. The Muses are nine, from Zeus and Mnemosyne: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Urania, and Calliope, who also excels all. They say that Homer, the poet of the Greeks, is her son, who is distinguished among them above all others. They say that these are the guardians of all music; hence everything musical is considered pleasant, and he who is skilled in such things is "Muse-breathed," and he who is very handsome is "Muse-fashioned."

^C Callimus of the desires of Euphemias, as even though dead, Callimus, this place is the Elysian field. The divine Gregory mentions the Elysian fields in his discourse *On the divine Basil*, saying word for word thus: "Minos and Rhadamanthus, whom the Greeks honored with asphodel meadows and Elysian fields, are nothing." Plato the philosopher, in his *Phaedo*, having spoken of Tartarus, Pyriphlegethon, Cocytus, and Acheron, and that the wicked must be punished there, speaks also of the asphodel meadows and Elysian fields, ^D that such a place will receive those who have lived in virtue. Elysium, then, is the name of the place, as if "an-lysion" (unbinding) or "apo-lysion" (releasing). As for asphodel, it is the name of a certain plant that has not a bad smell and a very pleasant flower. The Greeks, then, say that Minos and Rhadamanthus were transferred to this place because they were pious. For these are said to be sons of Zeus, of whom Minos was a lawgiver, having received the art of legislation from his father; and Rhadamanthus was a just judge, having learned justice from his father; for this reason they honor them in such places after death. But the divine Gregory, wishing to exalt Basil the Great, who shone with true virtues, even beyond those of outsiders, says that Minos and Rhadamanthus, whom the Greeks admired so much for their piety that they mythologized such a place for them—I mean the Elysian and asphodel meadow—are nothing in comparison to him. And indeed the divine Gregory calls Euphemius, being young and excelling in many virtues, the most beautiful in those places; and the place is Elysian, that is to say, pleasant at once and second to none of those ever admired.

ORATIONS LXXXIX, XC, XCI, XCII, XCIII, XCIV, XCV, XCVI, XCVII, XCVIII. On Caesarius his brother.

If a tree has set someone in a glow, and if a stone, If some spring has flowed lamenting, Stones and rivers and trees, be sad, All, to Caesarius, neighbors and friends. Lamentation indeed turned the sisters of Phaethon into trees; he, being a son of the Sun, as the myth tells, mortal and having reached the plain, fell. Sisyphus, with repeated labor and an exhausted body, paid a sempiternal penalty.

[alt-version omitted]

CARMINA LXXXVII, LXXXVIII. Ad Euphemium. Graces are three, Pasithea, Pithon, Irene. Muses, daughters of Jove and Mnemosyne, are nine: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Urania, and first of all Calliope, whose son they say is Homer, who is greatly honored among the Greeks. They declare them all presidents of the liberal arts. Therefore, whatever is pleasant is thought to pertain to the Muses, whether someone be "Muse-breathed" or "Muse-fashioned."

Concerning the Elysian fields, divine Gregory says these things in his sermon *On Divine Basil*: That Minos and Rhadamanthus, whom the Greeks honor in flowering meadows and Elysian fields, are of no value. Plato the philosopher surely in the *Phaedo*, discoursing of Tartarus, of Pyriphlegethon, of Cocytus and Acheron, says that the wicked undergo punishments there; he speaks also of flowering meadows and Elysian fields as of a place that receives those who exercised virtue in life. Elysium, therefore, is the name of the place, as it were *an-lysion* or *apo-lysion*. As for the asphodel, it is the name of a plant producing a most pleasant flower of good odor. Into this place, therefore, the Greeks maintain that Minos and Rhadamanthus, as being upright men, were translated. They are, moreover, sons of Jove: Minos a legislator, having accepted the art of writing laws from his father; Rhadamanthus a just judge, as if instructed in justice by his father; wherefore mortals also venerate them there after death. Furthermore, Gregory, wishing to celebrate with praises Basil the Great, who had shone with all virtues, says: Nothing is Minos or Rhadamanthus when compared with him, whom the Greeks so venerated for the sake of virtue that they assigned to them the Elysian field and a meadow forever flowering. Gregory relates that Euphemius, an adolescent of most excellent form, stayed in those places. Moreover, the Elysian field is a place most pleasant and second to none in its beauty.

CARMINA LXXXIX-XCVIII. In Caesarium fratrem. Lamentation changed into trees the sisters of Phaethon, who, being a mortal son of the Sun and blooming in age, asked his father

that he might borrow his fiery chariot. But being unskilled in the art of driving the chariot, and failing to execute the journey according to the proper order, he was struck by Zeus with a thunderbolt and cast down, or, as others say, he was consumed by the boundless flame of the fiery chariot. His sisters mourned him pitifully; Zeus, having pity on them, changed them into poplars. It is said that even after being turned into trees, they weep amber in the Pactolus river. Niobe, having had six sons and six daughters, boasted against Leto, since she herself had borne twelve to Zeus, while Leto had borne only two. On account of which Leto’s children, Apollo and Artemis, being angered, killed her children. And she was possessed by grief. Zeus, pitying her, buried them, but changed her into stone, from whose eyes, they say, fountains of tears flow even to this day.

CARMINA XCIX, C. To the Father.

CARMEN CI. To the Mother.

^ASarah, wise, honoring her own dear husband. Sarah has been testified to have honored Abraham, as Peter the apostle says, that Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. For when the promise regarding Isaac came to her, being under the tent and hearing the angels who had been entertained by them speaking about her conception, she laughed and said: "It has not yet happened to me until now, and my master is an old man." Therefore she also denied it afterward, having been afraid, saying, 'I did not laugh.' But nevertheless, at the proper time, in the season, she bore Isaac."

^BBut you, Anna, even prayed and bore a dear son. And to the temple you gave a chaste attendant, Samuel. The mother of Samuel, Anna, having prayed to God and borne Samuel, offered him; but Nonna also, the mother of the divine Gregory, both bore him after praying, and offered this great archpriest to God.

^CBut the other received the great Christ into her bosom. Another Anna is the mother of the Theotokos, who, having conceived Mariam through prayer, received into her bosom Him who is truly the great God, Christ, through her in a human way. The mother of Christ, therefore, is Mary the Theotokos, and the mother of Mary is Anna, and her father is Joachim.

^DEmpedocles, I have immediately taught you as someone alive, And the craters of Aetna’s fire showed you a mortal. Empedocles, wishing to acquire for himself the reputation of a god, cast himself into the fire being sent up from Aetna and perished. The story lies in the 60th discourse.

But Nonna did not leap into the craters, but at the table Here, praying, she had a pure sacrifice raised up from it. And now she among pious women turns back, Susanna, Mariam, and the Annas, a bulwark of women. Susanna, being chaste, escaped the most lawless hands Of unbridled priests. It lies in the 3rd discourse. And Mariam is the sister of Moses and Aaron.

who, after the crossing of the Red Sea and the complete overthrow of the Egyptians, having taken the timbrel, led all the Israelite women, dancing and singing the song of victory: "Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been gloriously magnified." And Anna is the mother of Samuel, who, having given birth, offered thanks to the Lord, saying, "My heart has been strengthened in the Lord." Gregory compares his own mother to these women, since, having prayed at the divine table, she was released from the life of this present time.

^A O Hercules, O Empedotimus, O Trophonius, cease your myths, And you, too, O Aristaeus, with your vaunted arrogance, unbeliever.

These histories lie in the 64th discourse.

^B Nonna did not offer shadow-like sacrifices of calves to God, Nor of goats, nor firstborn offerings. These were for former laws, when they were but images; but she Gave herself entirely to life and to death.

God, in laying down the law, commanded Moses to offer to God the sacrifice of calves, of goats, and the ransoms of firstborns; but Gregory says that these were necessary for those living under the shadow. Now, however, Nonna has, as it were, perfected herself, having consecrated both herself, her husband, and her child to God.

Faith of Enoch ^C translated him, and Elijah. It lies in the 2nd discourse.

Abraham offered a great sacrifice to God, But Jephthah offered his daughter, both [great].

The story of the sacrifice of Abraham lies in the 1st discourse. The account of the sacrifice of Jephthah is as follows: Jephthah was born to him from a harlot; he was a man ambidextrous, wise, and full of the divine Spirit and power. His brothers, being jealous, dishonorably cast him out as the son of a harlot, depriving him of his paternal inheritance; and he, arising, settled in a foreign land. After no long time, war arose from the Ammonites, and they were present to do harm to Israel. Being terrified and becoming trembling, they implored Jephthah to act as an ally for them. He, however, knowing well how to resist wickedness, but not to yield readily to those who had dishonored him, replied appropriately and as was right: "For you," he says, "have hated me and cast me out from among you, and now in the time of your necessity you say, 'Come and fight our battle.'" They, feeling shame before his words, and understanding them, and recognizing that he was indeed capable for the war, nevertheless softened him with gentle terms, promising that he would rule over the whole of Israel after the war. ^D Having been persuaded, therefore, and having arrived at the battle, the enemies were turned to flight by force. But it was in his vow that he would consecrate to God the first of his kin who should meet him on his return. He had an only daughter, a virgin, who was exceedingly beautiful, who went out to meet her father with joy and timbrels, leading all the others. And he, having groaned heavily and painfully from the depths, said: "Woe to me, daughter, you have stood before me as a stumbling block; for I opened my mouth to the Lord concerning you, and now you have become a stumbling block in my eyes; for I shall not be able to transgress my vow." But the young woman, with unburdened purpose and strength of soul, said: "If you have fulfilled, father, the promise for whose sake the Lord crushed the enemies under your hands, do this for me." A little later, having asked to go with her companions to lament her virginity in the mountains for forty days along with the virgins of Israel, she was, by her father's hand, consecrated to God.

^A Dear Sarah, why did you abandon your Isaac, yearning to reach the bosom of Abraham with such speed? He calls her his own mother, because he was born to her according to a promise, like Isaac, and was consecrated to God. The bosom of Abraham is said to be the place where the poor man rests. The history of the bosom of Abraham is set forth in the first poem.

^B A stele for you, ^C and a table of sweet-tasting death, Nonna, beside which you were released, praying, from the waves. It should be known that the discourse proceeds by way of encomiastic themes, such as race, education, and actions. For if anyone is not noble, or wise, or virtuous, he is blameworthy in the eyes of all. A stele is a perpetual record for both those who have done well and those who have done the opposite, just as the Athenians set up a stele against Arithmius of Zeleia, because he corrupted the Greeks with money to submit more readily to the Persian, branding both him and his entire race with infamy, and granting impunity in their decree to anyone wishing to kill him, inscribing as well the cause on the stele, which was a reproach to him: that he brought the gold of the hundred Medes into the Peloponnese. Likewise, the good deeds of benefactors were inscribed on stelae, as the benefaction of Leucon the Bosporan, who was a ruler, was recorded in Athens. The divine Gregory says that the death of his own mother was worthy of a stele, not as one might assume, a stele as a reproach, but so that the praise might be laid up for eternity. A stele is a stone or a piece of bronze, elongated and square, on which that which is written is inscribed, just as he says in the discourse *Against Grave-Robbers*: "Inscribe a death-bringing stele in return," or signifying that it is well to write here.

POEMS 102–114. Against Grave-Robbers

The seven wonders of the world are these: the wall, the statue, The gardens, the pyramids, the temple, the statue, the tomb.

The wall is that of Babylon, which we said was traversed by chariots; others say it is the Capitol of Rome. For it is a great structure surrounded by fortifications, in which there are multitudes of figures, and there was once a sign for each of these; for they say that bells hung from the hand of each. A figure represented every nation, which, he says, signified by means of the bell the movement—sometimes martial—of that nation. There are many other wonders in Rome worthy of note. Others say there is a structure in Heraclea near the amphitheater, in which there is a very beautiful and marvelous building; and it has something more. For at the highest point of any corner of the wall, if someone secretly whispers a word to the stone by himself, they say that one standing on the other side hears the speech clearly. The statue is the bronze image in the Colossus of what is called Rhodes, being of immense size, which the Hagarenes threw down when they came to it; this was said to be eighty cubits tall. The gardens are those of Alcinous and Adonis; Alcinous was king of the Phaeacians, a man who was hospitable and splendid, both in his houses and his gardens and his feasts; for the table of Alcinous was most rich and munificent. Pyramids are what we call the grain-stores of Joseph, which are a short distance from the Babylon of Egypt. The temple is the one in the city of Cyzicus; for this is great and worthy of wonder, which was formerly founded for Apollo, and by him was prophesied...

^A that it would belong to Mary, to whom in both fact and name it refers. Yet one might deem the temple at Constantinople to be more magnificent than these ancient spectacles.

Again, there is the statue of Bellerophon at Smyrna, which is set upon a chariot and protrudes from the wall toward the sea; the horse Pegasus is held back a little behind the foot, often following with a gently moving hand, yet advancing with force, remaining firm and unshaken. ^B There is also the tomb of Mausolus among the Carians, concerning which more shall be said presently. There are also many other more recent things, which men deem worthy of wonder: the Seven-Gated Thebes, which Amphion and Zethus built with the sound of the lyre; and the hundred-gated Thebes; and the Pharos of Alexandria, which they claim is supported by four glass pillars—if this be true—and other things of this kind that exist in buildings, temples, statues, enclosures, baths, public granaries, and various other works.

Mausolus’s tomb is immense, but it is honored among the Carians, as no hand there is guilty of tomb-desecration. ^C The tomb of Mausolus the Carian is very great: for Mausolus was a tyrant of Caria. Caria is a very large province next to the Asian territory, extending as far as the Troad. This Mausolus, then, built for himself a most costly tomb in a certain mound and marshy lake, with the sepulcher lying within. It is written as "Carian tomb," so that it is possessive; and it is also written as "of the Carian," so that "Carian tomb" refers to the nationality of Mausolus the Carian. For thus the divine Gregory, in his oration on Basil the Great, says in the possessive sense: "And Mausolus’s Carian tomb."

At Cnidus, there is another tomb, called that of Timon. This man was rich on his ancestors’ account, but having been left an orphan while still short and young, he squandered his ancestral wealth ^D by associating with parasites. Later, however, having become impoverished, he was mocked by those same men who had consumed his assets. But then, having become wealthy again, as they were accustomed to attach themselves to him and exalt him with flattering words, crying out in a friendly manner, "Hail, Lord Timon," he took it upon himself to answer them: "Hail, Timon, hail, Lord Timon, hail, Lord Much-Timon, hail, my purse"—signifying by this that honor is given in proportion to wealth and intelligence, and knowing that flatterers fawn only so long as wealth flows and provides them with luxury. For when the former benefactor becomes poor, they are the very ones who are the causes of his misfortunes.

The tomb of this Timon, therefore, is at Cnidus, a memorial of his prudence. There is also another tomb in Calabria, of a decapitated admiral. They say this man first pointed out the passage of the Faro at Catania, through the strait flowing between Sicily and Calabria. Sailors honor his tomb, which is raised on high, by performing certain lamp-lightings around it, and feasting with great joy.

Pillars and toil in the mountains, works of the giants.

Turning to those who rob tombs, the divine Gregory contrasts these wondrous works, stating that while these are sung of as marvels, no one has ever shown a work of wonder by tearing down any tomb—so that the wonder is new to those who badly apply themselves. He therefore adds to the wonders of life the pillars...

^A that Hercules received from the inhabitants of Gades, and it is a wondrous thing that it is possible to reach a boundary not beyond the pillars of Hercules—that is, of Gades; but the works of the giants concern the Molionidae. For Molione having borne two sons, Otus and Ephialtes, who grew each year by one cubit in length and one span in width, it is said that these became insolent and exceedingly arrogant, and having plotted to place Ossa upon Athos, they dared to set themselves against the gods from the heavens. Ossa, therefore, and Athos are two mountains in Thrace, which, as the myth declares, they planned to pile one upon the other, and thinking by means of them to ascend into the heavens, they were struck by lightning and perished. These works of the giants in the mountains the divine Gregory says are complete; but upon those the thunderbolt came in place of their daring—would that the same justice had befallen the tomb-robbers!

Why ^B did Cyrus, the king of kings, when he opened the tomb, find on it only this golden inscription: "Only an insatiable hand opens tombs"? A certain king of the ancients, having built a tomb for himself, confirmed by many means that it was full of gold; but his purpose was to brand the insatiability of whoever would open it in the hope of gold. Nothing was laid up in the tomb except for an inscription, and this was written: "It is for an insatiable hand to open tombs." Cyrus, therefore, the king, being enticed by the splendor of the appearance of the tomb from the outside, as if for wealth, opened the tomb; but having found none of what he had hoped for, and having found the inscription as a refutation of his own greed, he became in the mouths of all a byword for insatiability. "As if for a bounty, Justice has abandoned the earth." ^C This story we have set forth in the third *Logos*; it concerns Hercules Buthoenas, Theodamas the ploughman, and the Dryopes.

"He went into Hades; one fled, another wove a house for his son." ^D He mentions again those things that are thought by men to be wondrous, as he has done with such a thing, [referring to] the man who broke open the tomb, although he is in the mouths of all for his disgrace. The one who went into Hades is Pirithous, who was called *apygos* ("tailless" or "buttockless"). For having gone down into Hades in order to snatch Persephone from Pluto, he was bound there below to certain rocks; but Hercules, having gone down desiring to take Pirithous, pulled him up, but his buttocks remained stuck to the rock; thus Pirithous was called *apygos*. He himself, then, as the myth says, went down into Hades, and was himself treated in this way, Hercules having pulled him. It is represented in myths that a dog exists by the gates of Hades, having three heads, who is also called *trikranos* and *trikerberos* (Cerberus). This one fawns upon and flatters those descending into Hades, but cruelly devours those ascending; for he is said to be the guardian of the gates of Hades. Hercules, therefore, having gone down to snatch Persephone away for Pirithous, killed him (the dog) upon leaving. And since we have brought to mind Pirithous, having called him *apygos* (for it is in the first *Steliteutikos Logos* concerning both the *apygoi* and...

the "black-butt" [melampygos] Hercules himself), it must be understood: for the account tells of two brothers who were showing forth injustice throughout the earth. One of them was called Passalus, and the other Aclemon; they were also called Cercopes on account of the sharpness of their deeds, as Diias the commentator says. Their mother, Temnonis by name, having seen that they were doing many terrible things upon the earth, told them not to encounter a "black-butt." And once, when Hercules was sleeping under a tree with his weapons leaned against the plant, these men approached and wished to lay hands upon the weapons; but Hercules, immediately perceiving this, took them, bound them head-over-heels upon a pole, and carried them off. Then, therefore, they remembered the command of their mother, having seen the butt of Hercules hanging down, dark from the thickness of the hair. And discussing this very thing among themselves, they offered much laughter to Hercules, and he at once redeemed them from their bonds and let them go. And he who built the woven basket for his son [1]... The one who killed the wild beasts is Hercules himself, as the myth supposes. Samson, the Nazarite of God, tore apart wild beasts; for he tore a lion with his hands as if it were a young goat. And David struck the lion, and holding it by the throat, strangled it while he was still a lad tending his father’s flock; and he struck the bear and strangled it, and snatched the prey from the middle of its jaws. And Benaiah the Kabasaelite, the son of David, also, having descended into a pit in the days of snow, strangled a lion while he was naked. Gold [2] indeed he showered upon the Lydians [3].

The present history is located in the 59th *Logos*, and you will find everything else that the present *Logos* mentions regarding the punishments in Hades—praying against the tomb-robbers—in the previously stated *Logoi*.

LOGOS CXV, LOGOS CXVI. On the Incarnation of Christ against Apollinarius [4].

The present *Logos* is dogmatic; it mentions the fashioning and transgression of Adam, the incarnation of Christ, and his sufferings for the common salvation of the race. These things are placed differently in the preceding works.

LOGOS CXVII. On Providence [5].

It must be understood that Epicurus the philosopher held the opinion that God does not provide for things here on earth; and this man set pleasure as the end of all good. And the modern commentators say that he defines pleasure—not the impure kind, but the most natural state—and the philosophers refute this man, both as one who does not state there is Providence, and as one who defines pleasure as the end of the good, rather than the first and only beauty, which is God. It must be noted that the divine Gregory calls God the first good, the final object of desire, and the difficult-to-desire. The children of the Greeks, however, cast out Providence, turning everything over to rotation and looking toward the stars and the effects [of the heavens], introducing fortune, births, and fateful destinies. Therefore, the divine Gregory, asserting that the removal of Providence is an insurrection against God, introduces David, Moses, and Elisha, saying this through iambics:

62 Let David persuade you of these, and Moses, 63 And Elisha, of whom I shudder to remember. 64 The one, chastened insufficiently for his transgressions, 65 And the other, having attained the vision of God for a little, 66 And the Law, and such a great army saved. 67 And that one, for a slight insult and to children 68 Imparted such a plague beyond expectation.

David was in part chastened for his transgressions when, having committed adultery with the wife of Uriah, he killed Uriah, suffering the same manner of thing at the hands of Absalom, his own son. For he brought low his father’s concubines and expelled him from the kingdom for a short time, driving him into foreign territory, as we recounted in the 63rd discourse. ^A Again, he is chastened for having numbered the people of Israel; for an angel from God went forth to break the people. For three things being proposed to him by God—either that the land should be destroyed by famine, or that he should be pursued and troubled by the hands of enemies, or that he should be subjected to death for three days—he committed himself into the hands of God; and he saw an angel with a drawn sword, bringing destruction. In the space of six hours, seventy thousand had fallen from Dan even to Beersheba; and it is likely the people would have been consumed had not David hastened to pray, turning aside the wrath, as though it were not right that the divine indignation should be brought upon the people for his own sin. And so he is said to have propitiated God with sacrifices brought forth from Zion near the threshing floor of Ornan, through all of which offerings he made God merciful and immediately checked the wrath. Moses is honored in reward for a small purpose, so much so that he was worthy to see God himself with visible eyes, and to receive the leadership of so great a multitude, and to serve God with great miracles, and ^B even to be called god to Pharaoh. For he did not show a spontaneous zeal by striking the Egyptian, but preferred to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to reign with the Egyptians. Thus Elisha, on account of a small insult—and because they meted out such inhumanity to the children for a very trifling matter—commanding bears from the thicket by his word, mercilessly tore the wretches to pieces. For they did nothing but mock him, shouting, "Go up, baldhead, go up!"—which was pardonable in the freedom of childhood—and yet they were immediately visited by such inhumanity, not because the prophet had paid heed to the insults of the children, but because he cut away the root of the wickedness about to sprout in them before the fruit could grow, which also served as the cause of their salvation. For no one, comparing these things, would say that they happened to me by some birth or destiny, nor would he entrust the rudders of the universe to the movement of the stars; but as the divine Gregory has demonstrated, ^C he shall leave Providence to God, and trust that the whole is steered and governed by the rudders of divine judgments.

DISCOURSE 118.

Rough Definitions (1).

The present discourse defines all things that exist, indicating the quality of each. It explains for what reason each thing happened to be named by such a name. Regarding the end, it makes mention of the Incarnation of Christ, beginning from the birth from the Virgin, and having become what he was according to us in each thing that he did, until his second glorious coming. And the histories lie in the things previously mentioned.

CARMEN CXIX. On Virtue.

^A From which are the eyebrows of the countenances like porticoes, And the Academies, and the coils of the Pyrrhonists, And the scrutiny, and the trivialities of the craftsmen in turn.

Xenocrates and Aristotle became disciples of Plato, and they succeeded to his school. Xenocrates founded the Stoic school, and Aristotle the Peripatetic school. There are definitions of philosophy, such as those from the underlying subject, from the end, from excellence, from etymology, and the rest; furthermore, there are the reputed discoverers of the definitions of philosophy, and how it is divided into theoretical and practical, and the one into physiological, mathematical, and theoretical; and the other into ethical, political, and economic. And some of these are divided into arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy, such as the mathematical; and into legislative and judicial, such as the political, and whatever followed them, introducing themselves. ^B And these are the Academies and the Pyrrhonist coils.

There are certain Pyrrhonist outlines concerning the scrutiny, such as regarding the arguments of the scrutiny, its names, its concepts, and its principles: whether the skeptic teaches dogmatically, whether he has a school, whether he investigates nature, whether he abolishes the phenomena, what is the criterion of the scrutiny, what is its end, what are the overall modes of suspension of judgment, what are the ten modes and what are the five, what are the skeptical utterances, what is the expression "nothing," what is "more," what is "obscurity," what is "it is permitted," and "perhaps," and "I suspend judgment," and "I define nothing," what is "everything is incomprehensible," that for every argument an equal argument is opposed, what is the skeptical path toward the philosophy of Heraclitus, if it differs at all from that of Democritus, ^C if the scrutiny differs at all from that of the Academies, if the experience according to medicine is the same as the scrutiny, whence one must begin the questioning against the dogmatists, what is the criterion, if there is a criterion of truth, what is that "by which," what is that "through which," what is the "universal," concerning the true and truth, if anything is true, what is the sign, or if there is any indicative sign, what is the demonstration, what are the active principles, what is God, what is the cause, and the art concerning life, what are the material principles, if bodies are comprehensible, what is judgment, what is motion, concerning changeable motion, concerning growth and diminution, concerning subtraction and addition, concerning transposition, concerning the whole and the part, concerning natural change, concerning generation and corruption, concerning place, concerning time, what is the ethical part, if there is anything that is this by nature, if there is any art concerning life, if it profits the one who possesses it, concerning number, what is by nature good and what is indifferent evil.

These, then, are the coils of the Pyrrhonist outlines; but the divine Gregory calls these trifles. ^D For they bring in Aristotle and Epicurus and others of the Stoics, as they have pronounced concerning the incomprehensible; again, Clitomachus and Carneades, and the rest of the questions of the Academics; then the skeptical ones in turn, concerning the three supreme philosophies—the dogmatic, the academic, and the skeptical—and from the fact that Pyrrho appeared, regarding the skeptical, to have approached the scrutiny more bodily and more conspicuously than those before him, which they also define as a power and a passion concerning those who consider. And it would be a long story to detail at length the trifles that follow, as many points as it is possible to doubt and to be at a loss, and to be enthusiastic and to be out of one's mind; all of which the divine Gregory declared to be the trifles of craftsmen.

218 Who does not hear of the Sinopian, the dog?

^A This man was a Cynic philosopher. They are called Cynics, as if by a metaphor from the dog; for they have a power to distinguish between their own associates and outsiders. This man embraced poverty to the highest degree; for he possessed not only a staff, but as a home, a portable jar out in the open in the middle of the city, and his food was whatever was at hand. Whether, therefore, it was this man, or one of the ancient Cynics, who approached the king and asked to receive some food—and the king, whether out of respect or testing him, gave him a talent of gold—the man, after accepting it, bought bread and threw away the excess, saying: "I needed to receive sustenance, not unedible arrogance." Whether this was Diogenes or someone else, we do not know. ^B Nevertheless, Diogenes also lived in a jar because of the cold, and during the day he would go out and approach the sun. Once, while he was warming himself, Alexander the Macedonian stood over him, obscuring the sun so that he could not warm himself, and said: "What do you wish that I might grant you, O Diogenes?" And he replied: "Move aside a little for me, so that I may get warm." And another, a philosopher named Sostates under the Ptolemies, was standing in a sunny spot, picking lice. When Ptolemy saw him from above from some high vantage point, he went down to take him to the palace. But Sostates, seeing him, went into a fragment of a jar that was lying there and hid himself from Ptolemy; and later, some maligned this man as unfortunate. But others say that Ptolemy himself uttered this iambic verse: ^C

"I desire a drop of luck rather than a jar of wisdom,"

implying that that jar was full of wisdom, yet because he was considered unfortunate, the abundance of wisdom benefited him not at all. But they have interpreted this incorrectly; for philosophy is the faculty of possessing wisdom which is far superior to all visible things. And the divine Gregory, indeed, praises the person who has attained philosophy in this way, for it has raised itself even above kingship by its reasoning.

228 Crates, in the same way, putting wealth beneath him, 229 Abandoned his substance, which was "sheep-grazed."

Crates was a Theban, by race a Boeotian. Wishing to philosophize in the Cynic fashion, he took his possessions and threw them to the people, proclaiming thus: "Crates frees the things of Crates, so that the things of Crates may not enslave Crates." And he left his fields to become "sheep-grazed." Now, "sheep-grazed" is a field in which sheep are released to graze; for sheep are called *mēla*, whence also "sheep-tending" (*mēlonamoi*) are shepherds, and an *mēlōtē* is the skin of a sheep.

236 They say the same man—though some say another ^D 237 Of those who philosophize with equal wisdom, 238 While sailing, as the surge grew wild, 239 And then the ship was burdened with cargo, 240 Willingly threw his wealth into the deep; 241 And it is worth recording the saying he added to this: 242 "Well done, O Fortune, my teacher of goods, 243 As I easily fold myself into my cloak."

They say it was the same Crates, though some say Antisthenes, and others Zeno—and these too were Cynic philosophers—but when one of these was sailing and a storm occurred and a shipwreck took place, bearing the poverty that would befall him with thanks, he spoke to Fortune: "Well done, O Fortune, I give thee thanks that thou hast reduced my substance to my cloak," as some of those things of his substance had been loaded onto the ship.

244 Another passed on his substance to his kin.

To yield one's substance to one's relatives seems a small thing to the many, even though it is very great. For the divine Gregory, as if it were something great, admires the man who has done this, as one can infer from the very sequence of events; for the majority, not knowing the philosophical life, as it is far superior to all visible things, are drawn toward those who appear fortunate according to the world, and indeed at the cost of these things...

[his] kin strive to hold the substance of that one, claiming that the philosopher ought not to lay claim to riches, and they find no few advocates of [this] folly.

It is not, therefore, of an ordinary virtue to despise being tyrannized, if indeed one might often be stronger than those able to be tyrants. The divine Gregory himself hints that he has suffered this, saying: "Before they receive something, they revere, but they hate having received," and again: "I was a match for the grasping hands of my enemies," and again: "The demon placed the spoils of the wicked in their hands." ^A The philosopher, then, would never be persuaded by being admonished by those who have not attained the same life of philosophy as he, even if it should seem that he hears the spoken advice well; for it is an insult to be admonished by those who are more subject to the passions. For if what is said is good, one ought to apply the useful [truth] to oneself; for it is the height of folly for those who are blind regarding the light to converse about it to others, and while encouraging others to recover their sight, to remain themselves in blindness.

245 Another who transcended these things as merely human, 246 Gathering all that he had into a single lump 247 Of gold, and having sailed into the deep, 248 Gives the arrogant deception to the abyss, 249 Since he ought not to provide for another that which is not good.

He, having sold his entire property and having gathered the gold into a single lump, having sailed into the middle of the sea, casts the lump of gold into the abyss, not having judged it fit to provide it to anyone else, so that he might not become a cause of evil to others; for he stated that the error arising from wealth is arrogance. ^B

276 Barley loaves and sesame cakes signify 277 The departing, and the lines of tragedy, 278 As if even this were aptly spoken: 279 "Stranger, get out of the way of the tyrants."

The Theologian knows "tyrants" to be those boisterous speeches, as from tragedy; for the tragic poets most especially make use of such a trope. He says "sesame cakes," meaning barley loaves, that is, those of low value; this is a traditional expression. Such is the thing said by the tragic poets, or rather by the comic poets, because through the sweeter breads they disparage the cheaper ones. The divine Gregory, then, makes sport, using this tradition, in that by the glibness of the tongue that sweetens in speaking he disparages those encountered, by exposing them; such was Diogenes. ^C For he himself kept strangers away, so that he might, if he wished, do away with those who were making a shadow for him through their glibness; just as [he did] with tyrants instead of with the tyrannical words, making those who encountered him withdraw. But the purpose of the divine Gregory is to demonstrate that the wise men of the Greeks did not do these things for the sake of virtue, but for the sake of display. "For why," he says, "was there need of altars and proclamations for these things, if they were acting out of a desire for virtue, and not for the sake of appearing [virtuous]?"

280 And fleeing chicory from the midst of the relishes, 286 Cleanthes’ well is good; and Socrates’ 287 Living in poverty, and the rest as unseemly, 288 The Charmides and the shelter of the coarse cloaks, 289 Under which the noble man conversed 290 With the young; for only the beautiful are intelligent.

Cleanthes was also one of the Cynic philosophers. He, having stationed himself at a certain well, drew water for those present, ^D and by giving them [water] to drink, he would receive bread from them and eat; and he too is admired by the philosophers as one who is hardy. But Socrates, being a philosopher, would go around the marketplace and encourage young men toward philosophy, and he considered the very beautiful young men to be especially well-suited for philosophy; for philosophers say that the good-looking are also naturally gifted. There was, therefore, an opinion among the Athenians that Socrates was a pederast because he chose the good-looking. And Plato is found in the *Theaetetus* and everywhere so say-

saying, "You are fair, but not in face, rather in soul." And it was suspected that he also consorted with Alcibiades in shameful love, though those around Socrates say it was not according to passionate, but rather divine love. Anytus and Melitus, therefore, accused Socrates of introducing strange demons to the state. He was condemned for corrupting the youth to die by drinking hemlock, and he drank it and died. ^A And Photion says that under the guises by which he associated with the young, he taught them more divine things, as do those around him, while others say they were the more shameful things.

294 But who would ever praise Alcmaeon, 295 Who first of the famous Athenians, 296 A man breathing grandly in lineage and power, 297 Was seen so much to be overcome by money, 298 As it was proper for him to appear superior.

This Alcmaeon was an Athenian, distinguished by birth, and always very desirous of guarding freedom for the Athenians. ^B When the city was being tyrannized by Pisistratus, not bearing to see Athens enslaved, this man departed; and upon leaving, he devised a plan, and his goal was how to restore freedom to the Athenians. Having gone, therefore, to the Apollonian temple at Delphi, he rented the temple from the Delphians for a fee; and having rented it, and having all of Apollo’s male and female servants under his command, he persuaded the Pythian priestess that if any Lacedaemonian should ever enter to consult the oracle, she should tell him nothing other than that the god commands you to set Athens free. As this happened constantly and very often, the ^C Lacedaemonians were spurred on, and they came and cast the tyrants out of Athens. Great, therefore, was the glory Alcmaeon carried away thereafter, having liberated Athens. ^D But such a man was seen to be overcome by money; for having come to Lydia to Croesus, he is mocked to the extreme by the Lydians. For Croesus, having placed all his gold in a storehouse, ordered Alcmaeon to take as much as he wished of the gold dust; but he, having filled his bosom, his cheeks, and his hair with gold, departed, and it is likely that he was laughed at by the Lydians—who were making sport of his immoderation—for the insatiability of his greed; wherefore the divine Gregory says:

305 He came forward to the Lydians, wealthy and laughed at. 306 But what of Plato to you, though he is most wise? 309 One who lived the life of an unfortunate huckster, 310 Drawing out labors with maritime profits; 311 Oil was the cargo. Perhaps you will not yet 312 Call this insatiable, and you attribute something to poverty. 313 But to fawn upon tyrannical tables, 314 Plato (alas for [his] words and noble ways!) 315 I let [him] speak, [it is] selling and not selling. 316 If one who is not some Libyan of Plato's Greece 317 Was seen to be better and of small price, 318 He buys both glory and Plato's words.

The divine Gregory attacks the philosopher Plato as having lived like a huckster, for he was occupied with selling and not selling; and he says his merchandise was oil. Therefore, for true philosophy, to engage in trade is foreign. For a merchant is vulgar, not learned. For indeed, to one truly looking toward learning, glory can only come from learning; for how could that man be learned who pursues glory with wealth, rather than living in extreme poverty, and appearing brighter than those who are encircled with diadems of wisdom? But let us look at the mind of the Theologian; for he says: "Let poverty be a pardonable thing, often, in commerce," which it is not; "but that we may use," he says, "condescension, who would define as a philosopher him who has been melted away like a dog, fawning at greedy tables, or who would deem him worthy of even a share of sense, seeing him fawning upon those who..."

^A possess the earth, tyrants and grandees? But not for the sake of commerce or for a gluttonous table heavy with savory dishes and a cup of sweet wine does he linger in the corners of the rich like a spider. For the proverb of Solomon wishes not the rich, but the wise man, and those who are uneducated, to rise early. Indeed, there is also a verse written by the divine Gregory: "Haunt the doors of the wise, but not those of the rich." How, then, could he who should be the one to whom all must rise early and be drawn—rather than he himself being drawn and waiting at the doors of those even more irrational than the beasts—be called a philosopher? Or by what share of wisdom will he be believed to have partaken? But let us look at the history; there is also the matter of Plato's gluttony. Plato the philosopher, hearing that Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, was a man of great soul, sailed to him. The ^B more recent commentators on Plato say that he sailed to him for two reasons: to study the fire that is emitted from Etna, and to persuade Dionysius to practice philosophy. But many of the historians and ancient philosophers say that it was because of his gluttony that Plato went to Dionysius; and the blessed Gregory rather agrees with these, and not with the more recent commentators on Plato. And Xenophon also says in his letter to Aeschines that it was because of gluttony that Plato went to Sicily to Dionysius the tyrant, which is what the divine Gregory also says elsewhere: that he went because of the luxury of the best things that Dionysius had. And he offers as proof the fact that he was actually sold; for he was indeed sold. For Dionysius took him and gave him to the Spartan admiral Pollis, who was staying there at that time; then Pollis, having come to Egypt, sold him for fifty minae to Anniceris.

319 "The man from Cyrene had great freedom of speech, 320 Yet he mixed luxury with his freedom, 321 Inflicting harm on the good with his salty doctrine, 322 For he breathed of myrrh mixed with wine, 323 And the charm of his manner and his glibness 324 Served as a guide for his gains."

Xenocrates, the student of Plato and the author of the Stoic sect, is said to have been temperate, yet a pleasure-seeker; but Xenocrates is said to have been temperate to such a degree that, even while living luxuriously, he was not moved toward sexual indulgence. For this reason, he says that he ordered the passions to obey reason. The blessed Gregory, however, accuses him of being a glutton. And ^C so much for Xenocrates. For by saying that he mixed luxury with freedom, he persuades us that it refers to Xenocrates. But so that we might not leave the history hanging, it is timely to speak also of his glibness and freedom of speech; for it seems to me that the discourse is hinting at Diogenes. For this man was called a Cynic philosopher; and he was called "Cynic" based on a metaphor derived from terrestrial dogs. For just as dogs possess something both watchful and discerning…

(for they distinguish those who are their own from strangers and keep guard), so too did this man imitate their discerning and watchful nature. He kept the doctrines of philosophy, but he discerned who was fit and who was unfit for philosophy. Diogenes, then, being such a man, was naturally possessed of freedom of speech; he would rebuke rulers and men of note, and indeed everyone, ostensibly for the sake of the good; but when he rebuked, he did so in a witty and more ridiculous fashion. Looking to this, the divine Gregory calls him a deceiver rather than a philosopher; for chatter that proceeds from wittiness is deception. Thus, once:

325 With a woman’s cloak, Archelaus the wise, 326 I know not how, nor for what cause, 327 Bestowing it, Plato would not accept, 328 But spoke a timely iambic from Euripides: 329 "I could not bear to put on a woman’s cloak." 330 But when the gift came into his own hands, 331 At the hand of one who brought it, he took it readily, 332 And with the cleverness of an iambic he casts 333 This remark: "For even in the Bacchic rites, 334 A chaste woman will not be corrupted."

One would not call this history, but an accusation. For the drama recounts how, when Archelaus offered him a woman's garment, Plato would not accept it, uttering an iambic from Euripides; but later, when a man brought it, he did accept it, and he strikes back at the cleverness of the iambic with an iambic, saying that "even if chaste, she will not be corrupted," although he was wrapping himself in a woman’s garment; the expression signifying his luxury and the grasping nature of his character; for in this way the base-natured philosopher will be caught.

335 The same Archelaus, as they say, once, 336 When someone wished to receive something, Sophocles, 337 He gives to Euripides, the wisest, 338 Saying just this: "You indeed seem worthy," 340 Showing how a noble character is best.

And one should reasonably consider this an accusation, in which a certain praise is interwoven; for while Sophocles ^B servilely begged for it from Archelaus, he gives it to Euripides, who asked for nothing, judging him to be more of a philosopher, who is both resilient and unbreakable even with regard to difficult appearances. The divine Gregory introduces this elsewhere in his precepts to virgins, saying in verse:

"Let not Need deceive you, which most quickly Subdues even wise men." (1)

And again: "A scant loaf and a cloak be your burden, Lest you suffer any shame for it." (2)

341 Having once ordained the taxes for the Hellenes 342 Being of Lysimachus, and appearing in other primary matters, 343 In demagoguery and in generalships, 344 He was seen to be so much above wealth, 345 That that he got his name from the deed, 346 Being just, and called so even still, 347 I will willingly pass over; but the city, 348 Bestowing dowries upon his daughters, honored a noble poverty, 349 And buried him himself, having nothing from which to be buried.

Representing the virtue of the man, he says that, although he was conducting generalships and demagoguery and ordaining the taxes of money, he disregarded them, from which it was possible for one who wished to acquire them. Yet he was seen to be so much above wealth that he lived in extreme poverty. For the city, having gracefully honored his daughters with money instead of virtuous poverty, deemed him worthy of a magnificent funeral, though he did not possess even the wherewithal for a funeral. And what indeed has made him to be proclaimed even now as ever more than just—the character of his virtue?

351 So that I might not argue only with ancient tales, 352 Fabricius having conquered Pyrrhus in battle; 353 He was a general among the highly remarkable, 354 And in these things he conquered more. For when into a narrow place 355 Pyrrhus came, he made trial of his hopes 356 To seize the general with talents of gold; 357 But he did not accept it, but nevertheless he made a truce. 358 But when Pyrrhus, as they say, in a peaceful way 359 Playing toward him, of the armed beasts 360 One, an elephant, excessive in size and great, 361 Not yet known to them by sight until then, 362 Showed, its trunk appearing suddenly, 363 He was not terrified, and said this, kindly:

[page break in original text; continued on next page]

an elephant of exceptional size suddenly presented by the king’s order did not terrify him, but rather gave Fabrinius the opportunity to say: "Neither your gold nor this beast can move me."

The divine Gregory deems many who contemn riches worthy of praise, but he scorns those who are exposed to corruption as possessing servile souls. Then, seeking to advise for the public good, he strives to prove that philosophers should be completely alien to the love of riches. Moving on to the opinion of the many, he produces the example of one who stands for all, to show that while money is highly regarded by all, there is in truth nothing more miserable than poverty. Apollo himself, though he is a god, does not prophesy unless he has received a fee; and Alcmaeon could not have liberated Athens had he not overcome the Apollonian oracle at Delphi with pay, and by means of the offering persuaded the Pythia to say what was favorable to him, as if she were prophesied by the god. These things are suggested by the Theologian with regard to the stubbornness of human depravity and its inclination toward pleasure. For to live in poverty with freedom is better than [to live with] a disposition that desires to mismanage wealth contrary to the word of truth; on the contrary, most men prefer to live irrationally in folly rather than to live philosophically and self-sufficiently, and they choose the harm and sin that exist in luxury, to the ruin of their own souls, over the virtue and justice found in poverty.

The history concerning Alcmaeon has been set out briefly above. The saying, "Without bronze, Phoebus does not prophesy," is common and ancient; and the Greeks call Apollo "Phoebus," to whom the oracles belong.

392 A wise poor man [is better] than a wicked Midas.

This Midas was a king of Phrygia; he was also avaricious and a lover of gold, as his actions demonstrated. He prayed, therefore, that whatever he touched might turn to gold. He was heard, and whatever he touched with his hand or his mouth turned to gold; and thus everything was gold for him, but being unable to eat, he perished. For indeed the food given to him through his mouth was turned to gold; thus he perished of hunger. Others narrate that he lived by receiving an oracle; the oracle was to drive in a chariot, and where the chariot stopped, to stop and build a city. He did so, and he founded Ancyra of Galatia. An *ancyra* (anchor) is the iron tool of a river boat, which, having dropped, he marked the place for Midas, and thus the city was founded and called Ancyra.

393 But Theognis contends with me, like idle talk stretched wide, 394 Preferring cliffs and abysses to poverty, 395 And legislating poorly for Cyrnus concerning wealth.

This Theognis, being a philosopher, flourished during the times of Cyrus, king of the Persians. But Cyrus, being a lover of gold, having opened a tomb, and finding nothing within but wealth, was exposed. But Theognis was an evil legislator for him regarding wealth, asserting that this alone was happiness for men, thereby further inflaming his own passion; he sets as the boundary of poverty cliffs and abysses, and he prefers the noose above all else.

^A 396 O Homer, how is it that you assign so much/ 397 To such a fickle thing, that you must say that/ 398 Virtue is the slave of wealth?

The poet Homer, having said that virtue follows after wealth, defends himself again, saying that he did not state it as being so, but rather [as describing] those who possess wealth so wretchedly. For the case of Odysseus is sufficient proof; who, naked, shipwrecked, and a wanderer, cast out from the sea, captivated the kingdom with sensible speech, and was dearer to the Phaeacians and to Alcinous than all the others.

409 God imposes the full punishment of excess/ 410 Upon those he deemed worthy to attain/ 411 That which was inedible gold, and [for him] who had corpses.

The present story is set forth a little earlier. ^B 425 This is both mother and tomb of those born,/ 426 Striking those who strike, as justice [strikes] justice/ 427 For the tasting and error of the first-formed.

Having shifted the discourse from external matters to true philosophy, he discusses the earth; and beginning from the things of life, as for us who philosophize on divine things, he shows that the earth and the things in it are superfluous, and that it is the only foundation of [our] hoped-for things. For this earth, he says, is both mother and tomb to her children, striking those who strike it, from the time when Adam forgot the commandment and was overcome by the bitter eating.

468 And Eden and the garden flourishing with plants/ 469 And a fountain divided into four beginnings.

Eden is said to be red earth; but the paradise is the garden which God planted in Eden, and in which He placed Adam, which also a rising fountain watered, which is divided into four.

^C 490 The great patriarch, the seer of God,/ 491 Having drawn him from his home, lineage, and fatherland,/ 492 He who is the steward of the greatest mysteries,/ 493 Led him easily into a strange land,/ 494 A wanderer, a sojourner, homeless, a traveler;/ 495 For faith led him to greater hopes.

God says to Abraham: "Go forth from your land and from your kinship and from the house of your father, and come to the land which I shall tell you." And he went forth not knowing where he was going, and he dwelt in the land of promise as a stranger; and he went forth not knowing whither he went, and he camped in the land of promise as a stranger. Abraham was from Haran, which is near the Mesopotamia of Syria; but having believed in God, and being nourished and supported by great hopes, having reached the promises, he was declared an heir of God.

And he went out not knowing where he was going, and he encamped in the land of promise as a stranger; Abraham was from Haran, which is near the Mesopotamia of Syria; but having believed in God, and being nourished and supported by great hopes, having attained the promises, he was shown to be an heir of God.

496 And Jacob asked only for bread and a covering,/ 497 Rushing once into the midst of rivers, as the story goes,/ 498 Even if he returns later with many children.

Jacob, fleeing from the face of his brother Esau, as has been said, having been previously deemed worthy of the vision of God upon the ladder in a dream, arose and prayed saying: "If the Lord God of my fathers is with me on this way in which I walk, and gives me bread to eat and a garment to put on, and returns me with safety to the house of my father, and the Lord shall be for me as God, and this pillar which I have set up shall be to me the house of God; and of all that you give me, I will tithe a tenth to you." Having prayed these things, he departed; and having come to Haran to Laban the brother of his mother, and having dwelt with him for twenty years, and taking Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Laban, for himself as wives, he returns to Mesopotamia with many children and many possessions, as will be more broadly shown elsewhere.

500 When Moses, inside the darkness, alone/ 501 Conversed with God alone, and [received] a double law/ 502 On tablets, by which he led a great people./ 503 Then dividing the inheritance he held from God,/ 504 To others he measured out a different, foreign land,/ 505 But to the sons of Levi he distributes no portion:/ 506 For their portion was the highest, God himself.

^D Moses, having entered inside the cloud and having received the law, distributed the inheritance to all the tribes by divine command, but he did not number the tribe of Levi; for the Lord is the portion and inheritance for the Levites; and these were sanctified to [receive] the first-fruits and tithes of the people. It is set forth in the 19th discourse concerning Moses.

507 And Jonadab, occasionally leading his children 508 to continence and the high life. It is set forth in the third discourse.

522 Where shall we place him whom the great Carmel reared? 523 Elijah the Tishbite, dwelling in quiet upon Mount Carmel, held converse with God, and having God as his defender and advocate in the greatest miracles which he performed, having transcended things human, he was translated while yet alive in a chariot of fire, as if ascending to heaven. The explanation is set forth in the third discourse.

532 The inheritance of Elisha from Elijah 533 and the grace, and the glorious fleece from on high.

When the prophet Elijah was about to be taken up, with his genuine disciple Elisha accompanying him, Elijah said: "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said: "May the spirit that is upon you be upon me in double measure." And Elijah said: "You have asked a hard thing." And he said: "If you see me being taken up, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be." And it came to pass as they were walking on and talking, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and they separated the two of them; and Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind as if to heaven. And Elisha saw him and cried: "Father, father, the chariot of Israel and its horseman!" And he saw him no more. And Elisha seized his garments and tore them into two pieces, and he lifted up the mantle of Elijah, which had fallen from above upon Elisha, and Elisha returned.

534 He who was holy from the womb (oh, the marvel!) 535 you surely hear of, the great Samuel. The explanation is set forth in the first discourse. ^A But since it is the purpose of the Theologian to demonstrate the virtue of holy men and their simple life, we shall add this also: Samuel, the Nazirite of God, who had judged Israel for many years, having come to the assembly when the kingship of Saul was being inaugurated, and being grieved, God said to him: "It must not seem hard to you; for they have not rejected you, but me." And when God testified to the prophet, out of season in the days of wheat harvest, there was much rain and thunder and lightning, terrifying the people, who were immediately suppliants to the prophet that he might render God merciful. Samuel, therefore, having put their wickedness to the test, as he had coveted neither silver, nor gold, nor anything of theirs, nor had received a gift from anyone, even to the value of a sandal; for he says: "Behold, all Israel is gathered from Dan to Beersheba; say now," he says, "you, and testify against me if I have taken anything from anyone, even to a sandal." And the people being shamed at once and terrified, and looking toward prayer, he himself says: "Far be it from me to sin before the Lord by ceasing to cry out for you to the Lord." So great was the virtue of Samuel, that he dared to say in the presence of so great a multitude that he had received nothing from anyone, even to a sandal, being judge and leader of all. Who, having stayed the thunder, lightning, and infinite rains by prayer, showed ^B the good pleasure and inspiration of God upon him.

539 Who was the boundary of the Old and New 540 Testaments of God? As of shadow and body. 541 Closing the one, but opening the entrances of the other; 542 Who was the great lamp speeding before the supreme Light? 543 Who was first among those born of women (God is a good witness) 544 who inhabited the desert, and had strange food? 545 And was girded with a garment of camel's skin; 546 the Word wrote of John.

John, the divine forerunner, having inhabited the desert, had locusts for food and wild honey; and the...

^A skin of a camel served him as a garment, and he had a leathern girdle about his loins. Publicans and soldiers approached him, beseeching him and asking what they must do for their salvation. He ordered the publicans to exact nothing beyond what was appointed for them, and the soldiers to do violence to no one and to be content with their wages. And when others approached, he says to them as well: "He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise." And he preached the renunciation of gold by word, and confirmed it by deed, and legislated a communal life.

548 What indeed could one say to Paul, ^B who provided for his living by his trade, or to Tryphon, or to Peter, those great apostles?

Paul, the divine apostle, was a tent-maker by trade. For he says that he stayed with Aquila, and they both worked. For they were tent-makers by trade. And he, preaching the Gospel, made it free of charge, just as he himself says: "What then is my reward? That when I preach the Gospel, I may offer the Gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my authority in the Gospel?" And again: "You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me." And again: "Working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel, but also our own souls, because you have become dear to us."

Peter, the summit of the apostles, lived on lupines. For, having offered... of gold... by the..., he distributed everything and had nothing left. ^C And indeed, when evening came, not having wherewith to provide for his bodily needs, they bought lupines with an as, and eased their natural hunger.

554 Others have left their fishing-nets to their kinsmen, 555 Called by God to a better fishing.

James and John, the sons of thunder, were they. For Jesus, having found them mending their nets, having already caught Peter and Andrew (for He says: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men"), and those having departed, again finding John and James and calling them to follow Him, it is said that they left the boat and their father Zebedee, and followed Christ as He called, and all became, according to the word of Jesus, fishers of men.

566 See the greater thing: not even to the young man who needs ^D 567 To learn how one might reach perfection; 568 Does He designate the summit otherwise than by 569 The requirement to scatter all things to the poor.

A certain young man approached Jesus and says: "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered and said to him: "You know the commandments." And having simply clarified the words of the law, and the young man boasting that he had kept all these, Christ says: "If you wish to be perfect, sell what you possess, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me." But the young man being grieved (for he was concerned most of all about his possessions), Jesus declared emphatically how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, or rather, he clarified it more firmly with the example of the eye of a needle, that a camel would pass through it sooner than a rich man would gain the kingdom of God.

573 Thus He perfects also the publicans by their entry, 574 Giving all things readily to God. 575 And let Zacchaeus persuade you, who, having been ill-gotten rich, 576 By pity for the impoverished whom he had wronged 577 Becomes rich in poverty and is cleansed of his filth.

Matthew, being a publican, when the Savior called to him, "Follow me," left the toll-booth and followed Him. And Zacchaeus, being a publican himself, and when Christ was passing by, because of the...

crowd around Him, not having any way to get a look at Him (for he was short in stature), climbed up into a sycamore tree. Jesus, seeing his faith and considering his longing, called out to him, and having been entertained by him, He drew him into discipleship. For Zacchaeus, for whose sake Jesus was entertained by him and bestowed salvation upon his house, promised to give all his possessions to the poor; and if he had taken anything from anyone, or wronged anyone, or defrauded anyone, he confessed that he would pay back fivefold.

^A "In fulness [it is present], Cypris, but in those who hunger, it is not." Cypris is said to be Aphrodite, the same person as Paphia. And Cronus, he says, cut off the genitals of his father, that is, of Heaven, as the Greeks rave, and threw them into the sea; and the parts that fell into the sea gathered much foam, from which Aphrodite was born, and she was washed up on Cyprus. She is said to be the overseer of pleasure and the manias pertaining to physical love; and she is called Paphia because she was buried in Paphos with Cinyras. Therefore, they say that Aphrodite is the overseer of every obscenity. The divine Gregory, therefore, says that for those who live in luxury, "Cypris"—that is, the works of Aphrodite, fornications, and pleasures, and obscenity—[is present]; but in those who are continent and hungry, [it is] not at all.

^B Correctly does Cercidas the beloved say somewhere: 598 An end to those who live in luxury, himself eating salt, 599 Spitting out the salt of that very same luxury? 600 For who would not praise him who, to the one living in luxury, 601 Said: “Stop, take off your shackles, 602 And make savage the wild beast that tears you apart?” 603 And that thing, like that of the beloved Stoics, 604 As one talking to his own flesh as to another.

The Stoic school was established by Xenocrates, the disciple of Plato. These men, striving against the Peripatetics, kept both their appetite and their pleasure in check, and embraced extreme lack of possession. One of them, as if speaking to his own body as though it were another, would appropriately despise the luxuries of the flesh, asserting that ^C he who wishes to philosophize ought to be satisfied with the necessities for his needs—things by which it is possible for the animal to be sustained so as not to perish from hunger and death—whereas that which is in excess of necessity is to be left not to philosophers, but to brutish men.

611 Are these not better than the old follies 612 Of Sardanapalus of Ninus, who was once 613 Radiant in wealth and corrupted by luxury, 614 And wanted his own neck to be longer than a crane's 615 For the sake of a long pleasure?

This Sardanapalus, being a voluptuary, was so insatiable that he even wanted and had the intention of possessing a neck longer than a crane's. The divine Gregory calls "follies" the slackening of morals and character; these are likely to accompany those who live in luxury.

^D 616 O divine David, for you, thirsting for the well 617 Of the land of the aliens and water held fast, 618 Since for the sake of your desire some men, through blood and battle, 619 Took it with their hands 620 And poured out the water; for from no alien 621 Evils did you accept the fulfilling of your desire.

The blessed David, being drawn up for battle against the aliens and camping in the field, came to have a desire for the water from the well in Bethlehem. The teachers of the Church say that this longing came to him in accordance with a certain more divine understanding. For they say that David thirsted for Christ, who was in the cave at Bethlehem, and was inflamed with longing for Him. The history, however, is this: David was encamped, drawing up for battle against the aliens; these men, sitting round about Bethlehem, made the well inaccessible to the Israelites. Three youths, wishing to gratify the king's desire by drawing water, went secretly through the midst of the camp of the aliens, fending off the enemy with their own weapons, and having drawn a vessel of water from the desired well, and again having cut through the camp, they offered the draught to the king. But he, having received it, and not wishing...

to drink of the blood of men, poured out the draught, and firmly restrained his desire, lying above.

632 They brought the threat of fire and the jaws of lions, 633 so that profane 634 food might not be given ^A in a foreign land by the order of barbarians. He remembers Daniel and the three children, how they did not accept the food from the royal table. The explanation lies in the 3rd Discourse.

635 From the time when the Enemy, having engaged with Christ, 636 departed, defeated by the noble flesh, 637 following forty days and nights of fasting, 638 so that, being brought low by the trial, he might be the more ashamed, 639 a law of the desired emptying went forth. Christ having fasted for forty days and having hungered, the devil approached and tempted Him to cast Himself down; but being repulsed and put to shame, he departed from Him for a season, as it is written. The account concerning the temptation is in the 3rd Discourse.

675 Why these things? Dost thou marvel at the maidens of the people, 676 those of Athens who were sacrificed willingly? Leos, a man so named in Athens, was the father of three daughters; and when a famine occurred, it was oracularly declared that if they should slaughter these, they would be delivered from the destruction. They say that the maidens, having learned this, offered themselves for the fatherland and the citizens, for whom they celebrated a festival and worshipped them as heroines. ^B And they say also of Theano the Pythagorean, that when she was seized by a tyrant and ordered to disclose the secret things of the fatherland, she bit off her tongue and spat it at the tyrant, not wishing, though forced, to divulge them, having been deprived of the instrument of speech. But it is necessary to know that Saint Athanasius, in his discourse to the virgins, pronounced the Pythagorean maidens to be harlots.

677 And the willing offering of Menoeceus, 678 who died on behalf of Thebes that he might save the city? Menoeceus is the son of Creon, the king of Thebes. When his native city of Thebes was being besieged by the Seven Commanders, Tiresias, being a seer among them, gave an oracle that they would cease the war and victory would be theirs, if someone of the royal lineage of the earth-born ones, who sprang from the teeth of the dragon, would give himself up to be put to death; and Menoeceus, having learned this privately from his father Creon, gives himself up to be put to death.

679 And the precious 680 leap of the wise Cleombrotus from on high, that he might depart from the body, 681 since by Plato’s discourse on the soul, 682 he, having been persuaded, was seized by a desire for release? Cleombrotus was an Ambraciote by race, from a city of ancient Epirus; having chanced upon Plato’s dialogue *Phaedo* concerning the soul, and having learned that the separation of the soul from the body is better, he cast himself from the wall and died, so that, ostensibly, his soul, having departed, might be separated from the body.

683 Thou speakest of the broken leg of Epictetus, 684 before he spoke a word enslaved to force; 687 and of the grinding in a mortar of the hands of Anaxarchus? These histories lie in the 99th Discourse.

691 And Socrates’ hemlock, 692 a friendship so strange, offered to thee so gladly? ^C It lies a little before.

757 Boast to me of Pisa and the dust of Delphi, 758 and Nemea, and the Isthmian pine, 760 setting small and smaller prizes for the contests, 762 prizes that are neither great to win nor great to lose, 761 of boxing, and wrestling, and running, and jumping: 763 for salvation is not the prize given by God. In Pisa, and Delphi, and Nemea, and in the Isthmus, festivals and contests were held for the gods; and all came from everywhere to compete, according to the experience each had. Since contests of all kinds were being held, those who won were greatly glorified. A prize was set for each of the contests, as happened at the funeral of Patroclus: first a horse race, then a footrace, boxing, wrestling, jumping, armed combat, archery, javelin throwing, and at times also naval battle, weightlifting, and as many others as were customary.

^A It is possible to show off such things to the swift. In the aforementioned locations, such things were performed; hence they flocked from everywhere, some to compete, others to watch.

777 They say that Xenocrates, upon a certain prostitute 778 being thrown onto him by some who were tempting him, 779 (for even while sleeping at night, when he perceived it), 780 was neither startled by the strangeness of the insult, 781 nor did he rise and move to flee. The present history has its own explanation concerning Xenocrates and the prostitute thrown upon him. For some, wishing to bring insult upon him, threw her onto him. But he, becoming aware of it, did not rise, nor did he drive her away, but remaining motionless, he demonstrated his self-control in practice, such that the prostitute said, "What have you done to me, by throwing me upon a dead man?" Nevertheless, he was gluttonous; for the divine Gregory touches upon him elsewhere as a glutton.

786 Epicurus struggled for pleasure, 787 To be the prize of my toils. Epicurus was a philosopher who held the opinion that God does not provide for affairs here. He placed pleasure as the end of every good. And while [some] modern commentators say it is not unclean pleasure, but the most natural state, even him the philosophers reject, both as not declaring providence, and because he sets pleasure as the end, and not the primary and sole good, which is God.

792 Nor shall Polemon be passed over in silence by me; 795 For he is the wonder of those greatly spoken of. This Polemon was at first lecherous and pleasure-loving; for it was not possible to find anything among men more shameful or more lecherous. But he progressed so far in self-control that a certain young woman, living as a prostitute, who was passing by a gatehouse—where an image of Polemon was set up—while in the company of a young man, and about to enter, ^B saw the depicted Polemon and is said to have fled in a run, this courtesan having been startled by the sight of Polemon from merely the drawing. Now Polemon is a historian of the Greeks, as Josephus and Philo are of the Hebrews.

808 Concerning him by whom he breathed, they say, not something very sweet; 809 I speak of this Dion, of whom there is much word. And this Dion, having practiced self-control, upon entering into marriage and the nuptial bed, being inexperienced in sexual matters, having repented, said to his wife: "O woman, why did you not reveal that disease to me?" And she insisted that this was a symptom common to all males, which was an indication of a modest character.

816 Who does not praise Alexander then, 817 Who, when he had taken the daughters of Darius as captives, 818 Having learned they were beautiful, 819 Did not accept to see them; for it to be a bad thing, 820 Having conquered men, to be lesser than virgins. Alexander of Macedon, having taken the daughters of Darius as captives, and having learned they were beautiful, did not deign even to look at them, saying: "It is shameful for those who have conquered men to be vanquished by women."

831 Whose loves, tell me, and of males? 832 For he must have something more than your gods. 833 Whose Phrygian youths and companions 834 Pouring the sweetest nectar [are drinking] likewise. What this means is: Who wants Ganymede to pour his wine? Ganymede is the Phrygian youth whom Zeus snatched away, having changed into an eagle. The present explanation is found in the third discourse. Nectar is the drink of the gods on Olympus, something sweet and exceptional, as Homer says.

836 Whose thefts of marriages and insults of bonds 837 A shameful theater and laughter called out: 838 How women make everything for Zeus, 839 Bull, thunderbolt, swan, man, beast, 840 Gold, serpent, the extensions of love, 841 The highest and most wicked suitor

^A Jupiter took the form of a bull for Europa, of a thunderbolt for Hera, of a swan for Leda, of a man for Semele, of a beast and a dragon for Olympias, and of gold for Danae. All these stories are set out in the third book.

842 Who considers the goddess, mistress of pleasures, 843 Or raises altars and temples to sufferings?

The Greeks call Aphrodite the overseer of pleasures, and they address her as a goddess; they adore her as the mistress of pleasure, offering her a girdle of such activities, in which they pride themselves that the things of love are stored. Hence they honor her with all sorts of names of pleasure, such as *aphrodisia*, which they call the act of intercourse, as if deriving it from Aphrodite; and again they say *Cypris*, as if deriving it from Venus-the-Cyprian (*Kypris*); for she is called Cypris and Paphia, as has been said about these matters in many places already.

844 And whose nights are truly worthy of the night, 845 Honored with sacred symbols of dishonor?

They say that Celeus and Triptolemus learned certain shameful and lewd mysteries from Demeter at night. This story is recorded in the sixty-fourth book.

846 And upright phalli and obscene laughter 847 Mingling a new god in their creations, 848 Which it is proper even to cover up in speaking.

Celebrating a festival to Dionysus, the Greeks honored him with phalli; a phallus is a representation of the male member made of red leather. They would fasten this around their necks and in the middle of their thighs, and they would dance, honoring Dionysus by this. They brought this honor to Dionysus for such a reason: Dionysus was born from Semele, the daughter of Cadmus. She, having been struck by lightning, was sought after by Dionysus. As he was wandering about and searching, a boy named Polymnus chanced upon Dionysus and promised to show him his mother if he would engage in pederasty with him, and Dionysus agreed to this. Polymnus tells him that Semele is at Lerna. Then Dionysus, entering ^B the sea in order to cross over to Lerna, Polymnus followed him; and the one, they say, was saved as a god, but Polymnus died. Dionysus, being grieved that his lover had died, in his honor carved a wooden phallus from a fig tree, which he kept always in memory of Polymnus, as I said. For this reason, therefore, they honor Dionysus with phalli. So, these are all phalli; but those that are tied straight upon the thighs are *ithyphalli*.

849 Hermaphrodites and Pans, a shameful lineage.

These were said to be of dual nature, having the nature of both men and women; they are mythologized as having had their origin from Hermes and Aphrodite.

850 Divine, goat-footed beings, and goats in manner, 851 In whose midst dancing-girls and virgins 852 Contribute a dowry of prostitution.

The Egyptians call Pan "Mendetes"; he is goat-footed or goat-faced. They worship this Mendetes, that is, Pan, to such an extent that they do not taste the flesh of goats, because the god bears the form of a goat. They perform certain shameful rites in which they tell stories of Pan playing the flute, and of virgins being shamefully stripped and dancing, and certain shameful things follow therefrom; hence he says: "They contribute a dowry of prostitution."

855 By these mistresses, the wise 860 Shape Aphrodite, so they might be seen by the sophism; 861 And the darling of the virgin painted on the finger 862 Of Phidias is enough of all good things.

Phidias is said to be of Syracusan stock, the finest astrologer in his craft, the father of Archimedes. This man, being a sculptor, made a wooden image of Zeus sitting on a throne, which they call the Phidian Zeus.

866 A harbor honored by temples and gods, 867 A black joy in the beast. 868 For the name was sacred even in the midst of temples, 869 The mistress of Greece, of whom there is much talk, 870 Lais, who was corrupted out of Hyccara, a shameful woman.

Lais was a harlot from Hyccara; having been corrupted, she came to Corinth, and there, engaging in prostitution publicly, she attracted all the nobles of Greece by the charm of her face, and they provided her with much wealth, and many dedicated images and epigrams of her, honoring her in temples and public places.

911 Systems of the new Nazirites, 912 Abounding and gleaming with inward beauties, 913 Which virgins honor even unto blood.

A Nazirite is one who is consecrated to God, such as were Samuel and Samson; and he calls the multitudes of those who are virgins and ascetics "young Nazirites," the number of whom, as seen among men and women, is infinite.

914 Why should I tell you of Thecla, or who, or what sort, 915 As many as wished to keep their beauty sealed for God, 916 Ran to meet dangers?

The explanation concerning Thecla lies in the third discourse.

DISCOURSE CXX. Tetrastich Maxims.

3 You steal when you do not give what is your own; a new debt; 4 Let Ananias and Sapphira persuade you.

Ananias and Sapphira, being caught in theft, were condemned by Peter the apostle and perished. It lies in the third discourse.

DISCOURSE CXI. On Virginity.

20 Why speak to me of things afar? When even the morning star has fallen, 21 Were not the choirs of angels brought down with him?

The devil is called both a fallen morning star and lightning. For Isaiah says concerning him: "How has the morning star, that rises at dawn, fallen?" And the Lord says: "I beheld Satan, as lightning, falling from heaven." This explanation lies in the second discourse.

25 But the disciples are glory; do you not observe this?

It lies in the second discourse.

44 But let others flee, like wild beasts of old, 45 From the law imprinted on the tablets of Sinai.

This explanation lies in the twelfth and the forty-first discourse.

49 And if you should have need, the cruse provides you, 50 And the water-pot will give a harvest from the depths.

The history concerning Elijah and the widow of Zarephath lies in the second and third discourse.

51 Five myriad people are fed with loaves, 52 How much more you, servant of God?

It lies in the first and second discourse.

57 And will you even withhold the basket offered to God, 58 And play the turncoat, like the one who fled Sodom? 59 Do not become a pillar of salt.

It lies in the second and third discourse.

62 What is more worthless than a golden tongue, 63 A bare and double-drachma [coin] of the resurrected, 64 But it was stolen and destroyed the army.

The explanation concerning Achan lies in the twelfth discourse.

DISCOURSE CXXV. Against Anger.

61 Shout out immediately the words of the disciples, 63 Shake off sleep and you will save the fleet with them.

It lies in the nineteenth discourse.

186 Who are most beloved of God? 187 What have they practiced as first or greatest? 188 That Moses, Aaron, the beloved ones, 189 David, Samuel, then Peter afterwards; 190 The former had Egypt, scourged by so many 191 Plagues, still unchastened; but nevertheless, 192 They brought [them] with sparing, as boldness to Pharaoh, 193 Until they were overwhelmed by their insolence, 194 To whom long-suffering did not bring reverence, 195 So that all might learn to respect this.

Moses and Aaron, being prophets of the people of Israel, sent by God to lead the sons of Israel out of the affliction of the Egyptians, as we recounted in the second discourse, afflicted the Egyptians with many plagues, God strengthening them with signs and wonders. First, then, Aaron, having thrown his rod before Pharaoh, turned it into a serpent; and the sorcerers of the Egyptians did likewise with their sorceries, and having thrown their own rods, they turned them into serpents; but the rod of Aaron devoured their rods, whence the miracle was useless; [but] of the...

obstinacy of the Egyptians, the end was miserable. Wherefore ^A the divine Gregory says, adding that it is better to despise boldness than kindness, in this way: "For it is better to despise the bold than the gentle; for it is better to despise the inferior than the kind."

197 I praise Samuel, who, once vexed by an insult, 198 When Saul had torn his cloak, 199 Then, having been deemed worthy to have forgiveness, 200 He immediately released the blame by his word.

Saul, the king of Israel, was the son of Cis, of the tribe of Benjamin, who was anointed king by Samuel the prophet. To him there was a bold war against the Amalekites; and as he was going forth, God commanded through Samuel not to spare Amalek, nor to pity old man or youth, nor even woman and suckling child; but to destroy all utterly, and indeed to destroy also their property together with them, and not to take alive any of their cattle, nor to sacrifice oxen and the herds of their spoils, and he commanded him to offer [nothing] at all to God. Saul, having heard these things, did the complete opposite. For he spared their youths, and took the best of the cattle alive, and plundered their property; and when Samuel came to meet him, he tried to hide it. But Samuel, as a prophet having known the whole, said to Saul, "What ^B is the voice of the flocks that comes into my ears?" And Saul said, "From Amalek, which I have brought to sacrifice to your God." But Samuel answered, "You have been made altogether vain and you have not known; for obedience is better than sacrifice, and now you have been made vain." Having said these things, he arose; but Saul seized the cloak of Samuel, and it was torn; and turning to him, he answered, "The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand." And Samuel was mourning for him all the days; but Saul [was begging and entreating] the prophet ^C [before the elders of the people to praise him. The prophet, moved by mercy, assented --]

--] ^A to God, being predicted as someone who would treat him according to his pleasure. But David swore to God that he would not do this, if he allowed his hand to destroy the anointed of the Lord. Except that he covertly cut off the hem of Saul’s cloak, and spared him, though he was within reach, having persuaded his companions with many words that it was not fitting in any way, nor even holy, to attack the king, the Christ of the Lord, with evil intent, nor to raise murderous hands against him. Thus he spoke; and they obeyed his words, nor did they disobey, but remained quiet. Saul, having risen and wishing to capture David, kept to the path; but he proceeded only a little way, and David, having leapt out from the foot of the cave, like a high-flying eagle soaring over low-flying birds, stood still, and with very swift words addressed the king, and said: “O Lord king!” ^B Saul, having recognized the voice as David’s, turned back. And the speaker said: “What is my injustice, and what is my sin before you, that you pursue after me, as a night-raven pursues, and bind my soul to take it? Behold your eyes, and the eyes of those who are with you watch how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave, and I did not wish to kill you. And behold the hem of your cloak in my hand, and I have not killed you. And now, behind whom do you pursue, O king of Israel? Behind a dead dog, or a single flea? May the Lord be a judge between me and between you; but my hand shall not be upon you, according as the ancient proverb says, ‘From the lawless shall go forth lawlessness,’ but my hand shall not be upon you.” These things David said. But Saul, pricked to the heart, wept and said: “Is this your voice, child David?” And he wept, and Saul said: ^C “You are righteous above me, because you have returned to me good things, whereas I have returned to you ^D evil things.

202 David, remember also the strings, 203 From which Saul was once [freed] from an evil spirit, 204 Set free; then, having met with ingratitude, 205 Fleeing, wandering, running for his soul, 206 When Saul was given to him, he spared him, 207 And this twice, and with difficulty saved. 208 The double sign of power, 209 The hem cut, and the flask of the helmet stolen.

Saul, having enjoyed many benefits through David, plotted against him in many ways; but he, changing from place to place, avoided the malice of the one who hated him in vain. Once, therefore, the Ziphites (Ziph is a city of Canaan) arriving to Saul, informed him that David was hiding among them in Engaddi. And indeed Saul, having chosen three thousand men from Israel, went forth to capture him, and having come to a cave, Saul entered to attend to his needs; and David was hiding inside with his men. As Saul and all who were with him slept, those who were with David urged him to rise and strike Saul, saying that this was the day in which he would shut his enemy up into his hands.

And now you have reported to me how the Lord delivered me into your hands, and I did not kill you. And if someone finds his enemy and sends him away in peace, and the Lord repays him with good things in the manner you have dealt with me; and now I know that you will surely reign in Israel, and the kingdom of Israel shall stand in your hand; now therefore swear to me that you will not destroy my name after me from my father's house." And he swore to him; and each went his own way. He did the same thing, even though he had suffered the worst things; but he did not cease his threat, Saul, who did not wish to understand what is good, since his malice was in no way calmed. ^A Again, having camped, he marches against him; and indeed, struck by the sun’s rays upon his helmet under a light shelter in the field, under which was also a shade; and at the head of the cold one was a full vessel of water and a spear. When sweet sleep held those around him with him, David, taking the vessel, went away; and the spear was slightly in the middle; and the whistling of moderate winds shook sleep from their eyelids, with cicadas sounding from the branches; and around Saul, one after another, they stood in a circle, gleaming with armor. And when the one who was leading the force, Abner, was very near, David stood, mocking Abner with reproach, the most sweet-tempered one: "Sons of death," he says, "are you all, you who are guarding your lord the king, because someone entered to destroy the king, and there was no one who noticed; and now let one of the servants pass through, and let him take the vessel of water and the spear, and become sons of power, and guard your lord the king." And having said these things, and having given back the vessel, and having confirmed the king with his deed, and again having made him easily captured, he went to himself. A third time again Saul, having camped near him, and having come almost upon him, when the report arrived that the foreigners had attacked the land of Israel, having turned back, he did not continue to fight David anymore. ^B For the war of the foreigners immediately caused him to be a captive; but David was held for no long time in Ziklag, but thereafter Hebron of Judah, reigning over the scepter, and thereafter the divine city, Jerusalem, held him reigning over Israel.

210 Why must I tell how he endured the son, 211 The parricide and tyrant, unseemly? 212 Where he wept for the dead one, 213 He calls out with many laments and words, 214 And avenges the messenger of the suffering 215 As if having hidden from some enemy not bringing good news.

The story is set in the 53rd discourse.

218 As also having been positioned uphill to the army, 219 Coming close to being alienated from the power.

When David was mourning Absalom, the army learned to fear entering the gate of the city, unless Joab, the commander of the force, standing by, persuaded David with stinging words to rise up, to accept the army’s good intent and alliance, or else the army would depart from him that very day in Israel, and make him alienated from the power. Having yielded to this, David is said to have accepted the warriors. The objective of the divine Gregory is to show, in such a great matter of victory, David’s sympathy, and that his humanity was closer to him than the kingdom.

220 Why does he also endure the insolent Shimei, 221 Unseemly, being at the glory of the entry?

David, fleeing from the face of Absalom, patiently suffered Shimei, throwing stones at him at the descent of the Mount of Olives and reviling him with many insults, he did not pay attention (but Shimei belonged to the relatives of Saul); and when one of the servants wished to cross over, and with a sword dismiss the insolent man from living, (Asahel was swift-footed, one of the sons of Zeruiah), he was not only prevented from the impulse, but ^C

^A blamed, having complimented Paul for his boldness, he kept him as a friend who reproves him, preferring what is right to the vainglorious reception. For not even he, being the first and foremost of the other theologians, although possessing such great glory, measured himself against Paul’s admonition.

231 I would not pass over the excellence of Stephen, 232 Whom I know as the first-fruits of martyrs and offerings, 233 He was covered in stones, but yet, of the miracle, 234 Amidst the stoning, a voice was heard; 235 And he himself, granting forgiveness as if to benefactors, 236 To his stoners, and asking God.

Stephen is written to be full of grace and power. He, being the first deacon appointed by the apostles for this service, confounded the Jews, demonstrating that Christ is the chosen Son of God. And [of the men] who were debating with Stephen (the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and these Alexandrians, and Cilicians, and Asians), as they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke, having suborned false witnesses against him for blasphemy, Stephen was nonetheless in the midst of the council of the lawless; who, when questioned by the high priest regarding what was said, having begun his address, and having seized a suitable occasion for speaking, stopped the mouths of those who were accusing him, and filled the whole air with the mystical theology of the fragrance. For this man, the heavenly gates having been thrown open, God Himself, as far as it is possible, was visible; but those who were present, sharers in the joy—according to the intention toward Stephen, revealing the vision by some diviner pleasure, or rather, being astonished—condemned the beholder of God as a blasphemer. And as he was being dragged out of the city (as it is expected for those who are being led to death to suffer), before the gates, like a lamb with the...

^A gnashing of teeth, they had Stephen in their midst, roaring with such threats and foaming at the mouth like beasts, frowning and glaring at him with a fiery gaze, while he harvested the shower of stones. And generally, as they pelted his whole body indecently, he himself, seeing them as benefactors, not only did not return evil words to his murderers, but also, as if it were sweet incense from his divine soul, he sent forth his prayer for the murderers, free from any resentment, and thus delivered it, following him, into the hands of God. Nor would I pass by the record of the divine Luke, who says, "And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul, and they stoned Stephen, who was calling out and saying, 'Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.' And having said this, he fell asleep."

237 Are these things not clearly of the pattern of God, 238 And of His own sufferings and dogmas? 239 He who, being God and Lord of thunders, 240 As a lamb was led to slaughter, silent. Stephen is called an imitator of God in this. For Jesus, too, while setting his Father before those who were crucifying him, said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And as a sheep was led to the slaughter according to the prophecy of Isaiah, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

260 I shall also remember some things, and briefly: 261 The Stagirite was about to strike someone, 265 But when anger entered in, as soon as he perceived it, 264 He stood, struggling with the passion as with an enemy; 265 And after pausing a little, he spoke a wise word: 266 "You have suffered a new thing; you have taken anger as your master." Bringing the Theologian back again to those reckoned among the outsiders, he introduces the Stagirite ^B. For this man, when intending to examine someone caught in an evil deed, as anger took hold of him, he paused a little and, as soon as he realized it, he spoke a wise word: "You have suffered a new thing, my friend," saying to himself, having taken anger as his master; calling it shameful to strike evil with evil, and for one who is overcome to rule over a slave of passion.

270 Thus he acted. But the story concerning Alexander, 271 When Parmenion once said to him, 272 Having taken a certain city of the Greeks, 273 And thinking to do something many a time, 274 "If I were he, I would not have spared it," 275 But he said, "Neither would I, if I were he; 276 For you have cruelty, but there is mildness 277 In me, and the avoidance of dangers for the city." The divine Gregory remembers the Macedonian Alexander, sometimes as temperate, and sometimes as mild. For when this man was sacking a city of the Greeks, and pondering ways to capture it—while Parmenion was considering how to escape in some way—the one who was besieging replied, urging against it, that he (Parmenion) by no means spared it, as if he himself were the one holding it; he said, "if I were he." For by this he designated the cruelty of Parmenion and the mildness of Alexander, and that in this way it was proper to think that the city would best escape its dangers. Another says concerning him that, when the Thebans ^C were revolting, having set his army upon them, he took the city by force; but that he ordered that the house of Pindar alone be kept unharmed, and that whoever was related to him was saved out of respect for the poet.

278 And that, too, is worthy of praise: 279 Someone was reviling the great Pericles, 280 Driving him with many evil insults, 281 And for none of the honorable ones, until evening; 282 He, however, quietly endured the insult as an honor. 283 Finally, weary and walking home, He had him sent off with a lamp, and quenched the bile. The divine Gregory introduces these histories here in an explanatory way. For while someone ^D (a philosopher) was reviling Pericles with many insults and evils...

^A, leading him home with a lit torch so as to guide him and thus quenching the anger of the impotent man.

A philosopher, having been badly treated by someone with insulting words who also added threats, saying: "May I perish if I do not put you to death," said: "And I, too, may I perish if I do not make you my friend."

285 Another, to an insulter who added to his abundant insults 286 a threat, saying, "May I perish miserably 287 if I do not destroy you wickedly, since I have the power," 288 replied to these with humanizing words: 289 "And I, may I perish, if I do not make you my friend."

Another ^B person reviling a philosopher who had been covered in many insults, later being threatened, says: "May this happen to me and be added to this, if I do not destroy you ill, as much as my power allows." It is said that the philosopher replied to these things with friendly steps: "And I," he said, "may I perish, if I do not make you my friend."

290 Constantius (for it is worth mentioning) 298 having said many things, and also such an account as this: 299 "What is there that is more gentle than a bee? 300 But not even she spares those stealing [her honey]." 301 He heard: "How do you not know, my good sir, 302 that not even for her is the sting safe? 303 She strikes, but she herself immediately perishes."

Constantius was the son of Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor, who was the most gentle of all who have ever reigned. Someone of the notables, who was being exalted with greatest honors, provoked him; and adding many words, as though nothing were gentler than a bee, but that she does not spare those stealing from her, he heard a more convincing reply: that not even to the bee herself is the sting safe, for she strikes, but she herself perishes more quickly by the sting.

494 The one from Sinope, approaching the roofs, 495 would insult them, as the story goes; why was he wooing them? 496 To bear insults easily with insults.

They say that this is Diogenes, who, offering insults to the harlots, was re-insulted by them. 500 For indeed, nothing is more shameless to them than to be ashamed of nothing. This, then, the philosopher is said to do, for the sake of accustoming himself to bear insults courageously.

ORATION CXXV

155 To shave, as they say, even the hair of the dead.

Christ, the robber entering with him from the tree [cross].

The serpent, having deceived Eve to partake of the tree which God had commanded not to eat, having been allured by the hope of becoming god, and through her [having made] Adam exiles from paradise, ordered the flaming sword which turns about to guard the way of the tree of life in the midst of paradise. Since Christ suffered in the flesh for the salvation of men, one of the two criminals crucified with him, having believed, said: "Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom." And Christ [said] to him: "Amen I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise." For this reason, the robber is said and believed to be the first to inhabit paradise after the expulsion of the first-formed.

I hang you, bronze one, as a bane, that I may flee from suffering.

God provoked the Israelites in various ways: having disciplined them with many blows, and further, having set snakes upon them, he scourged them. And every one bitten by a snake was immediately destroyed, drawing the destruction upon himself more quickly than human aid [could help]. But the merciful God, having spared them, is said to have commanded Moses to hang a bronze snake across a beam, and to enjoin those being bitten to look to it, and thus to escape the destruction more quickly.

Enter, having fulfilled the ^A depths of your own swine. (The explanation regarding the legion and the swine is contained in the first poem.)

Master, a terrible surge surrounds me; Awaken your disciple before I perish; Only command it, and the storm shall be dead.

While Christ was sleeping in the boat and the sea was raging, the disciples brought this utterance to the Master: "Master, save us, we are perishing." But Christ, rising and rebuking the winds, created a calm in the sea.

POEM CLI. Concerning the disease

You call, you call me, I run; but I fear The fire, the chasm, the boiling of the rich man; Who will carry me and place me in the bosom of Abraham? (The account of the rich man and Lazarus is contained in the first poem.)

Do we not hope for the treading upon scorpions? Christ says to his own disciples: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy." Behold, I have the thermal pool; But where is my angel? Come, water, you heal Unless you, Savior, speak, and I shall be made whole. (The account of the paralytic is contained in the first poem.)

POEMS CXXXIV, CXXXV, CXXXVI, CXXXVII, CXXXVIII, CXXXIX. ^B The miracles of Elijah. Gregory the Theologian relates the miracles of Elijah in sequence; the form is not that of a history, but of an explanation in the manner of a paraphrase in brief and metrical speech. The miracles are as follows: He was fed by ravens, and he sustained the widow of Sidon with small remnants of flour and oil, and by seven breaths he revived her dead son; he held back the rain and dew, having shut the heaven for three and a half years; he brought down strange fire upon the sacrifice, and slew the prophets of shame; he remained forty days without food, and partook of food and water provided by an angel; he scorched two captains of fifty who desired to drag him away with their entire army; he crossed the Jordan by dividing it with his mantle; and he ascended to heaven, having mounted a chariot of fire and horses, and at the same time he left his mantle and grace to Elisha. ^C

POEM CXL. The miracles of Elisha

In like manner, the divine Gregory goes through the miracles of Elisha as follows: He crossed the Jordan by dividing it with his mantle; he rendered the springs of Jericho fruitful, fit for children, by adding salt; he destroyed by bears the impudent children as insolent; he brought potable water from Edom to the thirsty army; he delivered a woman from debt, having provided an abundance of oil, which gushed forth lavishly; he gifted a child to the Shunammite woman, who had none, and when he died he raised him up again; he checked death in the pottage from herbs, which was about to destroy those eating, and he helped those who were about to eat with ^D more necessary food; he cleansed Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy, and sent the disease upon Gehazi as a punishment for avarice; he caused the ax that had fallen into the Jordan to float up from the depths; he gave the enemies who were dragging him along to the Hebrews, striking them with blindness, and afterward released them unharmed; he then foretold the abundance to the people, and the working of the lepers; and even in death he raised a dead man from his bones, when he had merely touched them.

CARMEN CXLI. Acrostichis on himself and on the envious.

^A Exhorting and comforting himself for the struggles, the divine Gregory says that Isaiah was sawn asunder, the three youths were received by the fire in a foreign land, Daniel was cast to the beasts, Peter and Paul wrestled in Rome, and John the Forerunner endured decapitation for the sake of his freedom of speech. The interpretations of these events are found in the preceding texts.

CARMEN CXLII. On himself.

^B The ways of Zion mourn for the law-worshippers, / Longing for the people on festival days.

When Jerusalem was carried away into captivity by the Assyrians, the prophet Jeremiah lamented, and Zion’s ways mourn for not seeing the people coming on festival days. The divine Gregory says that he is mourning for the people whom he himself had brought forth and trained in the Trinity, because he no longer enjoys their instruction.

Thunder with skins, send lightning with lamps, / But I have bound the Word on every side.

Salmoneus was the son of Aeolus and king of the Thessalians. Having become impious toward the gods, as the myth says, he attached dried and tough skins to chariot wheels, and along with the skins, certain cauldrons, and produced the sounds of thunderclaps; and holding burning torches in his hands, he boasted that he was thundering and lightning like Zeus; having been struck by a thunderbolt from Zeus, he was destroyed, and left an underage daughter named Tyro. She, having been raised by her paternal uncle Cretheus, fell in love with the local river, Enipeus; and Poseidon, having made himself resemble this river, had union with Tyro, and she conceived Pelias and Neleus, and she was pregnant with them; but she was married by Cretheus, though in truth by Poseidon; and later Tyro also had children from Cretheus himself. Now the myth explains that Salmoneus thundered and lightened in imitation of Zeus with skins and torches. The divine Gregory brought this story forward, since those who approach discourses in imitation of him, and look toward opposition, are like the thunder produced by skins compared to the true thunder, and they are like the light of a lamp compared to the true lightning, according to the comparison of the divine Gregory.

CARMEN CXLIII. On himself.

^C I was not ignorant of Jonah, who the Word of God / Fled, but was caught / By surge, lot, beast, belly, and boiling heat.

The explanation concerning Jonah is contained in the first poem.

As you brought me, like Lazarus, back from the graves / After four days, crying out.

It is likewise in the first poem.

CARMEN CXLIV. Dialectical discourse on those who swear oaths.

^D After having discussed much about the fact that one ought not to swear, the divine Gregory introduces what is written as a difficulty: for it is, "The Lord swore by Himself"; and, "The Lord swore truth to David, and He will not set him aside"; and that Paul says, "God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of His Son"; and elsewhere, "Not for the sake of greed, God is my witness." Gregory the Theologian says that these do not possess the form of an oath, but rather a manner of faith to confirm that the promise is certain.

He adds that Plato also uses certain names for the sake of swearing, such as the plane tree, while other philosophers, he says, swear by the spirit.

CARMEN CXLV. On Himself, and on Bishops.

The Theologian, inveighing against those who are ignorant of teaching, speaks by antiphrasis. For since they consider ruling and leading the people a great matter, which they seem to believe can be accomplished without eloquence and without greatness of soul—wherefore they also call the blessed apostles by the title of "fishermen"—Gregory sees in this the singular grace of the Holy Spirit, who descended upon the apostles in the form of a tongue of fire. Then, by way of mockery, he addresses them: "Let Sextus be well, let Pyrrho be well, and the eloquent Plato with him. But you, occupy yourself with those things in which you seem to make some progress, and use the speech granted to you by nature; explain to me the Trinity, by dividing it and composing it. Recant the passion of Christ, and clarify for me the world, both stable and subject to change; it is in these things that it becomes a Christian philosopher to engage, and by these he will be able to acquire fame for himself."

Simon Magus, born in the village of Gettho, heard the Gospel from the beginning in Samaria from Philip the apostle, and having embraced the faith, he was baptized. He then approached Peter, who was imparting the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, and, having promised money, he asked for the same gift of grace. To whom Peter replied: "May your money be with you for perdition, because you thought that the gift of God could be acquired with money. You have no lot or share in this word." In this way, Peter frequently contended in words against this wretched man; indeed, at Rome, when by magic he had raised himself into the air, Peter and Paul (under the Emperor Nero), by their joint prayers, caused him to be cast down from on high, which was proof that he had rashly and arrogantly boasted himself to be the Paraclete. Comparing him with those who had obtained the episcopacy or other similar dignity by given money, Gregory says: "Yesterday Simon Magus, today, like another Simon Peter, you profess the dogma."

Cyrus, ^A king of the Medes, was very rich; Crœsus, a Lydian, was also excessively wealthy in gold. And what shall I say of Midas the Phrygian? To him all things turned into gold, as he had craved, inflicting upon him the punishment for his insatiability; but concerning these things, it has already been spoken above. The opinion of Gregory is this: "Whence, O man, being poor, did it come to you that, by surpassing the wealth of all, you now occupy the royal seat, and by force possess more than is sufficient, to say nothing of all things?" Become a Zacchæus; if it seems good, restore only the principal to those who have been wronged; for you do not carry the burden of the law.

Zachaeus says: "And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." But you, says the Theologian, at least return the principal, O greedy man! ^A

It is written that his mother brought to Samuel, as he was ministering to the Lord in Shiloh, a small diploid, and that he was clothed with an ephod; and an ephod is an ephistris, according to Aquila; but according to Theodotion, it is a shoulder-garment or a tunic. ^B

662 The boundaries of the Mysians and Phrygians are separate. With steadfast guards. 701 A fable seats the weasel within the chamber, 702 For she had a bride appropriately dressed; 706 Having run up, she had a banquet, not a marriage. 707 Such is every illegitimate teacher. 721 And if you happen to be a leader to us in this way, 722 If you are most base and full of wickedness, 723 This is, even now, the briar ruling over the trees.

^C Gedeon the judge begets seventy sons, among whom was Abimelech, the son of a Shechemite concubine. This man, having persuaded the Shechemites to ally with him, slaughtered all his brothers upon one stone. But Jonathan, the youngest of Gedeon's sons, fled to the mountain and was saved; and he stood and spoke this parable to the Shechemites: "The trees of the forest went forth," he says, "to anoint a king over themselves, and they said to the olive tree, 'Come, reign over us.' But since it would not offer its kingship in exchange for the quality of its own fruit, and for this reason refused to reign, they said to the vine, 'Come, reign over us.' But since it too refused, not deeming the kingship of fruitless trees worthy of its own cheerfulness, they said to the fig tree, 'Come, reign over us.' But not even this one, by exchanging its kingdom for the fruit of its own sweetness, would allow it; they requested the briar to come and reign over them." The briar, therefore, is a prickly and fruitless plant, to which the trees of the forest entrusted their own rule. He compares Abimelech to the briar, and the Shechemites to the trees of the forest. "And if not," says the parable, "let fire come out from the briar and consume the trees of the forest; or from the trees, and let it eat the briar." Which also came to pass. For when the Shechemites revolted against Abimelech, he encamped against them and ordered everyone to lift loads of wood so that he might burn Shechem; and the Shechemites fled to the tower in Shechem. Under which Abimelech, having himself set the fire and razed the entire city, a woman threw a millstone from the wall, and brought it down upon the head of Abimelech, and having crushed it, wretchedly deprived him of life, according to the parable of Jonathan. For he says, "My father Gedeon laid down his soul for Israel in his hand, and you killed his seventy sons upon one stone." Wherefore he says, blessing them: "If you have acted in truth and righteousness, may the Lord smell this your sacrifice, and if it is pleasing concerning Abimelech, and he concerning you; but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and consume Shechem; and from Shechem, and consume Abimelech." These, then, are the words of the parable of Jonathan. But Gregory the Wonderworker calls the briar those who at that time presided over the Churches, possessing no fruit of virtue; and the more grievous thing is that those who are flourishing with the fruit of teaching ^D

^A are pushed aside by the ignorant, who, by means of their own arrogance, construct a greater pile of vanity for themselves. For while those who truly choose to live in piety and who prefer to be guided rather than to guide, and who rejoice in the fruit of their own virtue, are set aside, the ignorant - those flatterers of the influential - rush forward, saying and doing such things that they might obtain a glory of which they have shown themselves unworthy. ^B

724 *For the great Israel proceeds under a leader.* 725 He leads the way for Israel as it journeys. The pillar of fire, he says, is for those being led, a pious guide, adorned with divine virtues, in speech and in wisdom. 728 *Proteus, a sophist in the theft of shapes,* 729 *Or Melampus, or some other fickle man,* 730 *Easily fashioning himself as everything to everyone.*

The story concerning Proteus and Melampus is laid out in the 45th Oration; these were seers who were accustomed to change their forms to suit those they happened to encounter. Therefore, the divine Gregory says that if a leader of the people is not pious, he is like those who, at different times, fashion themselves in different ways according to the person they happen to meet. ^C

741 *A Zeuxis, or Polycletus, or some Euphranor,* 742 *But one who, with vivid and manifold-shaded* 743 *Dyes, works on formless bodies;* [Line 744: omitted, cf. 745] 745 *Hardly drawing images of the images;* 746 *Such is every fickle man.*

(1) That Zeuxis was an excellent painter; he did not paint common and trivial things, or if he did, they were very few—he painted heroes, or gods, or battles, but he always attempted to create something new; and having conceived of something strange, he would demonstrate the precision of his art upon it. Among his other daring works, this Zeuxis also made a female hippocentaur, nursing twin hippocentaur foals that were still quite young. A copy of this picture exists now in Athens, having been transferred with exact scale to the original. But it was said that Sulla, the Roman general, had sent the original itself to Italy along with other things; then, Iiliad, the ship sank off Cape Maleas, and everything was lost, including the painting. Yet, I will show even the image of the image, as far as possible, through discourse. ^D This centaur is depicted upon lush grass, lying on the ground with her horse-legs stretched out toward the back. Her human portion is gently raised, and she rests upon an elbow. The front legs are no longer stretched out as if she were lying on her side; rather, one is bent, appearing as if the hoof is tucked under, while the other rises up in turn, catching hold of the ground just as horses do when they are trying to spring up. As for the two newborns, she holds one above in her arms, turning it like a human and offering her woman’s breast, while it suckles; the other is suckling from the horse, in the manner of a foal. Above the picture, as if from a certain vantage point, a male hippocentaur—that is to say, the father of the infants being nursed by her on both sides—leans over, smiling, not entirely visible, but appearing from the middle, holding a lion cub in his right hand and dangling it above, so as to show it to the infants. The wondrous thing about Zeuxis is that in a single subject he displayed the complexity of his art: the horse with its savage, beast-like eye; the mare, half-woman from above; and whatever was beyond the back, resembling a satyr. Gregory compares the fickle and inconsistent disposition of bishops to this image of Zeuxis.

LOGOS CXLVI. On Himself, because of speaking in meter.

486 Having reminded you of everything miraculous from before, 487 By which we recognize your greatest hand, 488 When the sea was broken and Israel passed through, 489 By the lifting up of hands, and the enemy was defeated.

This history resides in what has already been said.

192 By the trumpet of the walls and the path of the destroyers.

Joshua, the son of Nave, having besieged the city of Jericho, set up seven priests and the same number of trumpets, for seven days blowing around the city; and when the trumpeters had run around the city seven times, the walls of the city fell of their own accord, and it was entirely devoted to destruction.

200 And now, O disciple, in the storm, shake off from me 201 The sleep, or walk, and let fear stand.

They reside in various discourses.

217 A spring, I think, of sea water 218 Sweet from bitter, just as it is believed.

It resides concerning the river Alpheus and the spring of Arethusa in the sixty-eighth discourse.

267 For my discourse is not of din and noise, 268 Nor of flattery and contortions, 269 In which the wise flourish among the multitude of the young; 270 But I set out to philosophize this first, 271 To cast to God both other things and the labors of words, 272 Whoever, leaving fields that produce fruit, 273 Or having gathered gold into the bottoms of the salt sea.

He mentions Crates the Theban, and Diogenes, and Antisthenes. And the history resides in the one hundred and nineteenth discourse.

292 They had Elijah in speech, the Tishbite, 293 And the great Carmel, and the strange food, 294 The wilderness, the property of the Forerunner, 295 And the unadorned life of the children of Jonadab.

These histories reside in the first discourse.

710 Not blood, nor frog, nor cloud of midges, 743 Nor the slaughter of first-borns, the ultimate evil, 746 And in addition the surge of the Red Sea closing upon the people, 744 Have bent us; for these are the scourges of the wild 715 Egyptians cried aloud.

All these present interpretations remain in those stated before.

753 "Ares, a silent plague, a spear-bearing evil."

The Greeks say that Ares is the overseer of war and breathing wrath. And he calls him a silent, or soundless, harm and a spear-bearing evil, indicating in his form the martial aspect, and the fact that harm is not seen before it strikes; for Homer also portrays Ares in this way through verses:

"And Ares led them, and the lady Enyo, She indeed having the shameless turmoil of battle, And Ares brandished a huge spear in his hands."

758 "To roll the golden, philosophical sheepskin." 808 "You will see another Egyptian Proteus."

We have set forth the interpretation concerning Proteus and Melampus in the forty-fifth discourse. He says that he was an Egyptian, since he inhabited the island of Pharos; but he is alluding to Maximus, on whose account he says these things. For he was indeed an Egyptian, and in his character a second Proteus; for he was fickle in his ways and possessed a face full of laughter.

834 Spies, first, those of the chosen 835 Land of Israel, whom the noble one sent out, 836 But not Joshua nor Caleb the wise, 837 But if there was any insolence in young men and old, 838 Ammon, Apammon, Harpocras, Stippas, 839 Anubis, Hermanubis, the gods of Egypt, 840 Ape-formed and dog-faced demons.

Moses sent twelve spies from Kadesh to pass through the land of the Canaanites and to spy it out; among whom were Joshua the son of Nave, and Caleb, while the ten other men were weighing down the heart of the people, as if the promised land were difficult to take. Only Joshua and Caleb, tearing their garments, insisted that it would be easy for them to take. However, the Israelites, having appointed magistrates, were hastening to turn back to Egypt. Then it is said that God swore by Himself that none of those who had come out of Egypt would see the good land, except Joshua and Caleb and the infants, who do not know their right hand or their left, that is, either good or evil. The divine Gregory says, therefore, that spies of our freedom have come.

not like Caleb and Joshua in virtue, but like the aforementioned Egyptian magi and tyrants, that is, Ammon and Apammon and Harpocras and Stippas and Rhodon, Anubis and Hermanubis, the dog-headed and simian-formed gods of the Egyptians. The Egyptians, then, call Anubis Heracles, saying that he is the overseer of athletics and crowns and the discipline related to such things. ^A

863 Now a stag has come to us instead of a maiden. When the Greeks were setting sail from Greece for Troy, while they were at Aulis in Boeotia, and Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, was surrendered to Artemis to be sacrificed, Artemis, having pity on the maiden, snatches her away and carries her off to the Tauri in Scythia, and she caused a stag to appear in place of the maiden, which the Greeks, having taken it, immediately sacrificed; and Iphigenia was a priestess of Artemis in Scythia. This story is found in the 64th Discourse.

868 One fellow said that wine prevails over all, 869 Another, woman; but the wise man said truth. 870 Yet I would say that gold has the power.

Esdras the chronicler says that three young men from the captivity of the sons of Israel, being eunuchs of King Cyrus, conversed with one another, and they resolved that each should put forth a wise saying, by which he might be praised. The first then said, "Wine is supreme," and having sufficiently proven this to be stronger than all things, he fell silent. The second said, "Woman is supreme," and having put forth many things regarding how nothing is stronger than woman, he ceased his speech. The third, who proved to be the wisest, declared that truth prevails over all, having shown in many ways how it masters all things in life. The king granted a favor to this victor, fulfilling in deed what he requested; and this was to release the people from captivity and to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem together with the city. The divine Gregory says, therefore, that he who said that truth is supreme is shown to be persuasive and wise; but I would say that gold is what prevails over all, which, being preferred even to truth, attempts to have the power. ^B

919 Of hair, in which the strength lay, 920 As they say, Samson once had, 921 Whom the shorn hair betrayed.

The divine Gregory, attacking Maximus the Cynic—who had been shorn in the small house of some flute-player, having boasted and presumed to count himself among the patriarchs—says that he sheared off the beautiful locks in which he had his pride; these being shorn off, he was neither a patriarch, and he was deprived of the hair through which he had the means for shameful activities, associating with dancing girls and acting as a buffoon at weddings. And the mention of Samson, as the account has it, is stated by antiphrasis. For he is not comparing Maximus to the divine Samson, but because, having hair for the purpose we mentioned, he was deprived of it, and he failed to obtain the things he had hoped for; the history of the holy Samson is in the 6th and 75th Discourses. ^C

1032 What is Diogenes, or Antisthenes to such a man? 1033 And what is Crates to us? Spit upon 1034 The peripatos of Plato; the Stoa is nothing. 1035 O Socrates, the first things up to the point of bearing; 1036 I shall utter something more trustworthy than the Pythia.

The explanation concerning these things is found in the 119th Discourse; but concerning the Pythia, it has been spoken of in the 64th Discourse, but it shall be told now, more broadly. Phocis is a region in Greece; in it is a city called Delphi; in this city is a temple of Apollo, which is called Pytho; in this temple was the tripod and the prophetic lots within the bowl of the tripod. When therefore the ^D

oracle was consulted, the lots would leap and move of their own accord. Then the prophetess would be filled with the spirit, and would say what Apollo desired; and the prophetess was called Pythia.

1237 For there is a time, as you hear, for every deed, 1238 And the best measure of a wise discourse: 1239 Away with the customs of the Mysians and Phrygians, 1240 Away with the things from without and my own discourses. 1241 For the words of the former are for display 1242 In the gatherings and affairs of youths, 1243 In which there is no great harm in failing, or succeeding.

The saying, "There is a time for every matter, and the best measure," is from Solomon the most wise. But the "customs of the Mysians and Phrygians" are shameful. For Mysia is a region in Asia; and indeed, even there they used to mutilate themselves against the mountains of Caria, in celebration of Rhea. The explanation is set forth in the 64th poem. And "the things from without," he says, "as well as my own discourses." For the things from without lie in fictions and falsehood, in which there is no share of failing or succeeding; but our discourses, he says, take great care regarding success and truth.

1360 Since I and the power of the purple 1361 Within the sacred barrier were, 1362 The praise of God was stirred up for all together.

The divine Gregory makes an exposition, naming the kingdom "the power of the purple"; this is not history, but an explanation. But how it is called "the power of the purple," it is fitting to say: In Tyre, by the seashore, a shepherd's dog, walking along, found a shellfish and ate it; then the blood of the shellfish dyed the dog's mouth. The shepherd, thinking the dog had been wounded, took some wool and wiped the blood from its mouth, and it was found that the dog had nothing, but the wool had taken on the dye of the purple. Then, having learned that the little shell had such a dyeing power, he made this very thing known, and thus they gathered the shells in the sea and prepared the purples.

1404 Yet he groaned, as they say, the giant 1405 Struck previously by a thunderbolt on the Etnean height, 1406 And he vomited fire and smoke from the deep.

Typhoeus is said to have had a hundred serpentine heads, and he spoke against Zeus; and when he was about to cause a revolution against him, Zeus, with many thunderbolts, barely struck him down, and because of the excess of strength he possessed, not content with these, he placed him under Mount Etna, from whence the shouting occurring there to this day is mythologized to be the groaning of this giant. The divine Gregory, using the example of the giant in his discourse, showed how much the imperial city languished, deprived of him; for a certain cry is said to have risen from the people, as if against the Trinity itself.

1733 From where does this come? The long-woven 1734 Image in dreams; gold, then silver, 1735 Bronze, iron, clay at the feet, 1736 I fear lest a stone shall winnow all.

Nebuchadnezzar the king saw a dream, and having forgotten it, he called the magi and the wise men of Babylon, and sought to learn from them his dream and its interpretation; and when they were at a loss to tell it, he ordered Arioch, the prefect of his house, to destroy all the wise men and the magi of Babylon. As they were being slaughtered, Daniel stood by, restraining his shameless intention, promising to the king that he would explain the dream through divine Spirit along with its interpretation; and standing before the king, he explained the dream. He said: "You saw, O king, and behold an image before your face, whose head was gold, its shoulders silver, its hands and belly bronze, while its feet and legs were iron, and its toes were clay mixed in. You were watching, he says, until a stone was cut—

without hands, and it came to the image, and shattered the image, and filled the earth. ^A Saint Gregory says, therefore, that affairs were so gathered together at that time, he having made a speech to those who envied his presidency, that the image seemed... mixed. I fear lest the stone, having crushed them, may strike. 1757 To the Moabites and Ammonites, to whom not long ago 1758 Now there is access to the church. It lies in the 12th discourse. 1763 That Lot, the patriarch of Abraham, 1764 The one walks, but the other goes the opposite way, 1765 So as not to be burdened by the breadth of the possession. It lies in the 1st discourse. 1802 Breathing upon us something western and harsh, 1803 And against them came the populace of the Trojan-minded, 1804 And like boars sharpening their fierce jaws 1805 (As I shall imitate something of tragedy,) 1806 Looking askance with fiery eyes. Homer the poet, introducing Ajax, son of Telamon, and Hector, son of Priam, contesting, and wishing to set forth the boldness of each of them, compares them to raging boars. For the story goes that when Hector challenged the chiefs of the Greeks to a contest, through some divine favor, the lot to contest with Hector fell to Ajax, son of Telamon. Therefore, first they are said to have struck one another with javelins, then with stones, and afterwards with swords. As we said, he compares the boldness of the heroes to lions or boars, saying in the lines thus: Both, having drawn their long spears in their hands, Fell together like raw-eating lions, Or wild boars (1). By "breathing western," he means the bishops who were present from the West; and he says "Trojan-minded" in imitation of tragedy, for Hector, breathing greatly on behalf of Ilium, was engaged with the Danai. 1818 I for a time, like a horse in bonds, 1819 Although worn down by evils and disease, 1820 Stamping my feet within, I did not cease, 1821 I broke the bonds and the cause with joy. ^B He shows the warmth of his eagerness from the natural impulse of the horse; he also mentions something similar elsewhere in the funeral oration for the divine Basil. For he says that desire also acts like the Homeric horse; and here it signifies restraint, but there rather release; and the Homeric horse is a model of zeal for Diomedes. For the poet, wishing to represent the sharpness and warmness in war of the hero, compares him through the example of the Homeric horse, having said this line: As when some stabled horse, having gorged at the manger, Breaks his tether and runs over the plain (2). And Homer says this line concerning Alexander, who is also Paris; but I do not know for what reason some of the ancient historians transferred it to Diomedes, for the line goes thus: As the son of Priam, Paris, from the height of Pergamus, Laughing (3). Shining in armor like the sun, he had advanced. 1838 And I, Jonah, the prophet, become, 1839 I give myself to the ship for salvation, 1840 Although I happen to be guiltless of the storm; 1841 Having taken us up, release by the casting of lots, 1842 A whale, hospitable from the deep, shall receive me. The history lies in the 1st discourse.

DISCOURSE CXLVII. To Maximus (4).

to those present, they caught the meter of the verse, and thus the rules for the meter were crafted. Homer, therefore, is indeed inspired by the Muses, as some say. For they declare him to be the son of Calliope, who excels the other Muses; and it is said that it was by her that he was inspired, and that in beauty of language he surpasses all the wise men of the Greeks; but others say this of Hesiod. For he, they say, while being a shepherd in the village of Ascra, which lies near Helicon, beheld the Muses; and they, wishing to honor him, bestowed upon him a branch of laurel, through which he became rich in wisdom; and for this reason Hesiod is called the Ascræan, because his father, having become a fugitive from his country on account of poverty, dwelt in the village of Ascra, and he drank from the prophetic waters.

21 ^B Saul the prophet, Maximus the logographer. The poem makes Saul a prophet, as we have explained in the twelfth *Logos*; but Gregory counts Maximus among the logographers, disparaging him. For he says of Maximus, since he has become a logographer, who would not be a logographer? And who will stay his hand, since there are many Maximi and many who are deranged?

46 ^C Now Orpheus for us, moving all things with his fingers, 57 The wall-builder Amphion, from the strains of the lyre. It has been stated in many places concerning Orpheus that he was Thracian by birth; and he is said to draw all things by the strains of his lyre. Amphion and Zethus are said to have built the Seven-gated (Thebes) of Greece by means of the lyre.

*Logos* CXLVIII. Against a noble but ill-tempered man.

*Logos* CXLIX. Against tomb-robbers.

Is this Sciron, or Typhoeus, or a giant, Who comes tyrannizing the shades, and my tomb? Typhoeus is an igneous and burning demon; for *typhoi* (vapors) are flames and smoke. Typho is a sea serpent. They say also that Osiris was torn apart by Typhon, just as Dionysus was by the Titans, as is set forth in the sixty-fourth *Logos* concerning these matters. And Hercules is certainly called a giant; for they say he accomplished great labors; or Otus and Ephialtes, who tyrannized Ares and imprisoned him bound in a bronze vessel for thirteen months; or certainly Passalus and Acmon; and the giant in Aetna is Typhoeus. The story is located in the one hundred and forty-fifth *Logos*.

*Logos* CL. On the way (or, Wayside).

89 ^A *Logos* CLI. To myself. Beelphegor worshipping, not 90 The One who is Master. Beelphegor is a god of the Moabites and Ammonites, to whom the people of Israel, having committed fornication, were brought to their end. It is located in the twelfth *Logos*.

LOGOS CLII. To the Soul.

7 Would you have the things of Gyges 8 Of Lydia become yours? 9 And with a finger to play the tyrant 10 Unwinding the sling, 11 Hiding if it were hidden, 12 Appearing if it were appearing?

^A Plato the philosopher in the *Republic* (for this is the name of that work of his) introduces a certain myth. He says that there was a certain Gyges, a shepherd in Lydia. This man, while pasturing his sheep on a mountain, happened upon a certain cave, and having entered it, he found a bronze horse. Inside that horse lay a dead man wearing a gold ring, the head of which ring was flexible and could be turned—which head the divine Gregory calls a "sling." Gyges, he says, took the ring and went out; and whenever the ring was in its proper position, he was seen by all, but when he turned the "sling" of the ring, he became invisible to all. Plato introduces this myth to suggest that the just man, even if he should take the ring of Gyges so that he might not be seen by anyone, would not for that reason choose to do wrong. For one should practice the good for its own sake, and not on account of other people. Having this ring, therefore, Gyges came to the palace of the Lydians, and by turning the sling, he became invisible; he entered and killed the king. But Herodotus relates the affairs concerning Gyges differently, saying that he killed Candaules at the instigation of the queen, and reigned in his stead.

13 Would you have the things of Midas, 14 The rich man who died, 15 Whose gold was everything, 16 Bearing a golden famine 17 Like an insatiable prayer? It is located in the 119th *Logos*.

47 Would you brandish a spear 48 Breathing some warlike fury? 49 And crowns from the contests, 50 And beast-slaying strength?

^B They say that Ares is the overseer of wars and breathes rage. Thus Homer says of him: "Ares, Ares, bane of mortals." And he calls Heracles "beast-slaying," for he is said to have destroyed various beasts. It is located in the 2nd *Logos*.

104 But clothing or hair 105 Of camels, by the law of the just, 106 Or a hide, a covering 107 For the old nakedness.

The theologians say that John was clothed in a garment made of camel's hair, and wore a leather girdle about his loins; and the "old nakedness" is that which was after Adam.

LOGOS CLIII. On Virginity.

23 Adam in paradise, Moses on Mount Sinai, 24 Zacharias the father of the Forerunner, ministering.

He says they honored virginity in fitting times: Adam in paradise before Eve was created, or rather before partaking of the tree of knowledge; Moses on Mount Sinai, sanctifying the people and forbidding sexual intercourse; and Zacharias, ministering in the temple.

33 You journey well, virgin, finding salvation unto the mountain, 34 Look not toward Sodom, lest you become a pillar of salt. It exists in the 1st and 2nd *Logos*.

47 The morning star fell, but the angels of heaven 48 Judas was a traitor, whereas the eleven are lamps.

These stories exist in the 2nd and 3rd *Logoi*.

81 From which the tempter brought a trial to Christ, 82 Asking him to turn stones into bread while he hungered.

The story concerning the temptation is in the 2nd and 3rd *Logoi*.

85 The cruse of oil shall not fail you, O believing one,

86 A raven shall feed you, just as in the desert it fed Elijah. 88 A great Paul, hungry and shivering with cold. The story is likewise contained in the second and third discourses. 87 You see Thecla escaping from fire and wild beasts. It is contained likewise in the second and third discourses. It is contained likewise in the second and third discourses.

OTHER HISTORIES

Of all the external histories which the divine Gregory mentioned in his rhetorical discourses, he subsequently made mention of these in the works which he composed in verse, and indeed of many more by comparison; nevertheless, there are a few histories appearing in the rhetorical discourses which he did not mention in the book of poems. We have considered it good to set these forth as well, so that nothing of what he wrote should be unknown to those who diligently study this book.

HISTORIES APPEARING IN THE RHETORICAL DISCOURSES OF SAINT GREGORY WHICH HE HAS NOT MENTIONED IN HIS POEMS

1. Concerning the sacrificial divination of the Magi. The Magi derived their divinations through sacrifices, by means of hepatoscopy. For by sacrificing and cutting open, they observed certain signs in the entrails, in the livers, and in other parts, through which they claimed to foretell what was to come. The Magi are a race of Medes, from whom these hepatoscopists originated.

2. Concerning the astrology of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans, among whom Zarutres is the first, and after him Ostanes, applied themselves to the movement of the heavens, and claimed that the fortunes of those born are determined by this movement of the celestial bodies. From these Chaldeans the Greeks learned astrology, and began to attribute those who are born to the movement of the stars.

3. Concerning the Thracians and Orpheus. First of all men, the Thracians began to worship and serve God, to celebrate rites, and to hold mysteries; from this, the term "thrakes" (Thracians) is associated with "threeskeuein" (to worship), meaning piety toward the divine. Orpheus is said to be the first of all the Thracians to have introduced these rites according to the manner of their celebration; and this is the Orpheus who is said to charm even inanimate things with his lyre, and to tame wild beasts through the striking of his lyre.

4. Concerning the Lydian chariot. This is a proverb used of those who wish to compete but are unable to attain their goal. The proverb is: "He chases the Lydian chariot." The proverb is derived from Lydian chariots, as they were the swiftest and most difficult to overcome in a race.

^A ε'. Concerning Orestes and Pylades. This Orestes is the son of Agamemnon; he held such great friendship for Pylades, and Pylades for Orestes, that even when Pylades had died, Orestes sought to follow him down even to Hades.

^B ς'. Concerning the Labyrinth. On the island of Crete there is a mountain, in which is a cavernous cave, difficult for its descent and hard regarding its ascent, into which it is said the Minotaur was cast. Since, therefore, it is difficult to emerge from the labyrinth, now the divine Gregory has taken this as a metaphor for inextricable arguments, from which no one was able to escape, but was thoroughly caught. He also brings forward the nets; this is a term for a thick-roped net, which they set for the hunting of bears or deer or against stronger beasts.

^C ζ'. Concerning the daughters of Scedasus. The Lacedaemonians, in the Peloponnesian War, after defeating the Athenians with full force, wished to attack their own allies as well; and having launched an expedition against the Thebans, before they approached to fight against the city, they arrived at Leuctra (this is a city of the Thebans), and having engaged in battle, they were defeated, with Epaminondas the general of the Thebans excelling. Now, the disaster happened to the Lacedaemonians at Leuctra for the following reason: Scedasus, being at Leuctra, had three daughters. Some of the Lacedaemonians, having been entertained by them long ago, violated the girls by sexual intercourse. Then, fearing that they might reveal the outrage to their own father, the Lacedaemonians killed them. Scedasus, having returned to his own city, Leuctra, and having learned what had happened, cursed all the Lacedaemonians to meet with disaster at his daughters' very tomb; and for this reason, the misfortune reached the Lacedaemonians at Leuctra.

^D η'. Concerning the Pythagorean beans. The Pythagoreans are a race of philosophers from Pythagoras of Samos. They learned the doctrines of philosophy by way of an enigma. Among other things, this enigma was also handed down: "Do not eat beans," that is, "do not betray what is just by being corrupted by bribes." For the judges in Athens of old, instead of ballots, used beans for sentencing in the courts. He says, therefore, not to eat from the beans of the court.

θ'. Concerning Scipio and Epaminondas. Epaminondas was Theban by birth, a very great general, having served as general in the Leuctrian war, and having been a student of Philolaus the Pythagorean. While at war, he was very temperate, both in foods and in sexual pleasures and every form of indulgence; for this reason, he set up the greatest trophies against the Lacedaemonians. Scipio, too, was a general of the Romans, similar in his mode of life and character to Epaminondas; he also distinguished himself in the wars against the Carthaginians, and from the victory over that nation, he received his name and was called Scipio Africanus; for the Carthaginians are called Afri.

10. Concerning Antisthenes.

11. Concerning the philosopher in Rome.

12. Concerning the man of Potidaea.

13. Concerning the "three-night" [hero].

14. Concerning the strap of Anaxagoras.

15. Concerning the inhumanity of Echetus and Phalaris.

16. Concerning the helmet of Hades.

17. Concerning Xanthus and Chalcis.

^A 18. Concerning Palamedes. This Palamedes, being an Euboean by birth (Euboea is an island opposite Attica), is said to have been the first to invent arithmetic, the game of dice, and to have used many other methods. This Palamedes is one of those who went to war against Ilium; and he died in Troy through the treachery of Odysseus. For he had Odysseus as an enemy for the following reason: When Agamemnon urged Odysseus to join the expedition to Troy, Odysseus did not wish to leave, and so he pretended madness, yoked an ass, and, as if to plow, feigned insanity. Palamedes, however, exposed him as follows: he placed his son Telemachus before the plow; then, when Odysseus reached the child, he lifted the plow so as not to strike him, and it was known that he was of sound mind. Odysseus, harboring this grudge in Troy, composed a forged letter as if from Priam to Palamedes regarding the betrayal of the Greeks, and he planted it in Palamedes’ tent. Later, after an accusation was made against Palamedes as a traitor, the letter was found, and he was put to death by Agamemnon and all the Greeks.

^B 19. Concerning Religion (*Threskeuein*). Orpheus is said to be a Thracian by lineage. Having established the mysteries of the Greeks through theology, he taught how one ought to honor the gods. This honoring of gods he called *threskeuein*; it is derived from what is as it were *theoderkeuein*, that is, to see God. To be initiated (*mueisthai*) is so called either because mysteries and secret rites are performed, or because it makes one close the senses and pass beyond every bodily imagination, and thus receive divine illuminations.

^C 20. Concerning the Interpretation of Dreams. Telmessus is a city of Lycia, and this is a most ancient city; it existed even in the time of Croesus. They are said to have been the first to discover and distinguish dreams and omens. For they used to say, if some extraordinary thing occurred, that it signified such-and-such, and it would invariably turn out just as they had said.

21. Concerning Augury by Xenocrates. The Phrygians are said to have invented all augury. Of augury, one part is ornithoscopy, which the Phrygians discovered, another is domestic augury, another is omen-reading on roads, another is chiromancy, and another is the observation of palpitations. ^D Ornithoscopy, then, is when we say that this or that bird flying, whether in front or behind, to the right or to the left, signifies such-and-such; it is said that Telegonus was the first to have discovered this. Domestic augury is when one explains the things happening in the house and says that such-and-such is signified because a weasel, or a snake, or a mouse appeared on the roof, or oil, or honey, or wine, or something else had been spilled; Xenocrates wrote about these. Augury on the road is when one explains the things encountered on the road, saying: "If someone meets you carrying this, such-and-such will happen; if so-and-so, such-and-such; if you meet a fox, or a doe, or a raven, or another animal, such-and-such follows"; this Pollis wrote about. Chiromancy is when we say, through the extension of the hands and the lines, that such-and-such signifies this for him, or that he will marry, or beget children, or something of the sort; this Helenos wrote about. The observation of palpitations consists of that which is recognized by the pulsing of the body; for instance, if the right eye twitches, it signifies such-and-such, or the shoulder, or the thigh; this Posidonius and many others wrote about.

^A

XXII. On the slave-breeding Scythians and the scourges.

^B

XXIII. On the Thessalian horses.

^C

XXIV. On Plato in his works on the city.

^D

XXV. On Phanes and Heri and Paeus.

XXVI. On Oceanus and Tethys.

his mother. And as for Oceanus and Tethys being of both sexes, and that they were long separated from each other, but through the intercession of Hera, their union and friendship were restored: the myth, he says, hints that Oceanus is the humid element, and Tethys the dry, that is, the earth; and that in times past, when the humid element was not joined with the earth, nothing was brought to life, and all things were perishing. Then Hera, being the guardian of the union, reconciles the two elements, and thus generation ensues.

XXVII. On the war of the gods. Athena and Hera, caring for the Greeks, fought against Aphrodite and Ares, who cared for the Trojans; you might liken these wars to the wars of the giants against the gods, and those of the Titans against Dionysus.

XXVIII. On the feast of the Ethiopians. Homer says that Zeus went away to Ethiopia for a feast. For the Ethiopians, having prepared a feast, called both him and the other gods with him. The feast of the Ethiopians and this mode of living was a sacrifice offered to Zeus; and the verses are these: For Zeus went to Oceanus to the blameless Ethiopians Yesterday for the feast, and all the gods followed with him. ^B

XXIX. On Zopyrus. Darius, king of the Persians, while besieging Babylon for a long time, and the city being difficult to take, and he himself being vexed for a long time, a certain Zopyrus, brave in soul, as the event showed, and not inglorious in the eyes of Darius, ^C devises such a thing as this: having cut off his own nose and ears, and having lacerated his body severely with whips, he deserts, as it were, to the Babylonians, as if he had suffered terrible things at the hands of Darius. Then, having departed, he feigns favor toward the Babylonians, to lead their army on behalf of the Babylonians—that is, to strike against the forces of Darius and kill many of them. But having arranged a signal with Darius for a set day, on which he was to attack Babylon, at that time he persuades the Babylonians to take the keys of the gates; then, having received them, he opened them and led in the Persians, and thus was Babylon captured. Herodotus tells these things in the third book of his Histories. ^D

XXX. On the word "comrade," and on "propinare" (offering a toast). Plato and all the philosophers call genuine lovers of wisdom "comrades," that is to say, friends. Julian, therefore, as if he had been practicing philosophy, did not behave arrogantly on account of his empire, but mimicked Plato and the others, calling everyone "comrade," and this name was very common for him in his conversations. And "propinare" (to offer a toast) is this: all the ancient kings, performing a public festival, would receive in either golden or silver bowls wine mixed by the cupbearer himself, and they would drink a little from the cup, as this was a symbol of great friendship, and then he would offer it to whomsoever he wished, bestowing the cup upon him; and this act was called "propinare." And the day itself was called a "philotēsia" (day of friendship). And "laryngizein" (gurgling) is an imitation of the voice, when someone, taking pleasure in what he says, modulates his voice and narrows it so that it seems to be held back in the larynx.

31. ^A On Hercules’ madness and Megara. Megara, so called, the daughter of Creon, king of the Thebans, was married to Hercules and bore him children. Juno, however, bearing ill-will toward Hercules for many reasons, cast him into a fit of madness, and in his frenzy he killed his children—those by Megara.

32. ^B On the lacerated and mangled gods. This story seems to concern the Titans and Dionysus; it is as follows: Persephone bore the Zagreus Dionysus, having conceived him by Zeus. When he was born, the Titans (a class of daimones) envied Dionysus because he had his birth from Zeus, and they tore him asunder. Others say that it was at the instigation of Hera that Dionysus was torn apart by the Titans. Now, this is the story concerning the mangled gods and Dionysus. But regarding the "cut" ones, no story is apparent to us, save for that concerning the giants. For they themselves, desiring to make war upon the gods, were fought by the gods, who took up arms against them and cut them down, after which Zeus sent his thunderbolt against them.

EXPLANATION OF WHAT THE DIVINE GREGORY HAS DISCUSSED PHYSIOLOGICALLY IN THE VERSES HE COMPOSED, BY ORDERING THE LINES

496 Yet I, even if a foul [cloud] has covered me ^C 497 And the enemy has poured dark [blackness] before me, 498 Like a cuttlefish I have vomited [it] into the water—but even so, 499 I still watch and see to the best of my ability.

The cuttlefish is a kind of sea creature; it possesses natural black fluid, just as snakes do. But the fluid of snakes is lethal, whereas that of the cuttlefish is not; it only spills into the water and muddies the water around it. The cuttlefish possesses this black fluid as a natural aid, similar to those [soldiers] who use a shield to ward off darts in battle. For when it is troubled by fishing hooks and is, as it were, forcibly dragged from its lair, it vomits its black fluid, which has such power that it muddies the entire body of water around it. Since the water has been confounded by it, the hunters are unable to see where to cast their net, and their efforts are thwarted; the cuttlefish, meanwhile, escapes the fishermen thanks to the blackness of the water.

558 With which you have sated my heart, whether by me 559 Being punished for bitter wickedness, or by afflictions, just as when a colt 560 You subdue with all sorts of paths and steep, pathless places.

It is a custom among the wise, and indeed in the divinely-inspired Scripture, to call mules "colts," for they possess a natural restlessness. For the horse, just as it has natural power, has also gentleness, providing an image of nobility; for that which is noble is clearly well-behaved. But colts, that is to say mules, possess a confused birth, for they are descended from both horses and donkeys; therefore, everything ill-born is clearly also ill-tempered. Since they possess, as we have said, the disorder of a forbidden—or rather, a derivative—birth, they kick and struggle against their rider, loathing him and seeking to push him off, and for the most part thrashing about. But when they are mastered by great force, ^D

^A they are tamed by various paths and trackless ways, being whipped with rods and handled in more bitter ways. Such is what the divine Gregory says: temptations, which are brought upon some for wickedness and upon others for the testing of virtue, are permitted or even overlooked by God in many ways.

608 A strange delight it has, as when a thirsty ^B 611 Stag seeks the cool spring, near to the best of men.

The divine David said that the stag longs for the springs of water; yet it does not naturally have a compulsion toward the springs, but it runs to them for the sake of quenching its thirst. For when it dwells in the deserts, it fills its belly with poisonous reptiles and is consumed by thirst; but upon finding a cold spring, it is relieved of the burning within. Therefore, the divine Gregory says that for those who are filled with the burning heat of various temptations and passions, the companionship of good men can become a source of relief, just as the cold water is for the stags.

104 The mortal, whom He fashioned as the observer of His world, ^C 105 My root, and seed of life's many-branching way— 106 Having divided him asunder with mighty life-sustaining hand, 107 He took the single rib from his flank for the woman, 108 And having fashioned her, He set within their minds a love 109 For both, putting them in motion toward each other; 110 Not for all, nor towards all, but He set a boundary for desires, 111 Which they call marriage, the bridle of unmeasured matter.

The Theologian says that the desire for one another—I mean that of the husband and the wife—was naturally implanted from the beginning by the Creator in such a way that, even if they were unwilling, they would nevertheless, out of an innate impulse, be drawn toward each other. But he says that this is not the case for all, nor is the desire of the man toward every one of the female sex, nor again that of the woman toward every one of the male sex, but He set a boundary: that which is according to wedlock, and he thus turns them away from the beastly manner of the herd. To the other senseless cattle, nature has granted a frenzied, herd-like pursuit of one another, but to human beings, [it is granted] according to wedlock. Although potential desire is naturally present and limited, the urge toward sexual union is indeed naturally present in all, but to not make use of these impulses, but rather to exercise self-control over nature and do violence to it, belongs only to virtue and to those who live a life surpassing nature.

241 If truly, for the high-foliaged palm, the law of desire 242 Fastens the female and the male, at the season of spring, ^D 243 To bud forth clustered fruit by the hands of the fruit-growers.

Grafting is not natural for other trees; for they, even when grafted by others, preserve their own shoot while also manifesting that of another within themselves in a divided manner. But not so the palm; rather, having a natural disposition to be grafted from its own species, it does not bring forth fruit without the male. For the fruit-growers, with their own hands, opening a portion of the crown of the plant, insert a part of the male, just as the plant, acting as a womb, receives the seed; and from there, becoming pregnant, it yields the fruit-bearing birth in due season.

244 And if from a pair of stones a stone is born into one, 245 As men skilled in stones declare, 246 There is also for inanimate things a marriage and a bond of love.

The stone is inanimate, it is clear, and senseless, possessing no union toward things mental or sensible. Yet there is a great difference among stones, I say, according to their kind and touch. For some are more beautiful in color and harder, and others larger or smaller, yet they are all stones. There is a natural...

^A simile; hence it comes about that a heavy weight placed upon a softer body makes it walk with greater difficulty, being weighed down by that weight. In the tortoise, therefore, the nature of body and soul is set before our eyes. The soul is light, the body is leaden. The body, being the heavy part, strives to drag down the soul, the lighter part. But the soul has the power to pull the body back. For what does not fall into the senses, we understand by contemplating its very nature; but the logical and intellectual power is, as it were, the mistress of the body; wherefore, even when it is dragged to the bottom, it suffers against nature. The tortoise has by nature the quality of being constrained, as if wearing a surrounding shell like a kind of restraint; and it walks, indeed, so as to live and move, but is sluggish due to the natural necessity of its weight; this, therefore, says the divine Gregory, is what those who are joined in marriage suffer: they walk, wishing to go towards God, but more sluggishly because of being girt about with the marital burden; for this is what the Theologian aims to demonstrate by the example of the tortoise.

538 Nor as the law ^B for amphibians having both land 539 And soft things that live in water by night and dawn.

An amphibian is everything that is land-and-water dwelling, as are leaping frogs and crabs walking sideways, living both in soft waters and dwelling on dry land. For just as there are things that cannot live without water, and others that cannot live in water, it is the law—which runs generally, and which is clearly nature—that has ordained some things to live in both. And the most excellent Gregory likens those who are married to these, ^C at one time as those consumed by the softer ways of marriage, and at another time as those who, by the hardness of a most rugged life according to virtue, strive to shape themselves into a simulated form of virtue.

291 No great blow does the asp give, but it brings immediate death, 292 And an enjoyable one for those breathing through the lethargy of death.

Among the venomous viperous kinds, the asp strikes with a small bite, yet it has such great efficacy that one deems the death to be pleasure. Just as those who are scabby, by scratching themselves, procure pleasure from the disease as humor and blood run over the surface of the body, so too for those struck by the asp, black blood rushes toward the heart. That pleasure is produced in them by the boiling of the body and the movement of the natural passages is undoubted; and it draws on sleep as the body is warmed. For those who are drunk are also carried off into deep sleep, being burned by the heat of the wine, and coming to their senses slightly, they certainly reach for cold water, soothing the thirst that arises, no longer by wine-drinking, but by water-drinking; such a burning power is present in the beast by nature, that upon the moment of striking it heats the blood at the heart and draws one on to sleep, and it is pleasant to those who have escaped ^D the making of death. Thus, says the divine Gregory, the demon, he who brings in a pleasure that seems brief or a small concern for life, destroys one through a painless sleep. They tell fables that the phoenix bird lives without a mate, and when nearly five hundred years have passed, it dies in this way:

^A

526 As they say the phoenix bird, dying, grows young again, 527 Born in fire after cycles of many years, 528 A strange offspring from the aged ash, self-born, 529 So they who die become everlasting.

There is a rumor concerning the phoenix bird, that it is unique, not possessing a mate. They say this happens after a certain time—they claim it is nearly five hundred years—and it dies in this manner: It gathers wood, storing it in one place, upon which, falling from a height with a whizzing sound, it produces fire, from which a conflagration is kindled. It dies, he says, being burned up, but from the ash it again grows up. This, however, is a grannified fable, an echo of Greek prodigy-mongering; for nothing regarding the birds or cattle or beasts of the time of Noah is enumerated in this way. For two by two and seven by seven of all things were placed with him into the ark, male and female. All flesh perished from the flood that occurred, except those in the ark; so that the story concerning the phoenix bird is a phantom of a myth. For the Theologian does not introduce this as a truth, proving it to be certain; rather, he designates it as such, and by this he depicts the life of those who practice virginity. For just as, he says, there is a rumor that the phoenix grows young, being born in fire after cycles of many years, so too all those who live according to virtue, dying to the things of this world, become immortal, being ignited by the desire for the Master Christ. ^B

Nor with your life to cast the remora flesh, ^C Which, though eager, yet hinders the ship.

The all-wise Gregory, who knows divine things, says that the flesh, or the mindset of the flesh, is a bond for those living according to God. He says this by way of derivation from the fish in the sea which they call the remora; it is small and very insignificant, upon which is set a small bone on its back. If this creature encounters a ship carrying many thousands against which violent winds are driving, it fastens the bone on its back to the ship, and hinders it, though it is being dragged along forcefully, not allowing it to proceed any further, even though it is sailing through the uncontrollable waters. Such power does it have, although it is of the most insignificant nature. Such is, the admirable Theologian says, the mindset of the flesh; even though it seems to be a small and insignificant care, yet it holds back the strong and very swift voyage, and hinders the soul’s course toward God. ^D

554 O nature, mother of all, and your wonders I shall tell, 555 As many as in dry lands and in seas you have placed.

The Theologian Gregory calls nature the mother of all, for it is indeed the begetter of all things; for everything that is among existing things is nature, and what is not nature is, evidently, non-existent. "But your wonders, O nature, mother of all," he says, "I shall recount, as many as you have wrought both in the sea and on the earth."

536 I hear that the winged turtle-dove, of the friendly dove, 537 Once widowed, longing for her own mate, 538 Receives no other husband, keeping even above her wings!

The turtle-dove, called ^A one of the pure animals, possesses a natural chastity and a great longing for her mate. For from the time of her virginity, she is joined to the male and delights in the marriage with him alone, holding fast to him and admitting no second husband. While he is alive, she guards her union undefiled, and when he is dying or being pursued, she remains in that same friendship; for she admits no other bird above her nest, longing for the mate of her virginity. If he is not present, she suffers in a way that manifests itself to the senses; she wanders, having no rest in the wildernesses, until she is caught by her own grief, crying out long and lamenting, the wise bird chastely perishing in the longing for her spouse.

540 Nor is the dark-colored, chattering, 541 but also itself living in longing for its maiden-mate, the crow, 542 hating every husband once it has lost its dear bird.

The crow, a black bird called one of the impure, yet possesses, just as the turtle-dove, a natural chastity. For when it loses the dear and maiden-mate, it hates all other male birds. The Theologian ^B calls this bird "chattering," not thereby showing the natural characteristic in this context; for all crows are by nature inclined to cry out a great deal, as the Theologian himself declares elsewhere, saying: "They set a feast for the overly-crying crows." But the mourning crow, also restraining every bird other than its kin, is noted in this way: whereas other birds call out in an orderly fashion—from which it is possible for augurs to find omens—this one signifies its mourning with a sound that is more persistent and, as it were, more refined due to the circumstances, having no rest, crying out uncontrollably, wailing a mournful cry with drawn-out voices and constant changes of place. Thus, then, the dark-colored ^C but chaste crow perishes in its yearning for its mate.

543 For the fish of the sea there is a law; to the few 544 is lawlessness a concern regarding marriages, to many of temperance 544 and of chambers and wives; for justice also rules there.

The divine Gregory, discussing the natural state of marine fish regarding their sexual desire, says that some are lawless, while others care for chastity. For some of them rush in crowds, bearing their lust without restraint, while others care for their females, and they prepare "pastades"—that is, chambers—for themselves. And as if ashamed to mate openly and shamelessly, they enter these chambers and consort only with their own mates, taking pleasure in one another, lingering in these chambers and associating with no one from the outside. Justice, says the divine Theologian, rules among them; for they do not consort with those who are promiscuous. They ^D even fight over their chambers, it is likely, and they repel those who approach in incontinence—having obtained this orderly state by nature.

546 Others do not labor for more than one, 547 others delight in a spring-time love alone, 548 and many more, for nature has set a limit to the passions.

There are, then, fish that, having spawned once, are content and do not rush to second matings, as if enslaved to nature and considering anything beyond it to be contrary to nature; for nature has placed a limit for them on the passions. But most fish become crazed for marriage at the season of spring, moved toward intercourse as if by the harmony of the seasons, but they remain the rest of the time without sexual pleasure, as though one would say that during that time neither male nor female is to be found among them.

559 Again, the season of love is familiar to all, 560 to those dwelling in the sea, and to as many as walk upon the earth. 561 They do not pour forth their nature outside the limit, but are in need 562 of the appointed time, growing mad when the spring excites them.

After performing the demands of nature, they restrain themselves. The female of those that have conceived runs away, and when the female is with young, perceiving it through her senses, she avoids the male. For this reason, the wise have called the woman a "more feminine" creature; for whereas all females in the entire creation, after the spermatic conception, do not accept the male, the woman does not decline to do this, and even after conceiving, accepts the male who provides the seed. Every other thing of the genera is called "female," but the woman is called "more feminine" in the manner we have said—that is, more female than a female. And yet, of the aerial, earthly, and marine creatures, there are those that leap indiscriminately upon the females, while others have a care for bridal chambers and beloved spouses. Others labor but once for offspring, gratifying what is appropriate to nature and obeying the command of the Creator’s Word, so that from this it is evident that intemperance has been introduced contrary to nature. For Gregory the Theologian himself adds, speaking thus: "But if there is a discussion about temperance even for the senseless, and they take thought for it, O man, would you, who have been honored by the creature of God according to His image, not live temperately, desiring to be above the senseless? It is surely clear to everyone."

568 Others whose state of flesh is spontaneous, not through 569 Eros, 570 they do not call temperance. 570 Yet it is a god-given prize, ^B 571 to live without insolence, having a clear and unshaken mind. The Theologian Gregory says that for some, the flesh is bound of its own accord, taking no account of the things that lead to sexual intercourse; but the wise do not call this temperance. For to be self-controlled against one’s will, as if out of impotence regarding pleasure, could not be called temperance. But the Theologian calls it a tribute and divine gift to live in any way whatever without insolence, to be quiet regarding the passion in this respect, and to keep the mind unshaken. For not to be harassed by pleasure keeps the mind steadfast. Those who are naturally or for some cause deprived of pleasure are not "temperate"; but those who live in the manner we have described as untroubled possess this as a prize from God.

579 Nor does it run through the fierce fire, as the little 580 salamander, leaping with low-set feet upon the earth. The salamander is the most insignificant of the creeping kinds; yet it possesses such natural power that it extinguishes a conflagration. For when a strong flame is fanned, it moves through the middle of it, leaping as it were with its insignificant feet, and extinguishes such a great flame, possessing a natural power for this.

581 The fish is also fiery, and is not vanquished by 582 the unfriendly fire, fiery, shining through the middle of the salt sea. There is a certain fish in the sea that is fiery; for this one runs through the middle of the sea, skimming the waters with a rushing sound. It ignites while rushing, and fans a great flame in the midst of the waters. This creature, then...

being burned (for it fans the flame from within), is neither tamed by the fire while being consumed, nor harmed in any way; it remains alive and swims among the other fish, dwelling in the depths, having a natural power to ignite the fire from within, yet not being destroyed by the all-taming fire. Crossing the middle of the sea, it cleaves the waves it encounters, yet remains shining and is not extinguished by the many waters, prevailing over the sea-waves through the caustic intensity of its nature.

583 Nor does the magnet stone draw a mortar of iron. The magnet is a stone; it possesses the natural power to attract iron. For when placed above iron, it lifts it when drawn, even if it be a mortar, or one of the heaviest objects; and if placed at a distance, it likewise draws it, possessing a natural power for this.

584 Nor does the unconquered adamant cast its light upon the iron. ^A The adamant is a stone which, from its very name, shows the indomitable and hard nature of it; and when struck by the all-taming iron, it the more counters the blow; for the adamant penetrates it like wax. But it is tamed by lead, for it is crushed when struck by it.

585 Struck, yet another kind shines in a little water. 586 It threw a light in water, but was restrained by oil. ^B Here, "struck" is placed as part of the discourse joined to the line about the adamant; but the other word starting a construction indicates something else. Another, he says, is a stone that shines in a little water, that is to say another; for there is a species among stones that ignites when sprinkled with water. For the more it approaches the stream while moistened, the more it glows and gives off its brightness, but when it touches oil, it is extinguished; ^C for it possesses contrary to nature the property of shining, despite being a stone, and as something beyond nature, it feeds the fire with the nature of water, and puts it to rest with oil.

587 How many other marvels of these 588 Who could number, since there is much to say. 589 For the sublime Word plays in manifold forms, 590 Mixing the world as He wills, here and there. 591 I shall recount a few from the many, of which some I myself 592 Have seen, and of others books and the ears of others have given proof. ^D

The divine Gregory, having considered the natures of many things, and adding his voice to the word of the Creator, marvels at the manifold art, saying thus: "What further marvels exist before these, who would recount them? Or who would number them? Since there are many that you desire us to recount; for the sublime Word of God plays, that is, He speeds along and takes delight in His own creatures, having separated the world into its own manifold forms and natures, as He willed. But, he says, though I am able to recount many things, I set forth a few from the many, of which I myself was an eyewitness to many, and of which I obtained firm proof by reading books, and was most truly assured by hearing."

593 Does not one downward flow exist for all rivers, 594 And one law for the seas to be borne upon the shores, 595 And one upward course for the flaming fire with light leaps? 596 Yet nevertheless a river swims through the bitter brine, 597 And though it is a river, water does not mix with water. 598 Sailors draw sweet drink from the middle of the sea, 599 Sailing the swell, hurrying toward the land.

Behold for me, says the Theologian Gregory, how nature, even in this, forces the elements by changing their own boundaries. For the path for rivers is downward; for the nature of water flows toward the incline. But also, a stream joining with streams mixes, being a stream unmixed in its nature and unstable.

^C And yet, the Alpheus, a river belched forth from the soil of Arcadia toward the spring in Sicily—I mean, indeed, the Arethusa—passes through the middle of the sea; and the river water does not mix with the sea water. Sailors, in the midst of the currents rushing toward the land, bring their ship near to the Alpheus, and draw up a sweet drink.

600 You have seen, then, the bold, inexplicable path of Euboea, 601 The strait of the sea, the key, with back-rushing streams, 602 Raging; and the tide flows and the current returns.

How, says the divine Gregory, is there a law, as indeed there is, for the sea wave to rush into a narrow place? For the bold and unknown strait of Euboea rises up all the more; there indeed is a narrow crossing of the sea, which they also call the key of the sea; and this, growing savage with back-rushing currents, runs upward, and the sea flows, but the current, being driven back, runs upward with retrograde force, doing violence to its downward-flowing nature; and this some call Charybdis or a reflux. Aristotle, for his part, says that most of the winds are moved and rotated by the sun, by which, when they strike, the Atlantic sea swells and causes tides; and when they cease and are driven in the opposite direction, it subsides, which is the reflux. Thus, then, Aristotle seemed to explain the phenomenon. Syntheas of Massilia attributes the tides to the waxing of the moon, and the refluxes to its waning, in opposition to the Atlantic. Timotheus blames the rivers that discharge into the Atlantic through the Celtic region, claiming that they advance with their rushes and cause the tides, but by their detours and withdrawals, they bring about the refluxes. ^D But the divine Gregory says the process is incomprehensible to men, counting it among the wonders in creation, that the sea, as a matter of necessity, flows, while the current returns, hurried along by back-rushing surges.

603 And so the Ocean is drawn from the earth, and then onto the dry land 604 It comes, rushing along with hurried surges, 605 Both to the plain and to the sea, upon the Cimmerian shores.

The Ocean is that which circulates around everything under the heaven. This comes from the land, moving toward the land, changing its course with the waves that are rushing in; it rushes toward the plain and the sea to the Cimmerian shores. The Cimmerians are a people at the ends of the earth. From the land, therefore, the Ocean goes out, encompassing the whole earth; and rushing into the sea with its currents, it changes its course again, being carried along the shores, and turning back toward itself, traversing both the sea and the plain; it is neither mingled with the sea, nor does it fail to return to itself.

606 Another, again, is the flow of flames of fire, if indeed it is true, 607 From the peaks of Etna, a stream that is unbelievable, 608 A river of fire—these things, though unmixable, mingle, by the will of Christ.

There is a mountain in Sicily which they call Etna, or, as the Greeks say, the craters of Hephaestus. From there, fire is given forth, and a river flows along the mountainside; from here, then, the fire that is frequently given forth is mingled with the river, and things unmixable are mingled; for the fire is incompatible with the water, yet it is mixed and fused and flows along, water and fire being carried together in a river-like manner, a great wonder, running all the way even to the sea.

^A 609 I know how to sing of wonders, even among small things: 610 There is a grain that breaks horns, as they say, 611 That alone of all things the life-giving earth produces, 612 Being brittle and having a body that does not soften, nor even in the earth 613 Does it dissolve, nor is it moistened by rains, but it has hardened, 614 Unyielding, harder than horns for all days. 615 The horn of a bull is cast upon it, whenever the plowman 616 Pours forth into the field the grain. 617 Thence it derived both its name and its nature from the horns.

The "horn-breaking" grain is excessively dry in the earth, and is in no way softened by the rains; this grain has such power from nature that it casts aside the horn of the ox, whenever they chance upon it while plowing. Therefore it is called "horn-breaker," having a nature, as it were, contrary to horns; and its power is such that it pulls off the right horn of the ox that comes upon it automatically while plowing.

619 Such is nature; but hear also what art has achieved. 620 Starlings speak similarly to humans, 621 Emulous of an alien voice, which 622 A mirror shining in the polished glass taught, 623 The starling, releasing a hidden sound ^B of a crafty man.

Nature (as has been stated) arranged these things, but art also has been able to accomplish so much. For it taught the starlings to speak; these starlings are a genus of birds, having a natural jealousy. They speak, jealous in this manner: the crafty men and sophists paint the bird itself appearing in a mirror, as if through a polished cage, and they place the living bird beside the image; privately a crafty man sends forth a voice. The bird, thinking it has been provoked, speaks itself, echoing such a voice to the one who seems to be speaking, just as it heard it brought forth; and thus by habit it is taught to speak clearly.

638 Ravens also steal a voice, he says, that is, they mimic. Now concerning speaking, we do not have clear proof, but we do concerning the voice of ravens, at least. For there are those who stand by the craking ravens; these change the voice into a thinner or coarser sound, those others imitate them, being likewise altered in voice and assimilated to them. The fable concerning the kite, the bird, is as follows: The kites, this bird, were not, he says, originally unmusical, but had a song of their own; but having heard horses neighing, they came to a desire for their voice, and trying to mimic [it], they lost what they had, while they were intent on learning the other. For they did not learn to neigh, and they forgot how to sing. This is the enigma of the fable for those who seek what is not fitting; for the epimythium leads on thus: "The pursuit of the unfitting leads to the deprivation of one's own existences."

^C And with a loving desire [is] 625 The parrot, curved-billed within a woven house, 626 Called out with human voice, and deceived the ear of a man.

The parrot is a good-looking bird, very proud, just as the peacock is haughty in its beauty. But the peacock possesses beauty among birds only, whereas the parrot also [possesses] some natural intelligence, so to speak, in addition to this. This bird is taught a human voice; for it learns to address its masters and to utter some other words; and being shut up in woven cages, by suddenly releasing a human voice, it has deceived the hearing of those who heard [it].

627 And on its feet ropes are suspended, upon which Those who are found among men who stretch thin ropes on high, and walk along them without fear, whom they also call rope-walkers, by the [skill] of the pipe regarding the cord

perform many things. They take off their tunics, then put them back on, they sit down, stand up, dance, move, jump, and by their art they display many awe-inspiring things to those who watch. 628 A grim bear walks through the air. 629 And in the seats of justice, like some wise 630 judge sitting, it weighs the straight scales of justice, 631 as it seems with its hands, though it has deceived its mind, and the beast. ^B Many things are said about the bear that are worthy of laughter, even if it is more apt for learning than other wild beasts, as those who have studied the nature of animals describe; they tell how it dances, and wrestles, and practices clownish ways. But we have not yet heard that it walks through the air, demonstrating itself by art like the rope-walkers. But Gregory the most excellent has declared that it does walk even through the air; to such a degree has the knowledge and art of men succeeded, that it has even prepared wild beasts to dare the unattainable. And this [bear], sitting upon the judicial thrones, moves the scales of justice, skillfully simulating in its hands that it is acting wisely, and it displays everything except speech, just as judges are accustomed to display, and the senseless beast deceives the human mind. 632 And a mortal taught what nature did not; as of the lion 633 I saw upon the back of the mighty lion-tamer 634 sitting, and the beast’s fury was subdued by a hand, 635 and the one was driving, and the other was led, the roaring 636 beast, having cast off its deadly breath, and fawning upon its master. ^C Such things has man taught, which nature did not teach; likewise, above the most mighty lion one can see the lion-tamer sitting. The lion, then, possesses a mighty nature, but its power is great and its heart is untamable. But one who is so great is led like a sheep, being tamed by the art of men; and not only this, but it even fawns and flatters its master. For the divine Gregory said that he himself perceived this with his own eyes, and that the roaring lion, casting off its destructive natural rage, flattered its own master, as a colt that is easily managed carries its own trainer upon its back. 637 As also the Indian boy drives the heavy, sharp-toothed 638 beast with a small goad, 639 steering like a ship the mighty body of the elephant, 640 the daring one who first contrived to tame the beast, 641 and placed a yoke upon its neck and led the monstrous chariot. The discourse regarding the elephant is extensive among naturalists; but these have erred in many things, as the nature of most things remains obscure. But the divine Gregory prides himself on those things that are visible, through which he honors and applies the greatness of human art. He says, therefore, that an Indian boy drives the elephant, a beast, moving it with a small goad, just like a ship, this mighty and altogether wild beast. Look, he says, at how daring that man was who first planned to tame the elephant; for he ought only to have leaped away as soon as he saw it, and not have brought upon men such a monstrous vehicle. But the man not only did not leap away, but even drove it, and steers it just like a ship, guiding with his hands wherever he wishes the monstrous beast, sitting upon its back and goading it. Such is the art of men; but you, he says, O man, seeing the wild beasts tamed by the art of men, do you have an unbelieving mind, declaring that it is not easier for those who wish to reach perfection in virginity? Away with such absurdity! For, says the divine Gregory, having reason as a nearby helper, and possessing a godlike mind, you grant the advantage to the wild beasts; for if he has bent the power of the wild beasts ^D

^A you possess an untaught mind, and reason as a nearby helper; and being nourished by the hope of good things, you might easily accomplish this, deeming this indeed to be beyond nature; for it is so. Observe the things already mentioned: how the turtle-dove is temperate, forgetting things according to nature; the crow embraces an uncorrupted life, having lost its bird nature; fish associate in a holy marriage, becoming frantic once a year, and they labor no more than one birth. Naturally, many things go beyond nature, as the small salamander with its most ordinary feet extinguishes the flame of fire, enduring nothing of the destructive elements; and a fiery fish swims through the sea, not being overcome by the fire; and the magnet stone, though very small, draws a mass of iron; and the diamond, though very small, drives back the striking iron; and a certain stone shines in water, but is extinguished in oil; and a fresh-water river flows through the bitter sea without being mixed; and the sea of Euboea flows, and the current runs against nature, being pushed back on its return path; and the ocean, being borne from the land into the sea, flows back into the land again; and a river and the fire of Etna, being belched forth, are mixed; and the fruit of the *kerasvolos*, lying in the earth, is not dissolved by rains, although it is a fruit, nor does it soften at all; and starlings send forth a voice; and a parrot, being taught, speaks human words; and men walk on ropes with art, being carried through the air, and they teach even the wild beasts to do this, and to deceive their own mind, and they train them to sit in judgment with their figures; they act as pedagogues to lions, riding upon monstrous elephants. Seeing these things, therefore, O man, do not suspect the virtuous life to be difficult. For with the cooperation of God, you will easily ascend to things beyond nature, being lightened by good hopes.

From the 12th Poem (1).

18 But nevertheless, my spirit urges and commands me, 19 I will speak, though unwilling, yet I will loosen the word 20 From my soul, as when a stream, violently moved within, 21 Runs through the spirit and the tunnels, unseen, ^B 22 It bubbles, and somewhere something escapes from the floor, 23 Of a breaking labor through the mouth; such things have I suffered.

The Theologian Gregory says that warm baths are of this kind: as a multitude of subterranean waters lies beneath; and this water, being forced, runs through a narrow passage, and being constrained by force, it bubbles (for everything forced casts forth fire), and it escapes from the narrow passages boiling, and belching forth fire; but if there is any other account regarding hot springs, it must be considered a fabrication.

83 The octopus-like creatures, resembling the rocks in color in the story.

The divine Gregory says this against those who are of a different disposition and who feign piety, and those who assimilate themselves to things. For the eight-footed crabs assimilate their body to the rocks, so that the hunters think that what appears is a protrusion of the rock.

From the 15th Poem (2).

7 A calf, when it has broken the hide of the one who bore it, 8 And leaps and shakes the sweet udder. 9 And at three years old it has lifted the yoke, and drawn the load of the cart, 10 And mixed its great neck with the yoke-strength.

*Portis* is the name of the newborn of cattle, once it slips out from the concealer—its mother—it leaps and strikes against the sweet teat; at three years old it pulls the yoke of a cart; wherefore it is then called a *damalis* (heifer); and with its neck-strength it places its great neck under [the yoke].

11 The fawn, spotted of skin, as soon as it slips from the womb, 12 Straightway places its foot beside the foot of its mother. 13 And it flees from raw-eating dogs and the swift horse.

hiding in the groves, and immediately upon being born it has such strength to run, having received from nature an aptitude for flight.

15 Bears, and the race of destructive boars, and ^A lions, 16 The tiger, and the race of wind-swift leopards, 17 Straightway bristle their manes when they see iron, They bristle, and attack the mighty hunters. 18 The aforementioned beasts are most fierce, and although they have not often had the experience, they possess an innate spirit; they are unsuited for the good, but toward evil they are ready and most prompt. For lions, leopards, tigers, bears, and the fiercer boars, when they see iron, cause their hair to stand erect, and they leap upon the strong hunters, having their impulse ready for working harm.

19 Just now a wingless bird, soon winged before long, Wheels through the air far above the house. 20 The bird emerges from the egg wingless, but it is quickly winged and circles in the air, enduring no labor, but from the very moment of its birth it is endowed with fitness for living.

21 The tawny bee again has left the cave, and built a home, An opposite, and filled the dwelling with sweet offspring. 22 The bee itself also immediately filled its own home with the sweetest honey, having labored nothing at all; and all these things are the work of a single spring, the earth generously granting them their food. And just as they were brought forth without toil, so they live without effort, having received from their very birth the means for life; thus indeed they also die without pain, enduring nothing sorrowful. ^B

27 And it nourished the bird quickly, and the beast, 28 Having made but little, care is a damage. 29 And the lion takes and kills the beast, as ^C 30 Having lapped, it loathes the remains of the feast. 31 Sometimes it feasts on alternate days, and sometimes again 32 Laps drink strongly, bringing measures to its belly. 33 By so much is the life of those more free of labor, 34 A rock and a thicket, a home always ready. 35 Art thou strong, O [creature], they left behind strong breath.

Comparing the laborious life of human poverty, the divine Gregory introduces the birds and beasts, showing that for them life is for the most part without toil. For birds are born into labor, but their wing nourishes them quickly; and as for the beasts, the immediate provision of life—rocks, groves, and thickets—not only keeps them without toil, but renders them healthy and most beautiful. The lion, the most kingly of the beasts, loathes the remains of its own hunting, bringing measures to its belly, and drawing off from the animal killed by it only as much blood as is sufficient ^D and lapping it vigorously. Thus, then, they live healthy and die without sorrow, enduring nothing of the painful things that humans suffer. For no parents or friends sit by them, yearning for their final words or instructions; nor do physicians calculate the time of their life; nor is their hair cut, nor do men mourn over them in ways unbearable, regarding this as the only honor for the dying and bestowing it as a reward upon them. Beasts, then, were brought forth into life without toil, and they pass through it again without effort, not being subdued by fever and manifold diseases, but perishing without fear, and breathing their last courageously, departing manfully.

41 Behold also the cowardly race of mortals, so that thou mayest say 42 That in truth there is nothing more frail than mortals.

^A

43 I am the offspring of a flow, and with travail my mother gave birth to me; 44 I was reared in many and hateful hardships; 45 My mother holds me in her arms, a sweet burden; but afterward 46 I crawled upon the earth, worn down with pains. 47 Thence I went on all fours upon the ground, thence I was lifted, 48 Pilfered by trembling steps in my hands, 49 Thence I caused my mind to shine in the tracks of voiceless 50 Speech, thence again in words, [led] by guides. 51 Twenty years old, having gathered myself together and with many sufferings 52 I met the future like some athlete.

See, says the divine Gregory, the painfulness of human nature, so that you may truly say: "In truth, there is nothing more frail than mortals." ^B I have come from a declaration, and with much labor my mother bore me, and I was reared in many hateful pains, such as being suckled and suffering the things of infancy, crying without understanding, being ill-pleased, and sitting as a sweet burden in the arms of my mother. After this, I crawled upon the earth, dragged along on my seat and worn down by many pains from thence, and in danger of physical misfortunes from the ignorance of rubbing my seat against the earth; I went on all fours, bent over, crouching on hands and feet. Hence I was lifted up from the earth, supported by trembling steps in my hands; then I caused my mind to shine, however dimly, proud of babbling or some senseless movements. Hence, under the masters of words, I shed many tears, being whipped and reaping much pain from learning; and having become twenty years old, I encountered many evils, either being subdued by crafts, or crushed by the hardships of journeys, or fighting in many ways against diseases. These things, he says, a man of twenty years has already suffered; these are present, and what he hopes for are again: the care of a wife and children, and the gnawing fear of worldly misfortunes and treacherous men, acquisitions, tax-assessors, and tribute, and the bitter tax-collector, ^C courts, litigation, lashes, threats, prisons, slanders, an inhuman judge, and an inexorable executioner, wars, exiles, and barbarian arrogance, the servile yoke that disgraces the day of freedom, the daily misery of a bitter master, sea voyages, dangers, shipwrecks, thieves, pirates who rob land and sea, the disgrace of a foreign country, and estrangement from one’s fatherland. All these things are a plaything of this painful life; and indeed, even the things that seem delightful to men—such as wanton gluttony, and the throat holds some small weight; all other things [are as it were] filth, the belly a tomb, always filled with stench; to marriages follow adulteries, to childbearing, premature births and deformed abortive miscarriages, and children who are wayward and slow-tongued, a disgrace to their parents and an ever-laughable plaything of the human race; having many children is indeed preoccupation, and childlessness is griefrief, and labor is poverty; and wealth is not only unstable but also treacherous, beauty is a flower of spring easily dissolved, just now young, rose-colored, blooming in body and delightful; then an old man, frowning, wrinkled, and stooped. What is the justice, what the gain of human life? Immediately, as it begins, the place of its dwelling is darkness; and as it comes toward the light, its first act is tears; for it laments in advance all the evils in life it is about to meet; it comes forth from the womb as from a tomb, and it travels through life running toward the tomb, onto the loins of the mother earth; and from the tomb, it is often consumed abruptly by fire. Therefore, affection among men is untrustworthy: today a friend, after a little while a traitor, today a praiser, tomorrow a slanderer. These things, says the divine Gregory, if one weighs them on a scale, he will find the scale of evils weighing heavily, and that of good things, on the contrary, being light. Thus, then, is the man apart from us more base than beasts and birds, and

our life in this world is more miserable than that of all, as far as it has come; unless God should become the object set before us, and the fruition of the good things which lie in hope, through virtue, by which the man within us, according to God, breathes and rejoices. ^A 141 I shall dare a true tale, that indeed, ^B 142 Mortal is a plaything of God. The divine Gregory says that I will utter a bold word, that man is a plaything of God; and he adds to these: ^C 144 I am ashamed, suddenly I appeared another. This means: I am ashamed by the changes of age, suddenly appearing as another—for instance, an infant, a child, growing lisping, a youth with light down, a young man, a man, semi-aged, an old man—driven by many changes. ^D 153 As the flow of a spring is swift-moving, and burning 154 Fire knows one path, not turned, it leaps upward; 155 As great is mortal, and an angel, if 156 As a snake sheds wretched old age from itself. The divine Gregory says that man is twofold, composed of soul and body; and the body consists of earth, and inclines toward the earth; but the soul is an effluence of a more divine inspiration. Just as, therefore, the stream of a spring is swift-moving for the more level places, so too the body is drawn down and carried toward worldly things; but as fire, being kindled, knows no path, but leaps upward, not turned aside; so the man according to God starts away from earthly things, hastening toward the kindred spirit, leaving behind life opposed to life, as snakes put off their painful old age with a dappled skin; and when snakes grow old, crawling into narrow places, they slough off their hide, sloughing off their old age along with it; and the dappled skin of the snake is likened to the dappled nature of varied sin. From the 59th Discourse (1). ^A 159 Now, indeed, for the nestlings a father [provides] a wing, as ^B 160 An eagle, swift-flying, flying nearby ^C 161 Directs the newly-fledged, when in the folds of the air 162 It revolves, not yet with bold wing. ^D The theologian Gregory says that for those beginning to advance in the path of virtue, the spiritual father is established as a guide, just as an eagle flying near its own nestlings directs their wings, when they are not yet boldly moving their sides through the air. For indeed the father, flying nearby, straightens those who are leaning, and prepares them to be confident in this. From the 61st Discourse (2). ^A 1 O father, if you begat me, a small favor; for ^B 2 This law is [universal], from above, for speech-endowed and mute alike, ^C 3 To bow in affection, and by the straightness of a wise word, 4 That those who are born and the begetters should draw a daily life, 5 And, withering, [should sustain] life upon the standing grain. The purpose of this for the Theologian Gregory is to demonstrate natural affection for children [implanted] by parents, and how it persists until death and the separation of soul and body; and he demonstrates this from the very nature of what parents suffer and do on behalf of their own children; and he first introduces the irrational nature, thus saying, as if from the children to those who bore them: ^D 6 But you fed me then, and both of the cattle and ^A 7 Kicking with their heads, they strike the udders, 8 And the calves fetch toil from sweet necessity. ^B When heifers have given birth, offering the teat to the newborns, they abundantly fill them with milk; and the calves, having been sated, strike the breast with their own heads, acting disorderly; and [this act] is not less painful to the nature of the females in the breast, and causes much pain; for even if there is an ailment, even if a blow, even if any of the painful things should take hold, [they endure it].

^A Thus, then, the calves, striking the maternal udders without restraint with their heads, cause them much pain; yet the mothers, though they suffer terribly, endure it nevertheless, neither turning away the newborns, nor being unwilling to undergo bravely the pains arising from their hurts, setting the discomfort at a lighter level through their affection for the young.

9 The bird hovers above its wingless children, 10 And chirps around, and struggles here and there, 11 Seeking out food, a mother empty and unfed: 12 For nature has bound parents together with offspring by affection, 13 Remembering this remedy for birth, so that by heavy 14 Desires they may lighten distress.

The swallows in particular, and every other bird, except for the ravens, chirp and toil above the nest of their nestlings, wandering hither and thither as if to provide food for the nestlings, while remaining themselves untasting and empty; for this is what it means: "an empty and unfed nurse," because mothers yield everything to their children, not sharing the same meal with them; and if they see any of those things that plot against them creeping near, they flutter around the nestlings and chirp mournfully; for nature has bound parents to children, and children to parents, with affection, implanting it as a reminder, or rather as a consolation, so that they might lighten harmful sorrows with light desires. But the ravens exhibit a character of heartlessness; for they alone of all birds, having brought forth their nestlings, abandon them without forethought, caring nothing for them in regard to life; for this reason the divine David says in his boastings to God: "Who gives food to all flesh, and to the nestlings of the ravens which call upon Him," demonstrating the divine providence that manages even the lowliest things; for when the nestlings of the ravens are at a loss, sitting in the nest, they gape expecting death; and truly for these ^B God's providence prepares ^C gnats and mosquitoes to fall into their mouths, until their feathers grow and allow them to take wing through the air.

15 Therefore also the fierce mother about the calf; 16 And as a dog for her own whelps, and winged ones for nestlings 17 Waging strife, and the spotted and fierce-spirited 18 Panther from the thicket, and the might of the boars rages, 19 The bristling mane, the flash of the eyes, the breath of teeth 20 Gnashing with a clang, and the jaw is splattered with foam, 21 Eager to defend their young or to perish; 22 For impulse has persuaded them by untaught laws.

Regarding this affectionate care for their young, the heifer becomes fierce over her calf whenever she perceives anything plotting against it approaching; and dogs rage uncontrollably over their newborn puppies and bark bitterly, rushing at those stronger than themselves, whether human or beast; and the winged birds fight for their own nestlings as much as they are able, warding off every evil from them; and the spotted, fierce-spirited panther dashes from the forest, fighting on behalf of her own whelps; the lioness is most fierce and brings fatal danger upon those approaching, roaring and checking the plotting against her own cubs; and the strength of the deadly wild boars rages, their hair bristles, they become like wood, fire flashes from their eyes, the gnashing of teeth is audibly sharpened at these things, then the jaw is splattered, being sprinkled with foam; all are eager to help their children or to die; for desire has persuaded them by untaught laws, that is, by natural ones.

23 The wasps again, sitting on rocks, if they see someone 24 Near, and not bringing evil to their children, 25 Swarming from the rock, a host together around 26 They hum, and strike with bitter stings the traveler.

The wasps, sitting by the crevices of rocks (for they nest there), whenever they see...

^A a traveler bringing no harm to them, caring for their newly born, having poured forth more quickly from the rocks, form an irresistible army, making a startling hum, and by striking the miserable traveler with bitter stings, they often deprive him of life.

27 There is also in the depths a law of desire, if indeed it be true. 28 The dolphin, most royal of marine creatures, if he sees some 29 Marine beast swimming toward his tiny children, 30 Having opened his jaw, would receive his brood inside again, 31 Swallowing them as if some food, so that they might not become prey to the beasts. ^B 33 Before escaping the grievous threat of the strong beast. 34 Then from his loins he spat out his light [burdens].

The most royal of marine creatures, the dolphin, if he sees any of the sea beasts swimming toward his small children, spreading his own jaw, he receives his children within, swallowing them as if they were some food, so that they might not become prey to the beasts; he does not at all give up that heavy burden and unnatural pregnancy from the place of concealment, that is, the belly, before he has escaped the wailing threat of the strong whale; but when the beast has passed by and he has escaped the danger, then indeed he vomits out from his sides the heavy as if light burden, enduring such pain for his children by a natural instinct of love. These things the divine Gregory says, as demonstrating from children toward parents that everything which is careful for children in parents, is also present in beasts, and birds, and fish, and all those in the world concerning their own offspring. What then is that which is redundant in men, ^C which could become something to be eagerly sought for men to enjoy for their children beyond the rest of creation, he himself teaches through that which he adds, saying that from children toward parents I do not desire gold, nor silver, nor ^D fine and richly-diversified threads of the Seres, nor transparent stones, nor land measuring many fathoms, waving with fruits similar to that of Egypt, nor a multitude of servants and herds of four-footed animals; but let marriage be a concern for those who desire it, leading a high and esteemed, but burdensome mistress; and let a throne be desired by others, a falling pride of the times, which treading upon many is often trodden upon by few and worse men; for nothing is certain among men which true parents might procure for their children beyond the beasts; unless the power of reason [is] the natural beauty of the image, through which the human is especially distinguished from the brutish and savage nature. And what are these reasons, says the same theologian? Beautiful indeed is the warm power of rhetoric in public speeches and judicial votes, and in laudatory discourses; and beautiful is the thought of history, for history is mixed, a wisdom of many, a mind of themes; and grammatical art is standard, and indeed very great, sharpening the mind, and Hellenizing the barbarian sound, and a most beautiful aid to the noble tongue, and the wrestlings of the logical art, under which the truth is hidden, but the practiced speech has made it most manifest. Those, therefore, who do not honor their own children with these, do nothing on their part worthy of the image, and alienate them from the natural adornment of reason, bestowing nothing on them in excess of the aforementioned beasts, nor conceiving anything beyond those things which are in sensation and corruption. And what is the gain of education, the theologian himself says. First indeed, to naturally and as it becomes humans, surpass brutish senselessness; second, to learn with subtle cares the depths of wisdom, which the wise have sought out and written in books; one [has examined] this, another that, some having understood the natural [composition] of the aerial and marine.

and of earthly things, and in addition to these, having diligently examined also heavenly things, and further, the ineffable creator, the great God, [considering] how He leads and where He carries [all things], and in what He causes them to cease; and the whole world, this immense [creation] in its order, having within itself something more that is hidden, so that through this [creation], by means of this youth and by the more divine Spirit, they might provide their understanding, searching out the good and traveling at all times in the light of knowledge; and bearing the canon of life [bestowed] by divine inspirations, and having found Christ as a fellow-traveler, guide, and good helper—[so that] through this they might be lightened with easy hopes, and might attain the pure and unending life, no longer seeing through a glass in a riddle, but clearly gazing upon the truth itself, whose beginning and end is the Trinity, the one-venerated, one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as one light seen in triple splendor.

Gregory the most excellent rebukes those who are uneducated and who especially abound in riches, in such a way as to compare them to apes and asses; for he says: "What grace is there if you have an ape, an anthropomorphic insult, with its neck surrounded by golden chains? And what grace is there for an ass to carry talents of gold? For the ass, even when [loaded] with much gold, only brays; and indeed, it is no grace to hide a leaden sword in silver scabbards, things which are of no use in war. Therefore, every man who is puffed up with wealth, being uneducated and senseless, is a gilded ape; and an ass puffed up with much gold, and a leaden sword kept in silver cases." It is also good, for the sake of enjoyment, to mention the verses word for word; for he says:

173 What grace is there if you possess an ape in human form, 174 Its neck surrounded by golden chains? 175 For decoration did not change its ridiculous, light-headed appearance. 176 And what grace is there for an ass to carry talents of gold? 177 The ass, even when golden, sings a song of braying. 178 It is no grace for a leaden sword to be hidden 179 In silver scabbards, a useless thing in war.

Education is thus a natural ornament for men, as is knowledge, honor, and glory, and the most becoming beauty of that which is according to the image of God; but a bright and virtuous life is the most truthful character of the heavenly commonwealth.

140 But I bid you, craving the best things, 141 To follow and give your hand, Father; but if by chance 142 I should take delight in being among children, away [from there] cast 143 As a bastard, one judged by the noble Rhine, 144 The false offspring of pure eagles, [casting it] toward the rays.

It has been spoken of the Rhine river and the bastard eagles in the book of the histories; but it shall be spoken of here as well, for it is more fitting for natural philosophy. The Rhine river is, then, a river that discerns the bastard children of the noble-born by its own currents; and the eagle tests its born nestlings with the rays of the sun, and rears the genuine ones, caring for them in a paternal and guardian-like manner; but it casts out the bastards and throws them from the nest. Some, indeed, say that [the eagle] is temperate, not fornicating at all, nor mating with any [other] than its own consort; but where would a bastard come from, if there be no adultery among the eagles? But they say this too (and what is said is plausible), that vultures or some of the other birds, courting the nobility of the eagles for their own children, secretly throw their eggs into the nest of the eagle. And it happens that this occurs among birds as well; for often, [eggs] of geese and partridges and vultures and other birds are placed beneath the bird [the eagle], and [the mother] casts out each thing that happens to be [found] in its own eggs that is similar to what is related. This, then, is what eagles suffer, being jealous; whence the father eagle tests the bastard with the rays of the sun, and casts it from his own...

^B while the logician signifies that it frequently rejects its own nestlings as well. And elsewhere the same author says: The cause—they say that the eagle, with most wise discernment, judges the sight of its nestlings by the rays of the sun, from which it knows what is bastard and what is not; that which it rejects, it is not father to, but is the father to the other, and the same eagle is said to put off its old age and grow young again, as the divine David says: *Thy youth shall be renewed as the eagle’s.*

212 For as the viperine offspring, through the belly 213 Of the mother gnawing, a penalty for the father ^C will burst 214 With destructive spirit.

There are many kinds of vipers, and all are terrible and filled with deadly venom. There is a kind among these reptiles that they say consists of no more than two: these become male and female. When, therefore, the male viper unites with the female, it immediately dies, having deposited its own blackness in the female and having received the blackness that is in her; thus, then, it perishes from the union itself. And she, having conceived two in the womb, a male and a female, nurtures them, and when they are nourished and about to come out into the open, they exact a penalty upon the mother who conceived them for their destructive father, not coming out through the natural passages, but eating through the belly and destroying the mother who conceived them, they look out into the open. The divine Gregory therefore says that all nature brings the appropriate gratitude to those who gave birth to it; but he who knows no gratitude to his parents is like the matricidal vipers.

244 And if you, sitting on the branches of the spring season, 245 When the breezes are sweeter to mortals, 246 Or when the sun casts a fiery heat over your head, 247 With laborious stories, all your dense mind [you urge, 248 Cicadas talking with the singing birds, 249 May cool your body with sweet-sounding songs, 250 Calling to a contest with the songs of your companions.

The cicadas are friends of the sun, and are most talkative when the sun is heating; and every bird is very talkative in the majority of cases. Cicadas and birds, therefore, have a natural jealousy toward those who are practiced; for when someone converses with words under the grove, the birds sing shrilly, and the cicadas, talking, drown out the whole grove with their songs, challenging their companion to a contest, and cooling their weary body with sweet-sounding songs.

From Discourse LXV

79 They say that the proud one, when it raises its circular 80 Neck, curving it, shows off its golden, starry 81 Display; to the females, a loving one: but if you ^D 82 Do not write with swelling eyes, it is a wonder to me.

The wonderful Gregory brings in the example of the peacock for women who deck themselves out, or use white lead and paints, and make themselves fair; for the peacock, having curved its golden neck and raised its starry circle, cries out in a friendly way, urging the female to love, priding itself on its natural beauty. Conversely, what women who are painted do; for being deprived of natural beauty, they are painted and colored with white lead and paints and rouges, inviting the young men to such a spectacle; for the practice becomes an indictment of their own intent.

As a crafty beast casting its tracks As if to mislead the hunter with clever wiles. There is nothing safer than a poor man. He has turned toward God, and looks only to Him. But embrace him; for the eagle, as the word says, Greatly guards the small bird in its nest. The eagle, king of birds, watches over every small bird living under its nest, turning away everything harmful, and royally stands over it.

^A Since it possesses a natural support for the weaker, the divine Gregory says that the stronger ought to reach out a hand to the needy, and the wealthy to the poor, imitating the eagle, which naturally defends those more humble than itself. For if a thoughtless bird shows such [conduct] by nature, how much more ought a rational human being incline toward his kindred?

From the 126th Poem

There are indeed many various classes of vipers that are venomous, and all are deadly. Among these, in the desert of Egypt, there is a species called "dipsas" (the thirsty one), for it bears a name derived from its effect; for when it strikes someone, it induces such thirst that they are unable to find satisfaction for the thirst. Anyone who has been bitten by it, being dreadfully parched from within, wherever he finds water, he falls down gaping, desiring to gulp down the whole stream. Moses also mentions this beast, saying in Deuteronomy: *And you shall remember the Lord your God who led you through the terrible wilderness, where there was the biting serpent and the scorpion and the thirst.*

From the 127th Poem

The leech is that which is generated in water; it is by nature a blood-sucker. For even though it is very small, once it has taken hold of a body, it sucks blood and its pouch is stretched; and hanging from the body, it has drunk some blood, another part it laps, and yet another it hopes for, never receiving satisfaction. Comparing the worldly life to the virtuous life, he likens the former to a leech. For just as the leech, in the way he spoke, once it has taken hold of bodies, is difficult to detach and insatiable, so the worldly life is insatiable regarding the pleasures of the flesh and other forms of greed, and is naturally difficult to detach.

^C Shall such a one as this prevail among us, the envious one? This one acts craftily with well-aimed wickednesses, Whenever he wishes to strike a certain people or city, Against whom he strives, and rapidly Gives the law of wickedness, he, the leader. Then [there appears] bronze disguised with gold, Beard, downcast demeanor, bowing of the neck, Or the chameleon's change of color, Voice low, feigned to be trustworthy, Sluggish gait, in all things, save in mind, wise.

The divine Gregory compares hypocrisy to a chameleon. For the chameleon (this is a small animal among those that walk upon the land) has a nature to change in many ways. Therefore, the chameleon changes many colors; likewise, the hypocrite adapts himself according to the situation. Such a person becomes a leader through the energy of the Wicked One; for having found such a one, Satan puts him forward for the ruin of the people, with God permitting it. The Theologian also describes the character of such a person as he is found: the beard is noble, but the demeanor is downcast, the neck is bowed, the voice is short and thin, the gait is sluggish; in addition to these, he says, this person is adorned as trustworthy and is a hollow bronze statue, wearing on the outside the appearance of gold; furthermore, regarding such people, he says that they mimic the manner of chameleons, always putting many colors upon their words.

^A "These things I spoke;" but they croaked, one from here, another from there, A rabble of jackdaws combined into one, Some young mob, a strange workshop, A whirlwind sweeping up dust, a suspension of spirits, To whom no one of those in authority would have deigned, Out of divine fear and throne, to grant a word. Like wasps, they seethe in disorder, And dart directly at one’s face in a swarm.

Jackdaws are a most lowly kind of bird. These, moving along the ground (for they are earth-bound), possess the natural trait of croaking in disorder, one from one place, another from another. Likewise, wasps dart about when heated, and rushing at the faces of men, they pierce them with their sharp stings. To these jackdaws and wasps, the most wise Gregory compares the senseless and truly uneducated. For the uneducated jump upon the sensible, striking them with words of folly, and one after another they croak senselessly and in disorder; just as Luke mentions the riot in Ephesus against Paul, saying: "Some, indeed, were crying one thing, and some another; for the assembly was in confusion." In the same way, the holy Paul suffered this on the steps. The admirable Gregory compares such folly to jackdaws, and to wasps that buzz indiscriminately and heatedly around the faces of men. ^B

CONCERNING THE THINGS PHYSICALLY TREATED BY GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN, HERE IS THE END.

THIS WORK ALSO BELONGS TO COSMAS THE WORTHLESS, OF JERUSALEM.

INDEX OF HISTORIES

MENTIONED BY THE DIVINE GREGORY IN THE BOOK OF POEMS

Both from the divinely inspired Scripture and from external sources, for each discourse.

Discourse I. Concerning Pharaoh and Egypt and the hard tasks. 351. Concerning Amalek, in which Moses, Aaron, Hur, and Joshua son of Nun are mentioned. 547. Concerning Daniel and the lions. 549. Concerning Jonah and the sea monster. ibid. Concerning the three children and the furnace. ibid. Concerning the disciples, and the Savior’s walking upon the sea. 350. Concerning those healed of various ailments by Christ. ibid. Concerning Adrastus and Menelaus. 351. Concerning the divine temple, and the forgiveness of the people. 352. Concerning Babylon and the land there. ibid. Concerning the one fallen among thieves. 555. Concerning the Pharisee and the tax collector. ibid. Concerning Samuel and his mother Hannah. ibid. Concerning Eli the priest and his sons. 354. Concerning the sacrifice of Abraham. ibid. Concerning Lot and Sodom. 355. Concerning Lazarus and the rich man. 356.

Concerning the woman with the issue of blood 538. Concerning the Legion and the swine ibid. Concerning the leper 359. Concerning the blind man Bartimaeus ibid. Concerning the man who was deaf ibid. Concerning the man who had the withered hand ibid. Concerning the paralytic 360.

COSMAS HIEROSOLYMITANUS

Oration II

Oration III

Oration IV, V

Oration IV

^A Oration III. Concerning Jonah and the whale 411. Concerning Priam, Achilles, Hector, and the Trojan War ibid. Concerning the birthdays and festivals of the Greeks 412. Concerning the assemblies of cranes and geese 413. Concerning the treacherous Cercopes, and concerning Passalus and Acmon the thieves ibid. Oration VIII. Concerning Achilles, Ajax, Diomedes, Hector, and Heracles 415. Oration IX. Concerning Job and his temptations 415. Oration X. Concerning the future retribution, and the punishments laid up for sinners 416. Concerning Bethlehem 416. Oration XI. Concerning the migration of Jerusalem, wanting. Concerning the captivity of the Ark, wanting. Concerning the theft of Joseph, wanting. Oration XII. Concerning the deception of Adam, wanting. Concerning the cities of refuge appointed for those who kill involuntarily, wanting. Concerning the manna, wanting. Concerning whether Saul was among the prophets, wanting. Concerning Moses and those standing under the mountain 417. Concerning the burning of the sons of Aaron ibid. Concerning the pitiful end of Eli and his sons 418. Concerning Uzzah and the Ark ibid. Concerning the supports of the Temple 419. Concerning the Ark and the folly of the Philistines in their seats, and the honor of the punishment ibid. Concerning the Apostles and Judas 420. Concerning Jerusalem and Samaria ibid. Concerning the Moabites, and Ammonites, and Balak and Balaam, and the fornication of the people, and the daughters of Lot ibid. Concerning the Gibeonites 423. Concerning the Levites ibid. Concerning the Ark of Noah ibid. Concerning the Sodomite fire and the flight from it ibid. Oration XIII. Concerning the boldness of Ares and his wounding 424. Concerning Lethe and the mythology of the Greeks 425. Oration XIV. Concerning the bitter eating and punishment 426. Concerning the cooling fire ibid. Concerning the divine image ibid. Concerning the divine formation, and paradise, and the commandment 427. Concerning the flood ibid. Concerning the Sodomite fire ibid. Concerning the law ibid. Concerning the coming of Christ ibid. Concerning Tartarus, and Pyriphlegethon, and Cocytus, and Acheron ibid. Oration XV. Concerning Heraclitus and Democritus 428. Concerning weeping and laughter ibid. Concerning the Trojans, and Greeks, and Helen, and the war ibid. Concerning the head and hairs of the boar, and the Curetes, and the Aetolians, and Meleager 429.

674 ^B Concerning Achilles and Ajax, the sons of Aeacus, and their destruction 430. Concerning Heracles and Nessus and the funeral garment, and his own destruction ibid. Concerning Croesus the Lydian and Loxias and the oracle and his end 432. Concerning Cyrus the Persian, and Artaxerxes, and the destruction of Cyrus 433. Concerning Alexander the Macedonian and his end 434. Concerning King Agamemnon and Irus the beggar 435. Concerning Constantine, the great emperor of the Romans 436. Concerning the coming retribution ibid. Concerning the eating of the wood, and the deception of Adam ibid. Concerning Solomon’s deception ibid. Concerning the fall of Judas ibid.

Oration XVI. XVII. Concerning Rahab the harlot, and the spies 437. Concerning the tax collector and the Pharisee ibid. Oration XVIII. XIX. Concerning Adam and the deception 437. Concerning the woman with an issue of blood 438. Concerning the repentance of Adam ibid. Concerning the repentance of Manasseh ibid. Concerning the repentance of David, and concerning Uriah ibid. Concerning the repentance of the Ninevites 440. Concerning the repentance of the Prodigal Son 441. Concerning the repentance of the tax collector ibid. Concerning the lost sheep ibid. Concerning the ten lepers 442. Concerning those variously healed by Christ ibid. Concerning the tempest of the sea and the salvation of the disciples ibid. Oration XX. Concerning Adam’s eating and the deception of the serpent 442. Oration XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XL, XLI, XLII. All the present orations are historical; for they contain the disciples and the patriarchs, and the plagues of Egypt, and the divinely inspired books, and the law, and the divine Gospels, and the parables in order of translation, and the benefits bestowed by God upon Israel first and last 442-448.

Oration XLIII. Concerning Troy, and the song among the Phaeacians, and Odysseus 449. Concerning the head of the boar, and Heracles 450. Concerning the sons of Aaron ibid. Concerning Uzzah and the Ark ibid. Oration XLIV. Concerning Polycrates of Samos and the ring 450. Oration XLV, XLVI. Concerning Proteus and Melampus 451. Concerning those saved by Christ 452. Concerning the deception of Adam ibid. Oration XLVII. Concerning the miracles performed through Moses in the form of a prayer 452. Oration XLVIII. Concerning the observance of the divine law 453. Oration XLIX. That Christ is God and man, that He is the son of David and the creator of Adam 454.

^A Concerning Caesar’s enrollment, and the manger 457. Concerning the Magi, and the star ibid. Concerning the temptation of Jesus and the victory 456. Concerning the wondrous eating and feeding of the thousands ibid. Concerning the miracle at Cana of Galilee ibid. Concerning the baptism ibid. Concerning Jesus’ sleep in the boat, and the storm ibid. Concerning the fatigue from the journey and concerning the Samaritan woman 457. Concerning Jesus’ prayer ibid. That Christ is both sacrifice and high priest, both man and God Savior, the same 457.

Oration III. Concerning the tongues of fire and the Holy Spirit 457. Concerning the birth of Eve and Seth from Adam 458.

Oration LI. Concerning the creation of the world 458.

Oration LII. Concerning the opinion of the Greeks, and concerning stars and astrological effects 458. Concerning the movement of the stars, and of the designated stars, and of Orion, and of other names, and of the inventors of astrology 459. Concerning the star of Christ 463.

Oration LIII. Expository, concerning rational natures 464.

Oration LIV. Concerning Ixion 464.

Orations LV, LVI. Expository 465.

Oration LVII. Concerning the anointing with blood and concerning baptism 466.

Oration LVIII. Concerning the blackening of paper, and concerning Histiaeus and Aristagoras, and concerning the poems of Apollinaris 466.

Oration LIX. Concerning the sacrifice of Abraham 469. Concerning the ladder of Jacob ibid. Concerning the myrrh-bearing women and the virgins 470. Concerning devout and holy women ibid. Concerning the river that flooded the Lydians with gold, and the gold-bearing ants 471. Concerning the tax and the tribute of Jesus and Peter 472.

Oration LX. Concerning Elijah the prophet 473. Concerning Noah ibid. Concerning Elisha ibid. Concerning Jesus, Gideon, Samson, Barak, Deborah, David ibid. Concerning Lazarus and the rich man 475. Concerning Christ being subject to taxation ibid.

Oration LXI. Concerning Achilles, Ajax, Meleager 476. Concerning the Spartans and the spear ibid. Concerning Pelops and the ivory shoulder ibid. Concerning the scepter that passed from fathers to sons ibid. Concerning Cecrops and the Athenians and the cicada 477. Concerning the river Rhine, and Cynosarges, and the eagles ibid.

Oration LXII. Concerning Aeneas and Anchises, and Aetna, and the devout father and son 478. Concerning the lyre of Orpheus 479. Concerning the lyre of Amphion 480. Concerning Hermes the guide, and Odysseus, and Circe, and the swine ibid. Concerning the mixing bowl, Polydamna, and Helen 481. Concerning Odysseus the shipwrecked, and the queen he conversed with 482. Concerning the singer Arion and the dolphin ibid. Concerning the Pythian games, missing. Concerning Gades and the pillars of Heracles, missing.

Oration LXIII. Concerning Polycrates of Samos and his end, missing. Concerning the one who was caught by an idol in the spring, and concerning Marsyas and the flutes, missing. Concerning Agave the child-slayer, missing. Concerning Medea the bitter and child-murderer, missing. Concerning Actaeon the hunter, missing. Concerning the prodigal son, missing. Concerning the lost sheep, missing. Concerning Manasseh the king, missing. Concerning Nineveh, missing. Concerning the tax collector, missing. Concerning Lazarus and the rich man, missing. Concerning Chiron the hippocentaur and Achilles, missing. Concerning Panope and Priam, and the suitors of Penelope, missing. Concerning the nine muses, missing. Concerning the Odrysian crags, and Orpheus, missing. Concerning Sodom and the mountain of Zoar, missing. Concerning Orpheus and his deception, missing. Concerning David, and Absalom, and Saul, and Jonathan, and the necromancer, and the Amalekite, and Ish-bosheth 484. Concerning Zeus and Cronus 485. Concerning the slave of the sons of Jacob, and concerning Joseph ibid. Concerning Reuben, and Bilhah, and Absalom ibid. Concerning the harvest of Joab which Absalom burned 486.

Oration LXIV. Concerning Moses and Amalek 486. Concerning the deception of the Greeks, and the transformation of Zeus for the sake of lust into everything, and concerning everything that the gods of the Greeks are ibid. Concerning phalluses and erect phalluses, and Dionysus 487. Concerning the headless ones ibid. Concerning half-snakes, and Athena, and Hephaestus, and Erichthonius 488. Concerning the giants who were sown and sprouted the same day, and the beast-mixed men ibid. Concerning polymorphous men, and Demeter, and Triptolemus, and dragons ibid. Concerning Hermes the double-carved 489. Concerning Scylla ibid. Concerning Charybdis and the ebb tide 490. Concerning Orpheus and the Thracians and religion ibid. Concerning Ascraeus, and the Chaldeans, and sacrifice and magic and sorcery, and concerning astronomy and geometry 491. Concerning what is called the Theogony of Hesiod, in which concerning divine names, and the Titanomachy, and Cottus and Briareus, and the hundred-handed ones, and concerning the Hydra and Chimaera, and Gorgons, and the three-headed dog Cerberus ibid. Concerning the unstable poetry of Homer, and tragedy and comedy, and concerning the Molionidae, and other things from Homeric poetry 493. Concerning Musaeus and Linus 496. Concerning Hermes the thrice-great ibid. Concerning the Sibyl ibid. Concerning the fact that the Greeks stole and cut out parts of the divinely inspired books, and turned them into myths 497. Concerning Phoebus Apollo and divination 498. Concerning the spring of Castalia 499.

Concerning Daphne 499. ^A Concerning the Dodonian oak, and the footless Selli, and the divining women, and concerning the cauldron 500. Concerning Ammon the idle prophet 501. Concerning the Branchidae and Epidaurus ibid. Concerning Celeus and Triptolemus and the secret rites, and Pluto, and Persephone, and Eleusis ibid. Concerning flutes and Phrygian instruments 502. Concerning the Corybantes and the theft of Zeus, and those raging in armor, and the Pyrrhic dance 503. Concerning Dionysus and the Bacchae, and Silenus and the pangs of the thigh 504. Concerning Hecate and her evil phantoms 505. Concerning the Mithraic temple and the punishments 506. Concerning the Gallic change ibid. Concerning the Nile and the shameful hermaphrodites 507. Concerning Isis, who is also Io ibid. Concerning Osiris ibid. Concerning Serapis 508. Concerning the many-ruling calf, and Apis, and the folly of the Memphites ibid. Concerning the Lacaena, and the scourges at the altars ibid. Concerning the Getic Zalmoxis and Abaris 509. Concerning the human sacrifice of the Tauri 510. Concerning the youth loved by Dionysus ibid. Concerning Aphrodite and the lascivious mysteries ibid. Concerning the fox and Lindus 511. Concerning Empedocles and the craters of Aetna 512. Concerning Heracles and Nessus ibid. Concerning Trophonius and Empedotimus ibid. Concerning Aristaeus 513.

Discourse 65.

Discourse 66.

Discourses 67, 68.

Discourses 69 and 70.

Discourse 71.

Discourses 72, 73, 74, 75, 76.

Discourses 77, 78.

Discourse 79.

Discourses 80, 81, 82.

Discourse 83.

Discourses 84, 85.

Discourses 86, 87.

Discourses 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97.

Discourse 98.

Discourses 99, 100, 101.

Discourses 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114.

Discourses 115, 116, 117.

Discourses 118, 119.

^A Concerning Crates the Theban 558. Concerning the philosopher Antisthenes who was sailing, and his being forced into a threadbare cloak ibid. Concerning him who ceded his property to his kin ibid. Concerning him who gathered his substance into a single lump of gold and cast it into the sea 559. Concerning the sesame barley loaves, and the serris plant that fled from the midst of the seasonings ibid. Concerning the philosopher Cleanthes 560. Concerning Socrates and the Charmides ibid. Concerning Alcmaeon 561. Concerning the philosopher Plato and the tyrant Dionysius 562. Concerning Xenocrates and the chattering of Diogenes 561. Concerning the female cloak which Archelaus bestows upon Plato 565. Concerning the same Archelaus, and Sophocles and Euripides 566. Concerning Lysimachus ibid. Concerning Pyrrho and Favorinus 567. Concerning Phoebus prophesying 568. Concerning Midas ibid. Concerning Theognis and the things he prescribes for Cyrus ibid. Concerning the prayer of Midas, and the worst release from life ibid. Concerning Homer saying that virtue follows wealth 569. Concerning Adam and the good things we hope for ibid. Concerning Eden and the flourishing paradise and the four rivers ibid. Concerning the calling of Abraham, and the inheritance p. 247. Concerning the prayer of Jacob 570. Concerning Moses, and the inheritance of the sons of Israel, and concerning the Levites ibid. Concerning Jonadab 571. Concerning Elijah the Tishbite ibid. Concerning Elisha and the mantle ibid. Concerning Samuel, and the church of Israel, and the miracles ibid. Concerning John the Forerunner 572. Concerning Paul the apostle, and his gain through a craft 573. Concerning the apostle Peter feeding on lupines ibid. Concerning Peter and Andrew and James and John ibid. Concerning the young man who approached Jesus ibid. Concerning Zacchaeus the tax collector ibid. Concerning luxury and Aphrodite, that is, Cypris 575. Concerning the philosopher who rebuked the young man who was living in luxury ibid. Concerning the discourse of the Stoics toward the flesh ibid. Concerning Cercidas ibid. Concerning Sardanapalus of Ninus 576. ^B Concerning the thirst of David and his self-restraint ibid. Concerning the self-restraint of Daniel and the three children 577. Concerning the fasting of Jesus, and the temptation ibid. Concerning the virgins of the Athenians who were devoured, and Theano the Pythagorean ibid. Concerning the zeal of Menoeceus the Theban ibid. Concerning the leap of Cleombrotus 578. Concerning the leg of Epictetus ibid. Concerning the trial by fire of Anaxarchus ibid. Concerning the hemlock of Socrates ibid. Concerning Pisa, and the Delphic dust, Nemea, and the Isthmian pine, and the wretched youths ibid. Concerning Xenocrates and the harlot thrown at him, and concerning gluttony 579. Concerning Epicurus and pleasure ibid. Concerning Polemon ibid. Concerning Dion 580. Concerning Alexander and the daughters of Darius ibid. Concerning Ganymede, and the transmutation of Zeus into an eagle ibid. Concerning the transmutation of Zeus into all things for the sake of a woman 581. Concerning Aphrodite and pleasure, and those whom they call by her name ibid. Concerning the mysteries of Eleusis, which Celeus and Triptolemus learned from Demeter ibid. Concerning Dionysus and Polymnus ibid. Concerning the Hermaphrodite Pans 582. Concerning goat-footed gods and shameful virgins ibid. Concerning Phidias and the inscription on his finger ibid. Concerning the delight found in a beast, and the mistress of Greece, the shameful Lais 583. Concerning the young Nazirites, namely hermits, ibid. Concerning the holy martyr Thecla ibid. Discourse 120. Concerning Ananias and Sapphira 583. Discourse 121, 122. Concerning the fall of the devil 583. Concerning the fall of Judas ibid. Concerning the animals which God keeps back when legislating ibid. Concerning Elijah and the hospitable widow 584. Concerning the five loaves ibid. Concerning the flight from Sodom ibid. Concerning Achar and the golden tongue ibid. Discourse 123, 124, 125. Concerning the body of the disciples 584. Concerning Moses, Aaron, David, Samuel, Peter and Paul, in which there is also a discourse concerning meekness ibid. Concerning Samuel and Saul 586. Concerning the boldness of Paul and the humility of Peter 591. Concerning David and Absalom and Joab ibid. Concerning David and Shimei ibid. Concerning the innocence of Stephen 592. Concerning Christ the Savior and his long-suffering 593. Concerning the Stagirite 594. Concerning Alexander and Parmenion ibid. The remainder is missing.