De Theologia (Orat. 28)

Gregory, of Nazianzus

Gregorius Nazianzenus, The Five Theological Orations, Mason, Cambridge, 1899

Ἵνα γὰρ τἄλλα ἐάσας, φησί, πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν βλέψω, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν καὶ σύμπηξιν, τίς ἡ μίξις ἡμῶν; τίς ἡ κίνησις; πῶς τὸ ἀθάνατον τῷ θνητῷ συνεκράθη; πῶς κάτω ῥέω, καὶ ἄνω φέρομαι; πῶς ψυχὴ περιγράφεται; πῶς ζωὴν δίδωσι, καὶ πάθους μεταλαμ- βάνει; πῶς ὁ νοῦς καὶ περιγραπτὸς καὶ ἀόριστος, ἐν ἡμῖν μένων, καὶ πάντα ἐφοδεύων τάχει φορᾶς καὶ ῥεύσεως; πῶς μεταλαμβάνεται λόγῳ καὶ μεταδίδοται, καὶ δι᾿ ἀέρος χωρεῖ, καὶ μετὰ τῶν πραγμάτων εἰσέρχεται; πῶς αἰσθήσει [*](6 ἑαυτοῦ] αὐτοῦ ce 22. 8 γὰρ] ’δε e || 12 περιγράφεται] περιφέρεται ac) [*](1. τὸ τοιοῦτο] ‘such a thing,’ i.e. the field which his mind surveys.) [*](3. ἄβυσσον π.] Ps. xxxvi 6 (xxxv 7). By ἕδρα Gr. seems to mean the ‘bottom.’) [*](5. τεθαυμ] Ps. exxxviii (exxxix) 6. ‘That That the knowledge even of his own constitution was too wonderful for him.’ It is possible, however, that Gr. misunderstood the ἐξ to mean that it was the contemplation of his constitution which made the knowledge of God seem overwhelming.) [*](6. κεκρατ.] ibid. ἐκραταιώθη, οὐ μὴ δύνωμαι πρὸς αὐτήν. Περίδρ., ‘grasp.’) [*](22. Well might David despair; for how marvellous is man's constitutuion,—his birth, his sustenance, his instincts, his continuity, his very organs and the media in which they act, a microcosm in himself.) [*](8. φησι] sc. David.) [*](11. κάτω ῥέω] by decay and death: ἄνω φ., prob. Gr. means by contemveys. ib. ψυχή] without the art., points the contrast between the nature of the soul and its limitations. Περιγράφεται, because confined in the body;) [*](12. ζωὴν δίδ] sc. to the body; and yet it receives from the body a share in its πάθη.) [*](13. ἀόριστος] Though our intelligence works within limits, those limits are themselves capable of indifinite extension.) [*](14. ἐφοδεύων] ‘visiting.’) [*](15. δι’ ἀέρος χ.] Perh. by means of speech.) [*](16. μετὰ τῶν πρ.] Intelligence ‘enters in with the things us, because we learn by them. is further expressed by αἰσθ. κοιν.; it is ’in partnership with sense,’ though capable of withdrawing itself from the senses.)

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κοινωνεῖ, καὶ συστέλλεται ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθήσεων; καὶ ἔτι πρὸ τούτων, τίς ἡ πρώτη πλάσις ἡμῶν καὶ σύστασις ἐν τῷ τῆς φύσεως ἐργαστηρίῳ; καὶ τίς ἡ τελευταία μόρφωσις καὶ τελείωσις; τίς ἡ τῆς τροφῆς ἔφεσις καὶ διάδοσις; καὶ τίς ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ τὰς πρώτας πηγὰς καὶ τοῦ ζῆν ἀφορμὰς αὐτομάτως; πῶς σιτίοις μὲν σῶμα, λόγῳ δὲ ψυχὴ τρέφεται; τίς ἡ τῆς φύσεως ὁλκὴ καὶ πρὸς ἄλληλα σχέσις τοῖς γεννῶσι καὶ τοῖς γέννω μένοις, ἵνα τῷ φίλτρῳ συνέ- χηται; πῶς ἑστηκότα τε τὰ εἴδη καὶ τοῖς χαρακτῆρσι διεστηκότα, ὧν τοσούτων ὄντων αἱ ἰδιότητες ἀνέφικτοι; πῶς τὸ αὐτὸ ζῶον θνητὸν καὶ ἀθάνατον, τὸ μὲν τῇ μεταστάσει, τὸ δὲ τῇ γεννήσει; τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὑπεξῆλθε, τὸ δὲ ἀντεισῆλθεν, ὥσπερ ἐν ὁλκῷ ποταμοῦ μὴ ἑστῶτος καὶ μένοντος. πολλὰ δ’ ἂν ἔτι φιλοσοφήσαις περὶ μελῶν καὶ μερῶν, καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα τούτων εὐαρμοστίας, πρὸς [*](2 πλάσις ἤμων καὶ σύστασις] σύστασις ἤμων df || 9 χαρακτῆρσι] + τὰ f ǁ 10 διεστηκότα] + καὶ e ǁ 11 μεταστάσει] μεταποιήσει ‘Reg. Cypr.’ || 14 φιλοσο- φησαις]σπερμολογήσαις b ‘Coisl. 2’) [*](2. ἐν τῷ τῆς φ. ἐργ.] ‘in nature's laboratory? the mother's womb.) [*](3. τελευταία μ.] ‘the finishing touch,’ sc. before birth.) [*](4. ἔφεσις κ. διάδοσις] the instinct which impels the babe to seek its nourishment, and the provision (lit. ‘distribution’) which supplies the need.) [*](5. ἀφορμάς] ’means’: of course the breast is meant. Αὐτομάτως, ‘instinctively.’) [*](7. ὁλκὴ] ‘attraction,’ from ἕλκειν. Ἵνα is not used here in a ‘final’ sense. Cp. § 7.) [*](8. ουνέχηται] sc τὰ γεννῶντα κ. τὰ γεννώμενα.) [*](9. etSrj] ’forms.’ How, Gr. asks, is the common form so constant while appearing with such a variety of distinguishing features; and in all that variety the peculiarities of each individual remain untouched, so that no two men are exactly alike?) [*](11. τὸ αὐτὸ ζῶον] ‘animal’ for ‘kind of animal’; as we talk of ’the ’ ’the ’ Gr. is speaking of the deathless persistence of the species, not of the restored existence of the specimen. His wonder is that the type endures. It never passes into another ζῶον. Μετα- στάσει, ‘removal’ by death.) [*](12. ὑπεξῆλθε] gnomic aor.) [*](13. ὁλκῷ] There seems to be no instance of ὁλκός=ὁλκή, which might mean the flow or current of the river. Suidas gives an interpretation ὁδὸς ἢ ἀγωγὸς ῥεύματος, and quotes the phrase rbv ὁλκὸν τοῦ ὕδατος ἔκοψεν. Here then it would mean ‘as in the channel of a river, which (river) never stands still, yet is ever there.’ This is in accordance with the common meaning of ὁ. = sulcus.)
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χρείαν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ κάλλος συνεστώτων τε καὶ διεστώτων, προεχόντων τε καὶ προεχομένων, ἑνουμένων τε καὶ σχιζομένων, περιεχόντων τε καὶ περιεχομένων, νόμῳ καὶ λόγῳ φύσεως. πολλὰ περὶ φωνῶν καὶ ἀκοῶν· πῶς αἱ μὲν φέρονται διὰ τῶν φωνητικῶν ὀργάνων, αἱ δὲ ὑποδέχονται, διὰ τῆς ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ἀέρος πληγῆς καὶ τυπώσεως ἀλλήλαις ἐπιμιγνύμεναι. πολλὰ περὶ ὄψεως ἀρρήτως κοινωνούσης τοῖς ὁρατοῖς, καὶ μόνῳ τῷ βούλεσθαι καὶ ὁμοῦ κινουμένης, καὶ ταὐτὸν τῷ νοὶ πασχούσης· μετὰ γὰρ τοῦ ἴσου τάχους ἐκεῖνός τε μίγνυται τοῖς νοουμένοις καὶ αὕτη τοῖς ὁρωμένοις. πολλὰ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων αἰσθήσεων, αἳ παραδοχαί τινές εἰσι τῶν ἔξωθεν, λόγῳ μὴ θεωρούμεναι. πολλὰ περὶ τῆς ἐν ὕπνοις ἀναπαύσεως, καὶ τῆς δι’ ὀνειράτων ἀναπλάσεως, μνήμης μὴς τε καὶ ἀναμνήσεως, λογισμοῦ τε καὶ θυμοῦ καὶ ἐφέσεως, καὶ συντόμως εἰπεῖν, ὅσοις ὁ μικρ·ὸς οὗτος κόσμος διοικεῖται, ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

[*](5 ὑποδέχονται] υπηχουνται b || 12 λόγω λόγων ‘Reg. Cypr.’ || + δε e || 15 οὕτος κόσμος διοικεῖται] κόσμος οὕτος διοικ. e: οὕτος διοικ. κόσμος f)[*](1. συνεστ. τε κ. διεστ.] ‘coordinated and differentiated tvith a view alike to use and beauty.')[*](2. προεχόντων τε κ. πρ.] ‘projecting and retreating? lit. ‘projecting and projected beyond?)[*](ib. ἐν. τε κ. σχιζ.] ‘united and divided? as e.g. the two eyes. Περιεχ. τε κ. περιεχ., the latter, of course, would be the internal the former the part of the body which encloses them.)[*](3. λόγῳ Φ. Cp. § 16 λόγον ἐνθείς. For νόμ. cp. Greg. Nyss. in Diem Nat. Chr. οὐ δουλεύει φύσεως νόμοις ὁ δεσπότης τῆς φύσεως.)[*](5. ὑποδέχονται] ’, αἱ ἀκοαί = τὰ ὦτα.)[*](8. μόνω τῷ βούλ. κιλ.] ‘moved by the will alone, and along with it, and enjoying the same privilege ἃς the intelligence? Sight acts, in Gr. 's opinion, as swiftly as will and thought.)[*](11. παραδοχαί] From the addi tion of τινές, we see that the word bore some half-technical sense, of which the Lexica do not speak. Prob. δοχαί, ὑποδοχαί, ‘receptacles.’)[*](12. λόγῳ μὴ θεωρ.] Gr. seems to mean that the senses, which are so hospitable to the things external to ourselves, are yet a mystery imorgans, penetrable to the reason which resides within us.)[*](14. μνήμης . . . ἀναμνήσεως] μν. is the faculty, ἀνάμν. the act of re- membering. There is a treatise of Aristotle bearing the title περὶ μνή- μὴς καὶ ἀναμνήσεως, which doubtless Gr. has in mind.)[*](15. ὁ μικρὸς οὗτος κ.] On man as a microcosm, see Plat. Tim. 81 Α and 88 D. These passages have been kindly pointed out to me by Mr Archer-Hind, who adds, “No- thing like the phrase occurs, but the conception is plainly there." He thinks it far from improbable that Proclus, whose commentary on this part of the Tim. has not been pre- served, may have applied the term μικρὸς κόσμος to the human body; or that some Stoic writer so applied it.)
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