Selected poems: Carm. 1. 2. 17; 2. 1. 10; 2. 1. 19; 2. 2. 6; 2. 1. 50

The publication presents a poetic translation of five poems by St. Gregory the Theologian: carm. 1. 2. 17; 2. 1. 10; 2. 1. 19; 2. 2. 6 and 2. 1. 50. The translation is accompanied by comments showing the connection between the poetry of St. Gregory with the poetic tradition of Antiquity. Translation of five poems by St. Gregory the Theologian was executed while maintaining the poetic dimensions of the original. Translation of carm. 1. 2. 17; 2. 1. 10 and 2. 1. 19 made according to the edition: Simelidis Ch. Selected Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus. I. 2. 17; II. 1. 10. 19. 32: A Critical Edition with Introduction and Commentary. Gottingen, 2009. Translation carm. 2. 1. 50 made according to the publication: Ricceri R. Gregorio Nazianzeno, carm. IE 1. 50: Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione e commento. Roma; Gent, 2013. Translation of carm, 2. 2. 6 according to the publication: Bacci L., ed. Gregorio Nazianzeno. Ad Olympiad. The commentaries are compiled with the aim of giving the Russian-speaking reader an idea of ​​the range of reading of St. Gregory, about the connection of his poetry with the previous poetic tradition and show echoes with his own poems. The comments are in no way intended to be complete; For more detailed information, I refer the reader to the mentioned critical editions of the texts. For a list of abbreviations, see the end of the publication on pages 309–310. Carm. 1. 2. 17. Bliss of different life paths The exact time when the poem was written is unknown. It contains overlaps with some of the speeches of St. Gregory (Rev. 14, written between 365 and 372; Rev. 32, 379; Rev. 27, 380; and Rev. 19). Perhaps he partially paraphrases these speeches 1. Happy is he who spends a deserted life, who does not know Low earthly care 3, the one who deified his own mind. Happy is he who, seeing many, but only a few He knows 4, and he entrusted his heart to God alone. 5. Happy is the one who preferred Christ to any acquisition, The one who carries this acquisition high is the cross. Happy is he who rules over his pure estates, Who will always give God's right hand to the poor 5. Happy is he who lives a blessed life, who does not know marriage, 10. Who preferred the purity of the Divine to carnal life. Happy is he who has yielded slightly to the terms of marriage 6, The full measure is carried by 7 pure love for Christ. Happy is he who, while ruling nations, brings holy Victims who convey Christ to earthly people. 15. Happy is he who was born among the flock, but is numbered among the best, He who only lives for Christ is His faithful pet. Happy is the one who has a high purified thought in the guy The brilliance of the heavenly light can always be contemplated. Happy is the one whose hand honors the Lord in tireless labors 8, 20. The one who in his life became a model for people. God's heavenly winepresses are now full to the brim 9, - It is the fruits of our souls that fill them with wine. After all, each virtue has its own place, There are many monasteries - 10 - they accommodate many. 25. Happy is he who is free from passions 11 The Spirit shows Who on earth lives a deplorable life among people? He who always hungers insatiably for the food of heaven 12, By meekness who has earned the gifts of the highest heavens. Whoever by his own mercy attracts God's love, 30. He has acquired a pure heart and a peacemaker in his soul. He who suffered much for Christ's great glory Mournful 14 in life, for whom the highest praise awaits. You can choose any path 15. And it's better if you Knowing all the virtues, but not all, is good. 35. Even if you can acquire one, that is praiseworthy. Not only for the great - there is also a shelter for the small. So Rahab 16 was not at all flawless, but she managed To gain the highest glory through your hospitality. The Pharisee publican surpassed the Pharisee in one attribute: 40. With meek humility 17 - and he exalted himself in intelligence. It’s better to remain celibate - yes, better! But if at the same time To have worldly passions, it’s better then together And in a chaste marriage. Wandering through the mountains is wonderful, However, pride brought many from the heights to the lowlands. 45. Without measuring your virtue by any other measure, Apart from themselves, deep down in their hearts they are vain. Often burning in spirit, like zealous horses 18, At a sharp turn they still lag behind others. That's why, either you have to fly on the wings of your lungs 19, 50. Or it’s better to run quickly on solid ground. So that your weighted wings do not drag you to the ground 20, So as not to collapse in a pathetic fall from heights. Often a small ship 21, securely fastened with bolts 22, A load is heavier to carry than a large one that is not secured. 55. Narrow are the gates of God 23 to which our path 24 strives, Many paths will lead travelers to them. Let some choose the road in accordance with nature. Well, others follow a narrow, thorny path 25. Even the food will not taste the same to everyone, 60. And not all Christians have the same path. Better, of course, for everyone 26 labors, and vigils, and tears, And so that the madness of passions 27 has the strength to restrain, To be strangers to satiety, under the strong hand of Christ I bowed my neck, trembling, to await the Day of Judgment 28. 65. If you go to the end, then you are no longer mortal, But the celestial being is already 29, - so Gregory said. Carm. 2. 1. 10. To the priests of Constantinople and the city itself The poem was written shortly after the departure of St. Gregory of the See of Constantinople (in June 381). The departure was caused by the fact that the Alexandrian bishops who arrived at the council with some delay challenged the canonicity of his election as Archbishop of Constantinople, since formally he remained Bishop of Sasim. Despite Gregory's assertions that his resignation was voluntary, he took it seriously and considered the accusation unfair 30. O priests, oh you who offer bloodless sacrifices 31, In the Trinity he always serves the glorious Unity 32. O laws, O you kings 33 who are proud of piety, O city of Constantine the Tsar, glorious stronghold. 5. Younger Rome 34, you surpass all cities in greatness, So much higher is the starry sky 35 - the earth 36. I will tell you, noble ones, what she did to me Envy 37 separated me from my holy flock. For a long time I accomplished the feat, the dogmas are the light of heaven 38 10. Bringing 39 to the world; cutting out a stream of water from a rock 40. Where is the justice? I have endured toil, I have also known danger, He was the first to draw a furrow 41 across the pious fields 42 . After so much of my labors, another 43 is having fun 44, He who sat on someone else's throne, although he did not want it, 45. 15. There God established me and the good servants of God. This is an evil disease 46 if you are subject to enmity Mournful 47 servants of God, causing harm to each other 48, My King, Christ 49, then they were hostile to me too! I did not stick to one side, like a daring warrior 50, 20. And I did not want to prefer anything in the world to Christ. I have not committed the sin 51 that others have sinned: Fragile shuttle, I didn’t dare compete with the ship. That's why the frivolous hate me, they They betrayed their own pulpit and insulted their friends. 25. But may all this drown in the depths of oblivion! I'm 52 Having left there, I myself choose peace. I reject everything at once: palaces, cities, priests - I am now happy to leave behind everything I previously desired. In those times when God called me in my night dreams 54, 30. And among the icy waves in the horrors of the storm 55 sea 56. That's why I'm glad to leave out of envy. Like a storm Having saved myself, I stood on pier 57 in the now quiet harbor. With a pure movement of the mind, now inspiring your spirit. I bring silence to God in the same way as before - words. 35. Here is Gregory 58 word, whom the earth nourished 59 Cappadocians who gave their lives to Christ. Carm. 2. 1. 19. Complaining about your suffering The poem was apparently written around 383, as can be inferred from v. 65–75. After leaving Constantinople, St. Gregory lived for about a year on an estate near Arianz, in the vicinity of Nazianz. In the autumn of 382, ​​problems with the Apollinarians forced him to assume the duties of Bishop of Nazianzus. But then his health deteriorated, and he handed over the flock to presbyter Kledonius. However, his ill-wishers did not believe that he was ill, believing that he disdained the bishopric in such a small city as Nazianz. About this St. Gregory says in Art. 70–75 60 . Often 61 Lord Christ, suffering from great misfortunes 62, I reproached 63. After all, even a king can listen to a servant, If he cries and complains about his slave's lot. So the father of a dissolute son often, regretting, 5. Listens, even when there is insolence in his speeches. That is why, God, have mercy on these words, They, O meekest one, are sent to You by a grieving heart. Expressing a complaint is already a relief from torment 64 . My King, Christ, why have You been sending misfortunes to me ever since 10. From my mother’s womb did I fall to my native land? 65 If You did not bind me in the womb, both cramped and dark 66, Why did he send me so many troubles on land and at sea? Pain was caused by enemies and friends and bad authorities, Both foreigners and also fellow citizens, openly and secretly, 15. Or beating with words 67, or throwing down stones like hail 68, - I have endured everything. And who would be able to tell about this? 69 I'm the only one who became so famous 70 years ago! 71 No, not with your speeches, Also, it was not by strength of hand that he surpassed all others, or by strength. Only with sorrows and groans 72 - like a lion surrounded 20. Evil dogs 73 that bark furiously. Sad song! Sing it from dawn to dusk! And maybe someone 74, Or at a feast, a softened soul, or making a journey 75. Or hitting the ringing cithara with a familiar hand, With sounds, as if in words, he will tell my sorrows, 25. Gregory will be remembered, in the lands of the increased Cappadocians, In Diokesarea 76, a small city. But You reward The boundless wealth of some 77, and to others You bestow Good children. Some with beauty, some with strength, some with eloquence Slaven 78. And I am only one 79 - with sorrows 80. Everything is on me You 30. He squandered the bitter arrows 81, guiding 82 with the sweetest hand. I became a new Job, although the reason is different. No, you are not leading me to greatness as an athlete, O Blessed One, Against a formidable opponent, trusting my strength! 83 You will give the winner both a reward and good fame 84. 35. I’m not like that at all. And there is no glory in my pain. I endure punishment for sin. And what am I to blame for? I can’t say for sure - I committed so many sins. I will tell everyone about them - what the mind hides inside 85. So that the unspeakable word does not cherish sin. 40. I, choosing You as a kind lot, sought Throw everyday dirt into the salty waves at once 86 And approach Your lofty Divinity with 87 thoughts. Having rejected the works of the flesh, my mind guided me, To be abstinent in everything, and rush, cutting through the ether 88 45. By the power of golden wings 89. But I caused great envy. She bound me with chains of inescapable grief. Your glory lifted me up 90 and threw me to the ground. After all, great pride is displeasing to You, O king. Tell this to everyone and write it down for those who come, 50. You, and the leaders, and the peoples, are you hostile or favorable: I never ran away from my great father 91 or from the throne, This is a lie! It is not proper for God's laws to be opposed. He received the throne by law. And I was a support The old man and his young hand supported him. 55. I gave in to my father’s requests. Everyone revered him Even who was far away, for the gray hair and spirit of the radiance 92. Afterwards, when the Ruler pleased our life, So that I may go to proclaim the Word and the Spirit Into foreign land, to sow thorny, meager arable land, 60. I, although a small drop, rained down on the people. Then God deigned to send me back, Since for a serious illness 93 and for inescapable worries 94 I was born. Caring is like poison for a husband! But for a while 95 I only gave rest to my tired body. 65. Once again I had to take up the shepherd’s pipe, saving Flock, so that my sheep are not left completely unattended, So that the enemy does not get to them to satiate their shameless stomach 96. Afterwards the leaders were in confusion, the peoples were in confusion: Everyone 97 needed a mentor, and everyone 98 was afraid of wild animals. 70. The same and God, who descended into the womb to be incarnate, They imagined him to be insane, completely devoid of intelligence. Many also, not believing my sufferings, grumbled, As if out of pride I despise the God-given people, - They suspected and remained silent. But God knows my sorrows! 75. Many 99 also judged me by their dreams; I drew every dream, like an artist, Or God was revealing, preparing a good end for me, So that expectations of the worst are no longer scary to me, But so that I always drag out the pain of death throughout my life 100. 80. I have now bowed my neck 101, humbled under Your strong hand. I'll go on like a prisoner. Let others seek justice. There is no benefit to me if others judge my life. You, Christ, direct where you want. I am broken by troubles 102. I am the prophet who was imprisoned in the belly of the whale 103. 85. I give the rest of my life to You. But have mercy on me 104: I'm already dead, only breathing! 105 Why are you trying to finish me off? After all, You did not die for the good ones. God come down From heaven to earth (oh miracle! – the mortal God sheds blood, We irrigate 106 body and soul), and I am among the villains 90. Not alone. For to many and to the worst You bestow glory. Three illustrious publicans are known to all in Your books: This is the great Matthew 107, and the one who cried 108 in the church 109, Zacchaeus 110 is also famous - and let me be the fourth! There were three paralytics: on the bed 111, at the sheep font 112, 95. The woman is also bent 113 - let me be the fourth! Three of Your dead men saw the light, as You revealed 114: This is the chief's daughter 115, the widow's son 116, and from the grave Lazarus came out 117, stinking, and let me be the fourth! Give me medicine now 118 to tame the pain, and in the future - 100. Unchangeable life, so that I may be proud of Your glorious one. I tended a God-loving flock. If I leave this life, Give her a better shepherd. And if he is the same, At least not so much suffering: it is not proper, blessed one, So that the healer of diseases suffers incessantly from pain. Carm. 2. 2. 6. Instructions for the Olympics The poem is addressed to Olympias, who has traditionally been identified with the famous holy deaconess, the spiritual daughter of John Chrysostom, 119 but another hypothesis has now become widespread, according to which Gregory is addressing the daughter of Vitalian, a representative of the local Nazianz aristocracy 120. The poem also mentions Gregory's cousins, St. Amphilochius of Iconium and Theodosius. The time of writing is no earlier than 384, if the addressee is the deaconess Olympias; if this is Vitalian's daughter, the poem may also refer to the last years of Gregory's life. My child 121, I send you good instructions 122 I, Gregory. The strongest thing is the father's conviction 123. Know that a noble wife 124 does not have gold or stones 125, The Olympics, to be fair, are not the ones who decorate it. 5. Do not dirty the royal face with rubbing, sweet shame, The image of someone else is suggestive of a natural one. In clothes Leave the shine of gold and purple 126 to others In his life he does not know any adornment or true glory. Decorate yourself with chastity, with the best beauty 10. For hidden eyes. Flowers of good morals do not fade 127. This is a reliable stronghold for the wife and eternal glory. Reverence God, but also your spouse, He is your best mentor and the light of your life. Only love him, only soften your soul before him. 15. Love him the more, the more tightly he is attached to you, With unquenchable desire, submitting to the bonds of consent. The ardor of his passion, however, should be tempered - not as much as he wants, As much as is decent, allow me: satiation is possible in everything. As a woman, don’t you dare be proud of your husband 20. By your origin, or by your clothes of expensive beauty, Or superiority of mind, for wisdom in marriage is humility 128. The marriage bonds of two were transformed into one forever. If you are angry, humble yourself, help in the moment of suffering, Comfort with a kind word, calm with a gentle admonition. 25. And the tamer of beasts 129 does not subdue the predator by force, If he roars and growls, he can easily tame him Stroking him with his hand, speaking to him with soft and insinuating speech. Never make bitter reproaches to your spouse, Even if 130 was seething with anger: after all, he is your reliable protector. 30. Do not reproach him for failures - reproaches are unworthy 131: The demon's intrigues often destroy even a reasonable cause. Don't blame me for weakness. – Strong to answer with a dagger 132. Don’t praise someone who your husband doesn’t like at all, Here the trick is obvious: to hurt him unnoticed 133 . 35. Morals are appropriate for simple people and for people of noble birth, Be it a wife or a husband 134 - but especially for the female sex! Let both joy and sorrow be common to you 135. The burden of worries is common, and from this the house grows. You can give advice, but let your husband’s opinion win. 40. If he cries, cry with him, at least a little. In sadness You won’t find a better medicine 136 than a friend’s fate. But soon 137 Show him your bright face 138 and thus dispel his worries 139 . For for a husband in adversity, a wife is a reliable haven 140. Yarn and the Loom and Paying Attention to God's Word 141 45. Let your business become yours, but external concerns - your husband’s. Don’t go outside the threshold too often, to the festivities 142 Take your time, avoid indecent gatherings. Shy There will be a blush on your cheeks, your eyes will meet. Well, the loss of shame is the beginning of everything bad. 50. But to go into good assembly only with wise men I command that a good thought settle in the soul, So that you can destroy your vices and curb your temper. Home for you is a city and groves. And it's worth seeing Only with chaste relatives 143, or with a venerable priest. 55. Seeing gray hair 144 is more beneficial for you than youth. And women Flee those who are too proud, and those who have little modesty. Don’t get along with the pious either, if your husband is against it, Even when you respect. After all, there is no defender better than 145. Than a good husband, when you love him alone 146. 60. It is important to have intelligence, but it is also important not to be proud of it 147. I really praise those women that men don’t see! 148 Should I attend the wedding feast 149 or should I attend the birthday feast? Do not rush, for there is lust, and dancing 150, and laughter, Joy devoid of joy will enchant the wise! 65. Likewise, a ray of sunshine instantly melts wax. And don’t also organize disorderly drinking bouts at home 151, Will the respectable spouse be at home, or will he go somewhere? A measure for the belly will help you protect yourself from passions. I myself am afraid of gluttony, 152 and your husband is afraid of it. 70. Protect your face from obscene antics 153. And on it Let the anger, hated by all mortals, not be reflected, For wives, most of all 154: it immediately spoils their image. Ears may not be decorated with pearls 155, but it’s better to pay attention To good words 156 and the ability not to hear a bad word 157. 75. But whether it is closed or open, let the ear be chaste. And let the girl’s shame cover 158 before her husband Cheeks under the shadow of eyelashes. Show the beholders a blush 159, Not looking at anyone 160, but bowing his gaze downwards. If you don’t curb your tongue, you will be hated by your 161 spouse. 80. Often, an impudent tongue brings misfortune to the innocent. It is best to remain silent, and having a reason to speak, Why start chatter, since it is completely inappropriate. Let your word be long-awaited. But maybe your step To be unchaste: even one can walk impudently. 85. Also remember: avoid immoderate passion of the flesh, Do not always strive to enjoy the lie. Ask and spouse Honor 162 holiest days. Because this is the right thing to do. The image of the great God 163 is obedient to His laws 164, Even though the marriage law is from the incorporeal 165 Son 90. Granted to our family. He protects His creation. So that, replacing each other, those who have left will come after A new tribe of short-lived people 166, like a stream 167: Death exhausts him, but birth fills him again 168. However, why tell me about everything in order? 169 95. You have other instructions, and much better: Next to you, O blessed daughter, Theodosia 170. Try it anyway Be like both in word and deed, like a breathing cast. In female form, Chiron 171 is the best mentor in marriage 172, That after the death of your father she raised you kindly 173. 100. This is the sister of the 174 immaculate bishop. I, together with Thekla 175, have already escorted Amphilochius to God 176. He became the messenger of truth 177, my great glory! If you heeded my gray-haired wise word. Then keep it in the hidden depths of your heart. 105. So you will help your spouse, and he is among the most worthy citizens. And no matter how glorious you are, you will surpass him in high glory 178. Here is my gift 179 to you. And if you want the best, You will grow as children, like a fruitful field 180, So that the lips of those praising the great God may multiply. 110. We were born for Him and we must direct our path to Him. Carm. 2. 1. 50. For illness The poem was written after 381, as indicated by v. 29; perhaps shortly before death. A more precise chronological framework cannot be established. You came to me again, 181 schemer, known for deceit, And now you are devouring my heart from the inside 182. And, exhausting me with the powerful shocks of life 183. You want to turn the sacred image 184 in me into dust 185 . 5. You have fallen upon the bodily fortress; tearing flesh From head to toe 186, the moisture flow was stopped. With which the Lord watered the dry nature and mixed it in us Cold with heat, showing the highest wisdom of the Creator, So that the body composition always remains in balance, 10. So that in my life I may flee from strife. You have filled your soul with homicidal thoughts, He poured out his poison on me all at once in a black stream. Or was it not enough for me to drag out a sad old age, What trinacrian rock crushes and oppresses me? 187 15. No, I was also struck by a cruel 188 evil disease, And it’s been a year since my members have been devoured! That's why I spew out screams and moans, like A strong lion 189 when he fell into a hidden trap. I neither enjoy verbal games nor my dear peers 190 20. I no longer want to see or look at the blossoms. I don’t want city squares, groves, or bathhouses, The deceptive color of life no longer pleases me. I stopped loving all this from the moment when I loved Christ with all my soul I accepted, then I already rejected earthly blessings. 25. Now I weep because Christ is the life-giving eye He doesn’t look at me the same way he did at the beginning of the journey. Even in the womb of the holy mother 191 he prophesied glory for me, And he saved me from the depths of the sea 192 and from passions. I cry that I left the God-loving people without a bridle 193, 30. But I didn’t throw her away, I didn’t just hold her in my hands. Previously, the people listened to my speeches with great joy: From my language of the Trinity the light shone. Now he is like a baby in the arms of a stunted mother, Pulls at the withered breast 194, where there is no longer any milk. 35. Greedy lips suck, but the mother’s hopes were disappointed, - So now the flock is waiting for my speeches in vain. Formerly an abundant source of water flowing freely, He can’t even give her one more drop. Others are now pouring out sweet streams 195, but children, 40. While listening, they still grieve that they will not hear their father. Where are those all-night vigils, where are those prayers when I He stood firmly on his feet, like a living stone 196, Either alone, staying with Christ, or together with the people, And did you listen to the holy hymns with joy in your heart? 45. Where is that sweet labor when, kneeling 197, I shed warm tears 198, straining my mind in the darkness 199. Where are the tireless hands that always helped the poor? Where is that strength 200 in my entire powerless body? I no longer raise my hands, making the most holy sacrifices 201, 50. I cannot be a fellow participant of Christ’s Passion anymore. I no longer celebrate dear ascetics 202, My euphonious verb of blood does not glorify honesty. My books are overgrown with mold, my speeches are unfinished, Where can I find someone who can praise them now? 55. Everything has died, although I am still alive, I am completely powerless: Fragile shuttle, I lost all my equipment. But no matter how hard you try to break me, cruel demon, I will not bend my knees, I will not let you into my heart! Invulnerable, unbroken I will lie down in my mother’s soil 204. 60. The serpent's prey 205 will feed the worm. Well? Destroy the shell, but the soul will remain without damage. I took the image from God 206 and return it to Christ. Before the great Job, you also bound 207, murderer, But he lost: the Supreme Judge crowned him, 65. And among the living he magnified his victory forever, And he doubled back everything that you managed to take away 208. Mercy is the law of Christ 209 - so commanded me, O God, Even if it’s late, get up. Heal with Your Word! I am a new Lazarus among the dead and I await Your words: 70. “Lazarus, arise!” 210 – and then, dead, I will submit to You. New relaxed me, stretched out on the bed, but say: “Take your bed and walk” - I will immediately raise it 211. I touch the hem of Your garment secretly, so restrain me A flowing stream of blood in my withered flesh! 212 75. I am yours entirely and, like a Canaanite woman with a bowed body 213, I bow before you, “My King, lift me up!” The sea is raging, but sleep has taken possession of you 214. But rather Get up! And your element will be submissive to your words 215. I am tormented by suffering, my body is broken by illness 216. 80. I am the same as everyone else, a mortal, living person. So, neither for me nor for anyone else, by God’s will, Do not imagine yourself 217 as if you came from heaven. If we see that the great God helps us in everything, Then we are inspired to do pious works. 85. But it’s not so much the illness that makes me lament 218, (After all, any illness brings us purification, That which everyone, even the strong, strives for, For while we live in the flesh, we are immersed in darkness) - I care more about the weak, even though I myself suffer cruelly 219: 90. So that my torment does not lead them into temptation 220. Few among mortals are so strong in mind that from God He will readily accept whatever He sends him, Whether it be sadness or joy, seeing the reason for everything, If only she could hide the Creator's wisdom deeply. 95. The pious weakness can cause ridicule: Having served God diligently, I gained nothing. Or a completely wicked thought arises in the heart: Supposedly this world can exist by itself, If God cared about the lives of mortals, then 100. He established a different world order on earth. Remember them and strengthen Your servant 221, Greatest, Don't let me experience shame before the end. I am Your servant, I stretch out my hands to Your gifts 222, And I overshadow with my hand those who bowed their heads. 105. And they say that I am a helper to the sick. Christ, have mercy! 223 Even though You are hidden from me, give me strength for achievement! Don't leave unpunished, but don't punish so harshly! Without loosening the reins, there was no unbearable torment! And strike not with a spear, but with a goad, O Blessed One! The ship is mine 110. A proportionate load must be carried when sailing the seas. From satiety - pride 224, from pain - gloom of despondency. Balance the scales 225 so that justice may be observed! You saw me brave, now have mercy on me exhausted. There is still time to spare, the best of all is the Judge! 115. I honor my gray hair 226, my voluntary torment. My sacrifices, although I am tired of Your punishments. However, it is unnecessary to try to prescribe laws to God... As you wish, Christ, do so with your servant! Key words: St. Gregory the Theologian, poems, Constantinople, Constantinople Archbishopric See, Second Ecumenical Council, Olympiad. AR – Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica Athan. exp. Ps. – Athanasius Alexandrinus. Expositions in psalmos Call. Del. – Callimachus. In Delum Chrys. hom. in 1 Cor. – Johannes Chrysostomus. Homilia in 1 Cor. Eur. Herc. – Euripides. Heracles Eur. IA – Euripides. Iphigenia Aulidensis Eur. Ph. – Euripides. Phoenissae h. Hom. Vest. - hymni Homerici. In Vestam Hes. Op. – Hesiodes. Opera et dies Hes. Theog. – Hesiodes. Theogonia Long. – Longus. Daphnis et Chloe Man. Apot. - Manetho. Apotelesmatica Mosch. Eur. – Moschus. Europa Opp. Hal. – Oppianus. Halieutica orac. Chald. – Oracle Chaldaica Orig. sel. in Ps. - Origenes. Selecta in psalmos Phil. spec. leg. – Philo Judaeus De specialibus legibus Pind. Isthm. – Pindarus. Isthmia Pind. Pyth. – Pindarus. Pythia Plat. Phaedr. – Plato. Phaedrus Plat. Tim. – Plato. Timaeus Soph. Ant. - Sophocles. Antigone Soph. El. - Sophocles. Electra Soph. Ph. - Sophocles. Philoctetes Soph. Tr. - Sophocles. Trachiniae Theocr. – Theocrites. Idyllia Triph. – Triphiodorus. Captio Ilionis Gregorio Nazianzeno, Ad Olimpiade (Carm. II 2. 6) // Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione, commento e appendici di Lucia Bacci (Poeti cristiani 2). Pisa, 1996. Mclynn N. The Other Olympias: Gregory Nazianzen and the Family of Vitalianus // Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum. 1998. No. 2. S. 227–246. Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) / ed. J.-P. Migne. Vol. 37. Paris, 1857–1866. Ricceri R. Gregorio Nazianzeno, carm. II, 1. 50: introduction, testo critico, traduzione e commento. Roma; Gent, 2013. Simelidis Ch. Selected Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus. I.2.17; II.1.10. 19. 32: A Critical Edition with Introduction and Commentary. Göttingen, 2009. Whitby M. “Sugaring the pill.” Gregory of Nazianzusʼ Advice to Olympias (carm. 2.2.6) // Ramus. 2008. Vol. 37. No. 1–2. R. 79–98. PSTGU graduate student, senior scientific editor INN "Orthodox Encyclopedia" St. Gregory the Theologian. Selected Poems: Carm. 2. 1. 38, Carm. 2. 1. 16, Carm. 1. 1. 10 P. A. Pashkov Carm. 2. 1. 38 Song to Christ after silence on Easter 227 In Lent 382 St. Gregory spent 228 in complete silence. Nevertheless, with this feat of abstinence from speech (which has always been the main joy for the saint) a whole series of texts are associated, describing the ascetic feat of the saint and explaining the reasons that prompted him to remain silent. This literary hymn (probably not intended for liturgical use) represents the “first word” of St. Gregory after Lenten silence. In its construction, the text simultaneously inherits the traditions of ancient artistic hymns (although the hexameter was a more common meter for pagan hymnography; there were also examples written in distichs, like the hymn of St. Gregory) and Christian Eucharistic prayers. Thus, the lengthy invocation (vv. 5–12) simultaneously contains the trinitarian theological part itself, which usually opened the anaphora prayers; the narrative of the creation of the world also meets the requirements of both traditions, etc. Description of the acts of Christ Savior fulfilled by St. Gregory using imagery and epithetics traditional for ancient hymnography. In the context of both the cycle associated with the silence of 382 and the corpus of texts of the saint as a whole, of particular interest is the metaphorical comparison of the hymnographer himself with the cithara of God that occurs at the end of the hymn (50). Ascetic silence, thus, is associated here with building internal “harmony”, eliminating spiritual discord, which, in turn, allows for the pouring out of pure song, which will bring an echo of Divine harmony into the world. Comparing the speech of a Christian speaker with music, which restores the harmony of the world (the saint sees an image of this in the mythological story of Orpheus), is important for musical metaphors - one of the central ones in the corpus of St. Gregory in general. Finally, one cannot help but notice the transformation of the traditional ending for the ancient hymn with the promise of the next song. Instead of this promise of St. Gregory expresses his readiness to offer his own spirit as a gift to the Holy Spirit, that is, to actually die. This is also connected with the theme of death throughout the entire cycle of texts on silence. 1. O Christ my King! - the first word I uttered After silence into flight, let your name be. I pour out my song on Your altar, like a pure sacrifice - Your pure priest (be merciful to insolence). 5. The Reason of the Father's Ray, from Him the Word that shone forth, The highest of mortal words, the Light of the Highest Light The Only Begotten, who revealed in Himself the image of the Beginning, Co-shine with the great Holy Spirit; Lord, The King on the throne of Heaven, the End and the Beginning of the universe, 10. The mind that breathed into me, glorious in its power The helmsman of the Universe, the Creator, giving life and breath Everything is alive and moving; You are the foundation of heaven and earth, Once installed, you store it without changes: 15. Your Phaeton, rising, eclipses with a flaming circle Stars - like You, Sovereign, you obscure the light of minds; Yours and the midnight face, alternating death and birth. Moonlight, which, having disappeared, rises again in full radiance; The round dance of the Zodiac was established in the heavens by you and yours, 20. Ruler of the changing times, bringing measure to the years; Yours displays an all-good providential mind The stars are all motionless, with a swarm of circling comets. Your and the undying light are all the heavenly wondrous hosts, That they sing Your highest honor in the Trinity. 25. Thy glory is man, an angel dwelling on earth, This singer of Your light, illuminated by You. Death for the sake of my death, O Immortal, who received at birth, He who was greater than flesh and took upon Himself flesh for us, I am yours, I live by you and sacrifice myself to you. 30. Even during my lifetime, this is all I can bring. It was for You that I fell silent, and for You I raised my voice; However, I pray that there will be good measure in everything. I will speak about what is proper, but I will not think about what is unclean, I will extract pearls from the mud at the bottom in my speech, 35. I will wash the gold in the sand, I will find the rose among the thorns, I grind the grains into flour, throwing the chaff into the fire. The first word, Christ, my tongue utters for You, Sacrificing new beginnings of labor to You. Now the great Christ, who was venerated among the dead, from the dead, 40. Having broken the sting of death, he rose with glorious strength. On the night of the gates of the hopeless kingdom of Hades He broke the gates and gave freedom and light to souls. Now, rushing from the abyss to the living, You appeared to people - To those for whom he was born, died and rose again, 45. So that, having been reborn in You and fleeing from the dominion of death, Together with You we ascended at Your Ascension. Now the Angelic Choir, singing the victory, rejoices, Walks after You and glorifies You. Now I have opened my lips that have been kept silent for a long time, 50. I became Your lyre to sing Your praises, I brought the word to the Word and the Great Mind - reason; He is ready to make a sacrifice to the Spirit, if He wants. Carm. 2. 1. 16 Dream about Anastasia's Church This elegy, reflecting the saint’s grief at parting with his flock in Constantinople, is of interest primarily because of its detailed description of the power of the Christian speaker: his speech is an outpouring of Divine power and is like sunlight (vv. 29–30, 41–46). The word of such a speaker really reveals God to the listeners, as if “transferring” the grace-filled experience of the speaker into the souls of the listeners. It pacifies hostility (vv. 37–40) and reconciles people. Here St. Gregory, in fact, creatively rethinks the classical ancient ideas about the power of the oratorical and poetic word. 1. I was immersed in a sweet sleep; and suddenly appeared Anastasia to the eyes that longed to see her. Trampled into dust she found the highest wisdom and lifted it up to heaven; this is the reason 5. what is now called the Resurrection - Anastasia the church that I established with an industrious hand. I saw: my holy throne rose above everyone, (I myself didn’t even ascend in a dream, oh no!). below are benches; I was surrounded by seated elders, 10. the flock of the people's leader, in the glory of venerable gray hair. Following are a row of ministers, like the image of Arkhangelsk choirs, he shone in light clothes. The church was crowded with people, a swarm of countless bees gathered at the altar barrier, so the struggle for a place nearby was already beginning. 15. Someone was crowding at the door, but tried to enter with all his soul, I wanted to hear and see what was happening inside. Rumor favorable to me from the high gallery inclined pure virgins and glorious women, a most venerable host. The sound of hurried footsteps was heard throughout the city: 20. People rushed here from the streets, from all the squares. The dream amused me with a new quirk: separation was among the people. One demanded a simple speech, to make it understandable, it creeps on the ground, because He did not want to and could not raise his gaze to the heavens. 25. Someone asked to raise a sophisticated word to heaven (this one is used to studying the wisdom of both kinds – ours and external people). There was a lot of noise in the bickering, speech was interrupted by the struggle of different desires and wills. Only from my lips poured out a single glory 30. Trinity - everyone was illuminated by the triple light of Beauty; the fiery Spirit burst out of the chest with every breath, With a mighty voice I destroyed the inventions of my enemies. Someone was already in awe and publicly praised me, some were silent in amazement, some tried to murmur, 35. But their objections died in the agony of birth; there were those who raised a storm of open struggle, but my eloquence pacified the skilled in words, also those who have comprehended only the teaching of the saints, our people and strangers, half-breeds and even aliens, 40. those who doomed themselves to sorrow by slavishly serving idols. Like a bunch of grapes that has darkened from the warm rays, will no longer be sour, becoming day by day softer and sweeter, but still not called ripe: part of it is green, part is both black and sweet, 45. So little by little the people matured in our virtue. With joy, I recognized the need for large grindstones. This is what I dreamed; but suddenly Anastasia along with the vision, the crow of the rooster drove away from me. For a couple of moments the ghost circled the dreams, 50. his heart could not hold him, he faded away, and only melancholy and powerless old age remained with me. Trinity, my Lord! My dear children! So, are you satisfied, enemy, who killed me before death? Don’t torment me in the future - there’s nothing left to take away! 55. Many different miracles, amazing great buildings the royal city rose higher than other cities; more than others it is decorated with heavenly churches, the churches that were mine have now gone to others; including the Apostles, the church is magnificent and glorious, 60. It is stretched out in four parts like a cross. But I’m not grieving for him, I’m grieving for Anastasia; Having forgotten everything, I cannot forget the new Bethlehem. How many times they tormented me both on dry land and at sea brothers, enemies and friends, shepherds (wolves, quickly), 65. and merciless illness, and bent old age for years - the worst thing for me is what I am now enduring. Fewer Jewish people find themselves far from home and in Assyrian captivity wept for his Church; so no Jew wept for the Ark of the Covenant; 70. The patriarch did not shed such tears with his son in separation; in grief he doesn’t growl like that if lion cubs are killed by someone, lioness; The shepherd deprived of his flock grieves weaker; the bird, having left its nest on a cozy tree top, a polyp torn from its place, a fish far from the water 75. - they all grieve less than for the church I erected, to remain a stranger, I - oh unfortunate one! - I'm grieving. If my heart forgets you, my tongue will mention you anything before you - may God not remember me. Often I could not perform the great holy Sacrifice, 80. but still my priest performed for the people: I erected an altar not made by hands in my tired heart where I shed my tears at visions of shrines. Virgins and choirs of singers (those who came from afar and ours; as soon as one falls silent, another immediately steps in). 85. Widows, my orphans, the flock that has lost its shepherd, that they trusted my hand, as if it were the Lord’s. My precious shelter, comforters of weak old age, I can never forget your love, even if I wanted to. If you still haven't forgotten 90. my pain and suffering – glory to the Trinity! Many people's hearts, alas, are carried away by the change of events, Some people keep their conscience only in front of everyone. However, let it be. I desire one thing, O Triple God: let them not forget the light of Your Divinity. 95. What then? Farewell, kings, who sometimes helped me in trouble! Farewell to the West, and to the East with your eternal enmity! Also, farewell to you, priests, and your battles! The pride that started them is also farewell forever! Great city, farewell! I do not desire an earthly throne; 100. Having now risen higher, I seek immortal glory. Only save and save, O beloved Triple God, my soul and allow Anastasia to see. Grigory cries, languishing, and grieves for Anastasia. He was separated from her by the envy of his pale enemy. Carm. 1. 1. 10 On the Incarnation against Apollinaris 229 The proposed translation is partly experimental; it was made deliberately not isometric (to the extent that one can even talk about isometry when comparing ancient Greek and modern Russian poetic meters) and not isostrophic. Our goal was to convey as much of the “classic” feel as possible from the original. Iambic pentameter without rhyme for the Russian reader is the meter of “Little Tragedies” and “Boris Godunov”, translations of “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet” - the same traditional meter of a poetic drama, which was the iambic trimeter for Gregory. In terms of content, this poem, which is included in the “Mysterious Hymns,” echoes the first letter against Apollinaris to Cledonius (ep. 101; in fact, St. Gregory reproduces most of the anti-Apollinarian argumentation of the letter in a versioned form). The final part of the poem, devoted to the doctrine of atonement, and not to Christology itself, follows a discussion of the Blood of Christ as a sacrifice and together with the. 45. 25. It can partly serve to clarify this text, which is of great importance for the history of patristic ideas about the economy of salvation 230. 1. We know that the great Mind has put together three parts human nature, initial Adam: from the soul, mind and rough flesh - without sin 5. uncleanness in his compositions. But the first man wanted to become a god... and God is a perfect man done, returning glory to me, and having recreated everything that He had previously 10. He gave to Adam, but now He Himself has received, to destroy the sentence for sin and so that by the death of the dead the destroyer was destroyed. So originally God ours is simple, and then it became complex 15. and was crucified by the hand of the deicides. This is how we teach about how it was combined with your nature the true Lord. Was from the beginning the same as the Father, was God, the Logos of God, who created 20. The universe, was above all times, and above the flesh and any suffering. But the enemy destroyed us with the tree of knowledge, and our condemned nature became an easy prey for him, 25. And he mutilated her compositions. Then, in order to recreate the fallen image and shame the envious pride, God lived among us, was born of a virgin, entirely - God and man entirely, 30. One Son - and visible to the eye, and comprehensible by reason and thought, so that all my compounds can be healed. You are now ready to talk about me. It's like I'm a servant of man 35. (since I honor the Logos, in full combined with my earthly nature, in an incomprehensible way; one and the same God and man Savior); so what? You are then a servant of the flesh, 40. since your “man” is crazy (I will return your mockery to you; and if you judge fairly, my dear, allow me to laugh, or don't laugh at me anymore). 45. Since for you even what is worse, there is God from God (even though, of course, flesh that in which the image of God is inferior), then for me it is a mind so close to God. Moreover, you remain in danger 50. second part of human nature: What God did not accept is not saved. What do you say? After all, those who dissect the nature of the Divine is alien to you; You protect God from division, 55. And you yourself cut off what He received: you give one thing, you take away another, you lay down the flesh and alienate the mind, as if you are afraid of integrity. “Is the One capable of containing 60. two completely intact? Won't they tear? What an absurdity! because the soul contains Both mind and word. - “What do you need the mind is so needed for integrity, so important, 65. How soon is the Lord Himself present?” Well, there was no mind in Christ's flesh? So I'm deceived! Where is the man? After all, without my soul, my skin is here. So how could God be born from a Virgin? 70. Unity as formed from natures separate from each other? I guess that this cannot be expressed in speeches, although I dare to put it briefly measure what is beyond words. 80. So, the Spirit descended on the Virgin, purifying Her, and the Logos created in Her Himself mortal nature, entirely human - as a ransom for the dead in all their compositions. But since God 85. one cannot unite with the flesh, soul and mind stood in the middle, mediating: for the body - like your own, for God - as an image; so unity with the nature of the Divine akin to it 90. also connected with rough flesh; So God both accepted and gave. And what happened to both of them? God's natures? One came in into unity with the gross; rough, other 95. tasted my infirmities, yet without sin. But for whom is God's blood shed? Given to the enemy? It's a shame if that's the case. Really God? How? Payment is given - but not to the one who took possession of us? 100. But maybe so? Christ offers himself as a sacrifice to God to kidnap us from captivity; to accept Him as a replacement God for fallen Adam. Moreover in the Anointed Christ was not harmed 105. anointed – remember – Deity. We think like this and honor the image. Accept and know. Bow before the Trinity! St. Gregory the Theologian. Gnomic poems: Carm. 1. 2. 30–34 Carm. 1. 2. 30–32, 34 – translation by O. P. Tsybenko, P. A. Pashkov. Carm. 1. 2. 33 – translation of the priest. A. Zuevsky 231 It will be difficult for the modern reader to read the following works if he approaches them, trying to place them on a par with “ordinary” poetry. Even after other poems and poems by St. Gregory, given above, among which there are examples of didactic poetry, “gnomes” or maxims of St. Gregory, it seems, will surprise anyone who wants to get acquainted with them. Based on the modern view of the essence of poetry, it is difficult to answer the question for what purpose one can even turn to reading this kind of texts. In Antiquity the answer was self-evident. In order for us to get closer to it, we should remember that the central feature of ancient rhetoric was the desire to “generalize reality” 232. “The effect of ascent from the concrete to the abstract, to the universals” is the “super task” of this poetics 233. In this sense, a succinctly formulated thought - a gnome - is valuable precisely insofar as it is “applicable to an unlimited number of private incidents, reproduced in any era and among any people” 234. Based on the above, one could come to the conclusion about the purely intellectual pleasure received from reading such a text. However, we see from sources that, for example, St. Gregory believed that texts of this genre played a significant role in matters of morality. We can appreciate the significance of the maxims for him by turning to the Theologian’s major pedagogical poem On Virtue (carm. 1. 2. 10). This text is, in a sense, a poetic message to young men 235, or rather a “continuation” of this text by St. Vasily. If the Bishop of Caesarea explains why and how one needs to receive a “secular” education, then Nazianzen turns to a young man who has already received it, and therefore his goal is to Christianize the knowledge and ethical ideas he received at school. Accordingly, in the text the author solves two problems: he offers the young man a coordinate system of school knowledge, pointing out the best and unworthy examples, and also points him to the next step - true, Christian knowledge of God. As part of the first task, he writes the following lines: And even though you were raised on the books of the ancients, Still, don’t accept the bad ones from them: "Let me be called a villain as long as I rich; it's better than honoring the law of the gods and be a beggar, exchanging income for fame.” “He is the noble one who snatched the fattest piece for himself.” “Money is the source of all dignity for a person.” “Being a beggar is the most shameful thing for husbands”... Such an insignificant mind is truly miserable, who invented such things; run him... But praise is reasonable words. “When you gain profit by villainy, consider that you have acquired a guarantee of misfortune.” “Don’t look for profit everywhere, at least have shame!” “Wealth is not God; is it worth respect something that even the insignificant has ever acquired? “He is poor, but rich in his morals.” “A wise man, even a beggar, is better than the evil Midas”... But what is external fables for instruction to me? Let us now take a look at my law. We see that in this case St. Gregory introduces this coordinate system into school didactics, selecting from it what is consistent with Christian ethics. From this it is not difficult to understand the motivation of St. Gregory in composing the poems below: as in his other poems, he compiles a new corpus of school and broader “classical” genres for Christian culture. Here we should talk about the place of texts of this kind in the moral education of a person or, in other words, about the “mechanism” of reading them. Of course, a full treatment of this issue would require addressing the problem of reading and the reader in Late Antiquity beyond the scope of this introductory note. The problem is because an attempt to comprehend the nature of the texts of this period, saturated for the most part with a huge the number of allusions and references 236, as well as the appeal to late antique literary theory show significant differences in the practices and principles of reading from modern ones 237. The main feature of reading of that period can be called the perception of the text as a set of elements rather than as a single whole. Turning to the text of Plutarch How a young man listens to poetic works and the Christian texts that go back to them (see above about the messages to young men), we will see that their main idea is the need for a young man to develop the skill of highlighting what is useful in any texts, marked by the metaphor “a bee in the meadow” 238 . By “useful,” as we understand from the examples given in the texts, we mean literally specific phrases, which, taken away from the text, are perceived as maxims (gnomes), which we see in the above excerpt from the poem by St. Gregory. These maxims, when memorized, should help make the right decision or cope with emotions, as we see in another work of the same Plutarch: It is necessary, having received the instructions against anger from philosophy, to put them aside in the soul, remembering that when the need comes to use them, it will not be easy to introduce them into the soul from the outside 239. A text memorized can come to the rescue when the mind has already lost control over the feelings. About the same as St. Gregory, in his poem On Anger, describes the effect of examples (παράδειγμα) from Scripture and ancient philosophy, remembering which allows one to overcome anger 240. However, in this case we are interested not so much in how “examples” work, even if this happens in a similar way to maxims, but in the very fact of such a moral poem in verse. We see in it the following lines, summing up the first part of the poem, containing a discussion on the central theme, and opening the second, conditionally illustrative part: Keep yourself in check with this kind of speech. And you; there is no need for anything else for a reasonable person. And if you need a more extensive song. Well, let's turn to the lives of those whose morals acquired boldness for himself before God both in ancient times and in our days, the last 241. Of course, the first part is a connected text with a certain logic of development. However, the poetic form allows one to isolate from it a set of easily remembered maxims. The call to “overcome anger” with “such reasoning,” in the context of what was said above, should, it seems, be understood literally: memorize these verses and, when anger approaches you, turn to them and overcome it. Thus, this poem represents not only a consistent analysis of this emotion, its appearance and methods of overcoming, but also specific material for actual moral work in the form of maxims and examples. In conclusion, it should be said about a certain genre freedom of St. Gregory in the collections of maxims offered below. S.S. Averintsev pointed out the fundamental difference between maxims in “high” and “didactic” poetry in Greek culture and their confusion in Semitic 242. In the logic of Sergei Sergeevich, Byzantine culture was a complex synthesis of the central tendencies and intuitions of both. Gnomic poems of St. Gregory fully confirms his observations. Carm. 1. 2. 30. Thoughts written in single verses The poem is composed of acrostics in the order of all the letters of the Greek alphabet, each iambic verse of which has as its purpose edification. Make God the beginning and the end of everything. For the benefit of life for those who die every day. Know all the deeds of good men. Evil prosperity is worse than poverty. 5. By doing good, you imitate the Most High. Be merciful - you will find God's mercy. It’s wonderful if the flesh is submissive and restrained. Contain your anger so as not to fall into madness. Keep your gaze, and your tongue will find moderation. 10. Shut your ears so that the licentious laughter may be silenced. May your mind be your light all your life. Don’t try to “appear”, otherwise you won’t be able to “be”. Know everything, but do what needs to be done. Know: you are a wanderer - show the same honor to others. 15. Is the wind blowing fair? Be prepared for the storm. Accept everything from God with gratitude. The holy scourge is more joyful than the flattery of a sinner. Knock on the door of the wise more often, not to the rich, but to the wise. What great things can give is not small. 20. You are a great sage, since you humbled your pride. Take care of yourself. Another one will fall - don’t rejoice. It's nice to cause envy, knowing envy is a shame. There is no better sacrifice to God than your soul. Oh, whoever saves this will be saved? Сarm. 1. 2. 31 Thoughts written in couplets 1. Life's abyss naked furrows to a cargo ship It didn’t go down soon, barely leaving the harbor. If you know that icy death is nearby, Remember, when we meet, then death will be easier. 5. Turn your mind to the church and perform invisible services in it before the Lord, so that He may dwell in your heart. Know yourself 243, friend, who you are and where you came from 244, So that you can find beauty as the Prototype. Let days be replaced by days, dragging the lightweight behind you - 10. In the minds of steadfast men, the day continues undyingly. The one who is always obedient to changes in any circumstances, He believes in the flowing river that always runs away. Equally sinful life and sinful destructive speech, After all, it is impossible for us to have one without the other. 15. Yes, it is sacrilege when the unclean remains with the sacrifices: Even worse is to honor all sorts of ashes of the dead. If you stop on the right track, immediately You will fall into the abyss again - the one from which you fled. He who sees is blind if he does not see death in his sin: 20. Only keen eyes can discern the tracks of an animal. If, in need of treatment for an illness, you hide the illness, You will have to rot slowly, know that it is inevitable for you 245. The word is for you, and the deed is for me. Without a good deed You only take eloquence into an alliance full of doubts. 25. Satiety is pride. It would be better for you, my dear fellow, to get busy, so that you can gain fortitude for your depraved soul. Only in the Divine is wealth given to us, and all that is worldly You always consider the spider's web to be equal. Everything that people have is useless for the future life, 30. Mortal man lives there only by virtue. The ever-reasoning Word of God cries: “Come, You will quickly comprehend the knowledge of the Trinity.” Let those who share the sacred bonds of marriage take care bound to bring them more fruit for Heaven. 35. Virgins, who preferred only the great Divine Logos hold in pure arms, let them give everything to God: after all, the removal of the body from the world does not consist in one thing Praise be to the virgin life - we must also keep our spirit. The appearance of faith is blasphemy if the heart does not believe at all. 40. Water will wash off the blush. I love the depth. Should I be too direct, or cunning in my secret thoughts? - both this and that are bad. It's better if there is moderation in everything. Be bold in moderation, otherwise that boldness will become insolence. Wisdom lies in being gentle at times. 45. The best thing is to always open your mind to God’s instructions, To be truly knowledgeable in the laws of heaven. Strive to be worthy; It is unworthy to please everyone. To be held in honor by villains is a shameful honor. It’s a shame for a worthy husband to be the defender of rogues: 50. This is the same as if you yourself sinned. Gold is in the crucible, but a noble man finds in sorrows Form for yourself; and sometimes sorrows are more pleasant than blessings. Whoever renounces his father will easily renounce God. Also, with your father, honor your mentor equally in kindness. 55. The worm will swallow everything equally; So why do we need wealth in the grave? To acquire a good name is the best funeral wreath. Be merciful to strangers in your homeland, especially to the dead: They can no longer help themselves. Well, then! Having left this world and all the hardships that were in it, 60. Direct the sail on your boat towards heavenly life. Do everything praiseworthy and in an image worthy of God - The Trinity will be favorable to you in everything. Сarm. 1. 2. 32. Thoughts written in couplets The end is beautiful at the beginning of good: The result gives a correct assessment of the matter. The beginning that brings benefit to mortals - Divine life purification. 5. Inspired by words, do not fly without wings: Even birds cannot fly without wings. In this life, knowledge is the greatest glory, But it is a sin when it is used sinfully. Let not empty glory carry you away! 10. The deceit in it is dangerous for simpletons. When doing good, try to keep it After all, the fast road leads to the worst. And restrain your laughter, and put a limit to your anger, And don’t give free rein to idle words. 15. First, fear God; honor your parents Respect your elders and glorify the priests. And in what is fair, son, do not reproach your father: This is the law, and this is what nature ordered. What do you not want to tolerate from your neighbor? 20. Don’t do that to him yourself and don’t dare wish for him. E1e strange is the anger towards those who have committed terrible things: Like stops like. From wise lips comes gratifying speech: Hostility spews out from a bitter throat. 25. The word of a spoken tongue is pleasant, And the words of foolish lips are meaningless. Friends love what their friends love, Enemies of friends dishonor insultingly. If a friend is poor, the rich man's door is closed: 30. And for the rich, the courtyard shines with luxury. Water, the best drink, strengthens the spirit, And intoxication clouds the mind, taking over it. Wine doesn't make people smart But, having ignited, it draws them to pleasure. 35. The light mind is expelled by the heavy belly: Opposites enter into battle. It is better to eat moderate food, than a gourmet dinner in dreams. Fools in their dreams are richer, 40. The owners of countless amounts of money. It is better to be childless than to give birth to fools: One is childless, but there are many evil children. The whole earth will become a grave for the dead: Everything is from the earth, the earth is everything, everything is back into the earth. 45. The goat shepherd will milk it when he wants, But blood is not milk, it will splash in streams. A pig that only enjoys food, And she knows the limits in saturation. So force the arrogant bastards 50. To the order that is determined by laws. Keeping the laws, leave all fear: Why should those who have fulfilled the whole law be afraid? An experienced pilot can avoid a storm, And all misfortunes - reason with wise thoughts. 55. Don’t harbor evil intentions against the best: For sinners, justice is inevitable. The blows are carried away by a powerful anvil, And a wise mind is any compulsion. The leaves scare the hares with their rustling sound, 60. Weak-willed husbands are the shadow of what is happening. How bad it is if the poor give a gift to the rich He brought it, but he only promises, but does not deliver! How the evil Vitia will corrupt the law, So pure in heart - to increase harmony. 65. The rich man laughs at the orphans with reproaches, And he laughs at God’s punishment itself. He respects the laws to his own destruction, Who illegally tries to keep the law Poor in worries; no time to be vain. 70. But there is room for pride for the rich. Teach fools by nature as much as is permitted: Suddenly they may become intelligent. Iron and fire will carve out of stone: The heart is nurtured by a cruel whip. 75. The wicked are afraid more than anything else. 76. Cross and communion with Baptism. It is a great sin to give an oath or take one in return, You harm the truth in both cases. May eternity be your gain. 80. This age has become too meager even to the end. Do not honor wealth, subject to time: Will destroy time created by time. It is a disgrace for women to show masculine character: Shyness is decency for honest women. 85. Delight is like a stone rolling down: 86. Here he was - and not in a moment. The sick value health more than all wealth; Mortal nature wisely planned this. The speech of a fool is like a wave of the sea: 90. She makes noise, but does not water the plants. And the wise men are tempted by gifts: A trap for mortals is gold, like a feathered net. Old age gives birth to sorrows prematurely. E1e will restore the time that trouble will kill. 95. Wealth is the most agile servant, 96. But power condones evil deeds. There is no more beautiful acquisition than a friend, But don’t take a treacherous husband as your friend. Honor order and prefer it to force: 100. He is strength and a bridle for all strength. An anxious mind is like a worm that eats bone. A body in its prime, alien to worries. Saturation is alien to prudence: It is like fire that rushes towards the tree. 105. Wine is an assistant to insufficient passion: 106. After all, if you add wood, the fire will intensify. He who fears litigation avoids rage, After all, we often inflame anger through litigation. The mourners fear the multiplication of sorrows, 110. although sometimes sorrow puts an end to sorrows. Others are afraid of other people's sorrows, Although their own misfortune clearly threatens them. Always try to gain eternal glory: After all, today's fame lies every day. 115. No one is angry with the right decision 116. Will not accept - anger is a bad adviser to us. Snakes are dangerous, asp venom is destructive. But the woman is more dangerous to us than both of them. Whoever sees the naked bones is convinced 120. That in this world we are not connected with anything. 121. If the crayfish children suddenly don’t start backing away, 122. The example of their mother’s gait will correct them. A good student of bad mentors - Violation of natural order. 125. Adorn yourself with good testimonies, 126. Not despising the poor orphan. If God gives, one should not envy, But if he doesn’t give it, the effort is unnecessary. Are you giving birth, echidna? Don't be afraid to suffer: 130. Now you will know how your mother suffered 246. Obvious cowardice does not make a hero: Victories only bring good glory. The sleeping husband invents visions: Sleep serves ghosts, not truth. 135. Violence will conquer even those who disagree: He will take the proud giant by the throat. It’s easy for a swindler to rule over the people, Misleading the simple-minded people. He who works half-heartedly does not work: 140. Careless work is worthy only of contempt. And the dogs, coming to feast on carrion, Not suddenly, but in order, they become saturated. If gold speaks, let speech be inactive: Gold does not know words, but he is convincing. 145. Let them try to find peace at least for a moment, Madmen, partial to transient things! Carm. 1. 2. 33 Thoughts written in quatrains I am the work of Gregory and preserve in spiritual sayings a quatrain monument of wisdom. Deeds or contemplation, which will you choose? One for everyone, the other only for the best for future use, But both lives are good and righteous, Lead the one you are more capable of. I was once asked about spirituality, - “Wash away the filth first.” - “But I live with dignity.” “Wash away the filth. Washed away? So cleanse yourself again: Foul-smelling myrrh should not be put into a vessel.” Don’t resist everything, and don’t believe it easily; But know what you can follow as far as possible. And don’t defend God, follow Him; They will challenge the word - with the word; challenge life with what? Do not instruct otherwise than by living your life, Or, by attracting, you will only repel. Fewer words are needed if you do what is right, The artist explains his creations. Priests, I advise you first of all, Don't be an eye filled with darkness, So that you don’t become the first in a vicious life; If the light is so dark, what is the darkness then? Actions without conversations are better than words without actions; No one has risen without a good life, Without verbosity, on the contrary - many; God will not glorify you for your words, but for your life. The best gift to God is good morals. And if you give everything back, you will not do what is worthy: Bring to Him what even the poor could give; The righteous will not share the harlot's wages. Do not make even a small vow to God; All God's from the beginning. What else can I say? You will deceive yourself by not giving. Debt is eliminated! Sapphira and Ananias will convince you of this. Walk through life as if at a fair; Bargain! You can win for little - Great, and for empty - eternal. And there will be no other opportunity. The path that lies before you now is not close; But the reward is greater. And suddenly seeing All the work, don’t give up! You won’t accomplish everything suddenly; But this is what the devil often tempts us with. Don't be arrogant, but don't lose hope at all. In one there is lack of will, and in the other there is despondency. Correct this, stick to this, or forget about it. Incompleteness will not make work futile. Don’t be scattered, be faithful to the chosen one; In goodness, addition is better than subtraction. We don’t call those who are thin, those who stand below, And those who, while rising, fall low. A small spark ignites a flame, The viper's seed is often destructive; Therefore, avoid minor sins: Although it is small, it can grow into a larger one. Examine yourself more than the affairs of others; Your reward is in the first, in the second others. And keep count of deeds, not property, It is short-lived, but they are unshakable. Let the mind learn to absorb God-given words of love and thoughts; And be restrained with your tongue - it will easily do harm, The faster it moves, the less useful it is. I was deceived by sight, but I was able to restrain myself, And he did not build an idol for sin, And if he does, then try to avoid the matter. All this is a struggle with the devil to a degree. At least cover your ears with wax from rotten words, And immoderate song convolutions! And open your ears to the good and the beautiful: To say, to hear, to do - it lies nearby. Don't be too fooled by the incense. Pleasant touch and taste. If you give in to them, will you retain your courage? Husbands and wives have different pleasures. "Give it!" - the womb tells me. Why not give it? Once you receive it, will you remain chaste? But no - slop, and even then not enough; When you calm down, maybe I’ll give you enough. For the healthy, laughter is worthy of ridicule, And anyone, especially a dissolute one. Unrestrained laughter often brings you to tears. It is better to have a modest disposition rather than a spoiled one. Consider the splendor of the heart beautiful - No handiwork, consumed by time, And what the chaste mind only sees; For those worthy of shame, the heart is corrupted. Hopes, sorrows, fears, joys await us, Wealth, poverty, fame, power, infamy; Let everything flow as it wants. Does not apply Changeable approved in genuine. Elevate yourself by deeds, not by thoughts, Those are the way to God, but these will lead you into sin. And build your life not by small standards; Whatever you do, the commandment will be higher. It is not worth seeking all glory zealously; To be is better than to appear. If you can't hold back - Seek at least not vain, not outlandish. What good is a monkey if they think he's a lion? Praise others, but when they praise you, don’t be proud of yourself: Don't be below a good word. But first test the object of praise, So as not to be ashamed if it turns out to be bad. It is better to hear bad things than to say them. And they will make you a laughing stock in your eyes Imagine yourself being ridiculed by someone. And with that joy you yourself will be saddened. If you haven’t landed, don’t brag about your sailing, They sailed without trouble and sank in the harbor, And they managed to land, having passed through the storm. One thing is certain - don’t complain about fate. Therefore it is more worthy to dare before the Lord, He who does what is right and works, And not to the one who does not know good deeds, Even if he did everything with reason. Give everything away and only gain God for yourself, After all, you are not giving away your property; If you don’t want everything, then give at least more; And this is difficult - sacrifice at least the excess. I wish I could save something from moths and envy! Wealth lies in being a debtor to Christ, And for a piece of bread He gives the kingdom: And when you feed the poor, you give to Christ. The beggar knocked, but in vain - he left with nothing. Christ! I'm afraid, seeking God's help, And I will be left with nothing for my business. If you didn’t submit it yourself, how do you hope to take it? There is no more unrequited poor person. After all, he only serves God, he only looks there; Cover him: it happens that falcons They will warm a small bird in their nest. The need of the wealth of the unrighteous is more worthy, Illness is better than bad corpulence. A person will not suddenly die of hunger, But for the wicked, life is bad – it’s already death. Slave, master - what kind of stupid division is this? There is one Creator, there is one law and one answer. Consider the servant as a partner in slavery, Then you will receive greater honor after death. What should slaves do? And especially for God?! Let them not abandon the service of their masters. Virtue makes the slave free; God himself, liberating, took on the form of a slave. A bad life is shameful, not birth; After all, the nobility of the family is simply ancient rottenness; It is more worthy to begin a race than to end it, And your own honor is more beautiful than family honor. Know no limit in God and the divine, To those who accept, God gives even more, He, pouring out generously, thirsts for those who are thirsty; And if you don’t succeed in anything else, endure it. You should not strive to be the first in everything, A harmful victory is better than defeat. And it happened among wrestlers that he won Not at the top, but at the bottom. There are also losses not without gain, And the branch is cut to collect the fruits. And it is wicked to increase wealth - Damage to health, ruin of the economy. You don’t feel like you’re in debt to God, And don’t have any pity on the guilty before you; If you see your debt, be patient. God weighs mercy by our mercy. And if resentment kindles your heart, Remember the plagues and sufferings of Christ, Is your destiny comparable to His destiny? And with this, like water, you will quench your sorrow. Demon, lust, jealousy, drunkenness are equally destructive; To whom they appeared, their minds were poisoned; Prayer, fasting and tears are saving here, They also cure my ailments. How to convince, since swearing is not allowed? In words, but also in life accordingly. And with a false oath you deny God, He is not the guarantor, but your deeds. How to briefly talk about virtue? Be with your neighbors the way you want them to be Always have in relation to yourself. Even more briefly, only Christ suffers. There is nothing more beautiful than a true friend, Tried in troubles, not in feasts, If anyone pleases, it is only with benefit. Know the limits not of friendship, but of hostility. The eye sees everything around, but it does not see itself; He can’t even see around him, since he’s completely blind. Therefore, have an assistant in everything; After all, a hand needs another hand. Obedient to the advice of the virtuous There is no shame if the vicious ones ridicule; And having thought something vile, think as if Everyone sees this and you will improve. Always prefer the wicked to the decent, By communicating with the vicious, you yourself will become corrupted. And reject the mercy of the vicious, So he seeks forgiveness for his deeds. And the devil can be useful to us in some way - Those who are experienced will be more attentive in future. I'm afraid, to tell the truth, of bitter drugs, But sweet ones are completely unacceptable. Despise the wicked, but show honor to the good. However, have mercy on those too, endure their evil, In order to guide them towards virtue. To the generous, meekness is a precious gift. Be kind to everyone if you can, but especially To your family and friends. Here's the thing: Will they believe that you are fair to strangers? Since you are unmerciful with those to whom you are in debt. Should we blame the unfortunate enemy for our troubles? If they themselves gave him power over life? If not for everything, then reproach yourself for more, Fire comes from us, the devil only blows. Don't give in too much to tempting dreams, So that your soul is not filled with fears, And so that your mind is not inspired by charm. Often dreams are the devil's snare. Let hope accompany good deeds, Since she can also help in bad things, Isn't it better to hope for good things? I will not humble myself before triumphant malice. Believe me, the clear mind of luck is more reliable, It is a rapid flow of circumstances, He is your pilot. Consider yourself superior to everything Learning: We are the only ones who truly possess it. If you want to be God, in doing good, And do not show determination in evil. This is how he lives who knows what is akin to him, And both the stingray and the scorpion are capable of killing. It's a shame that the young is weaker than the old, And if the old is more reckless than the young. Be reasonable at least according to your age... But there are also those who are more perfect than their years. Always worry about salvation, And at the end of life it’s so special. Old age appeared, the herald of death; Get ready, whoever you are, judgment is coming. The last one. They renounce in two ways: By words or deeds. Be careful (The enemy will not stop plotting secret intrigues) May you escape purification before death. Carm. 1. 2. 34 Definitions, lightly outlined This poem can be called unique of its kind. In it, unlike previous poems, St. Gregory offers the reader not maxims, that is, useful and deep statements, but, literally, a dictionary. However, this is not a lexical or rhetorical dictionary, but definitions of the basic concepts of the Christian worldview and worldview. At the same time, St. Gregory in it does not offer any detailed disclosure of the concept being described, but, as stated in the title of the text (in the original - Ὅροι παχυμερεῖς), he describes the world “in large strokes.” Nevertheless, it should be said that enormous strength was clearly given to this poem: despite the amazing brevity, these definitions are accurate, complete, and sometimes witty. Literally in two or three words St. Gregory captures the very essence of what is being defined. The forerunner of this work could be considered the Definitions attributed to Plato, but obviously belonging to his school 247. However, the absence of any parallels in structure and definitions suggests that St. This text was most likely unfamiliar to Gregory. The purpose of these texts is somewhat different. If the Definitions compiled BC. e., were created as a dictionary for the corpus of Plato’s works, then the Definitions of St. Gregory does not serve as an accompaniment to any corps, but as an independent fixation of a certain worldview. Nevertheless, as far as we can judge, if not the pseudo-Platonic definitions themselves, then something similar to them inspired St. Gregory in the course of implementing his program to create a poetic corpus of school texts, which was supposed to absorb all the best from Hellenic education, transforming it with the light of the Trinity 248. These considerations also point to the likely addressee of the poem. It is unlikely that this text was created as a catechetical text, that is, aimed at instructing those who are preparing to receive Baptism, although such an impression may be created due to the apparent simplicity of presentation and comprehensiveness of the material of the Christian worldview. The brevity of the definitions given does not lead to a simplification of the created “picture”, allowing everyone to easily master it all. On the contrary, reading the Definitions requires interest and taste for working with poetic text, since St. Gregory leaves a lot of things not stated directly, but only outlined. Almost every verse, most often concluding one definition, requires, if not decoding, then completion by the reader of the meaning of the phrase, which requires an understanding of the context of the statement, connections between neighboring definitions, attention to words repeated in different definitions, etc. There are two possible audiences for this text. Either it, as mentioned in the preface to carm. 1. 2. 30–33, the poem On Virtue (carm. 1. 2. 10), was directed to those who had already received an education in a pagan school, and was intended to transform their ideas in accordance with the Christian worldview. Or, and this seems more likely, it was conceived as a proper school text for Christian young men. It should be noted that this text is clearly not aimed at a full presentation of Orthodox doctrine. Firstly, there is no triadology in it at all. Secondly, although other traditional blocks - Christology, cosmology, anthropology, etc. - are partly present, the structure of the text does not coincide with other theological systematic treatises or catechetical texts, most often structured as a commentary on the creed. Nevertheless, this poem has a fairly clear structure, the highlighting of which seems to clearly show the purpose and logic of its creation. This poem is divided into two very unequal parts: the first line and the rest of the poem, and the opposition “God - world” defined in the first two lines both sets the logic of the entire subsequent text and explains the absence of the doctrine of the Trinity: this is a text about the cosmos, the universe. Moreover, the first line, of course, is not a formality: despite its brevity, it introduces two fundamental ideas for Christian teaching, despite the fact that the entire initial part of the poem is written in ancient philosophical, and not biblical, language. Firstly, the transcendence of God is affirmed here, His transcendence of the world and opposition to it, in which we see a significant difference with a number of philosophical cosmologies of Antiquity, either including God in the world (Aristotle), or deriving the existence of the world from the existence of God through the mediating stages of existence (Plotinus). Secondly, being itself is here attributed exclusively to God (Θεὸς μέν ἐστιν οὐσία); opposition at the syntactic level of the world to God (Κόσμος!δὲ...), which does not end with an existential definition, speaks of the lack of independence and lack of self-sufficiency of the former. Despite the fact that the cosmological terms contained in the introduction (vv. 1–9) may seem Aristotelian, in its content and conceptual structure this passage is rather Platonic. Described by St. Gregory’s creation of the cosmos - first the creation of immaterial nature (angels), and then matter as the basis of forms - most closely resembles the cosmology of Plato’s Timaeus, in which the demiurge god also creates the world from two pre-existing natures - intelligible nature, which is an ideal prototype of the world (Timaeus. 37d 3; 38b 8; 39e 7), and material, acting as a receiver and nurse ideas (Timaeus 51a). The result is a cosmos that combines both ideal and material components. However, in the view of St. Gregory is not talking about the pre-existence of any matter, of course. It can also be assumed that the first two lines of the poem respond to the first verse of Scripture: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the exegetical tradition, reference to a “beginning” is regularly interpreted as a way of indicating the beginninglessness of God; the creation of heaven and earth was considered as an indication of the separation in the world of the spiritual, or angelic, and material, this is exactly how St. defines the world. Gregory (“the conceivable connection and the transitory”), and it is this opposition that sets the structure of the subsequent text. From the description of angels (4–7) by St. Gregory moves on to a description of matter and the elements (8–19), after which he moves on to anthropology (20–30), followed by a large section describing the emotions, virtues and vices of man, which could be designated as the ethical section (31–174). It is particularly influenced by the Stoic tradition of brief definitions of various concepts. The Stoics distinguish three blocks of definitions: attraction and its types 249 , virtue as such and various virtues 250 , passions and their manifestations 251 . St. Gregory follows this tradition structurally, but borrows the definitions themselves less often and combines different traditions. This structure is conventionally marked with keywords: Art. 41 – attraction (πόθος), art. 49 – virtue (ἀρετή), v. 71 – envy (φθόνος). From Art. 88 (definition of freedom) to Art. 174 contains a large set of different definitions, among which we see many basic terms of ancient thinking (θεωρία, πρᾶξις, τέχνη, ἐπιστήμη), several directly Stoic definitions, and at the same time Christian themes begin to appear more and more, both in the choice of concepts (for example, types prayers in vv. 130–145), and in the definitions themselves (for example, the definitions of love in vv. 160–166). Connections between small groups of definitions are built mainly by lexical or semantic proximity, and not by a specific structure. From Art. 175 we see a transition to Christian themes (to which the remaining text will be devoted until the end of the poem): from lifestyles - marriage, virginity, monasticism - St. Gregory addresses the topic of salvation, sin and the law, followed by a large fragment describing the economy of Christ from the Incarnation to the Ascension (186–222). This is followed by a description of church realities (224–248), after which St. Gregory offers a summary of eschatology (249–262); the last three definitions are given by chance, Providence and fate. Let's try to reconstruct the logic of St. Gregory, which became the basis for the general structure of this poem. In it we see a wonderfully described S.S. Averintsev, the dialectic of space and history inherent in late antique (early Byzantine) writing, in which Christian intuitions transform the ancient worldview 252. Describing the world (cosmos), which received its origin from the Creator, St. Gregory thinks of it as completely static, by which we mean attention to the objective laws of the world, and not to individual changes in the world of people. Thus, the first part of the poem describes universal phenomena that apply to any moment in human history. However, then this cosmos undergoes fundamental changes - God becomes part of it in the Incarnation. From this and his other texts we understand that St. Gregory thinks of history, firstly, as a change of stages 253, and secondly, as what is accomplished in this world by God. The last two definitions are characteristic here: Providence is what “our Lord guides this world like a helmsman,” and fate is “a series of plans outlined by Him.” And indeed, we see temporal connectives only in three places in the texts. In the first, a listing of two laws: the Jewish and the law of “passions” (184–185) indicates the transition from the Old Testament to the New. The description of Christ’s earthly life ends with the line “Let us reflect on what happened later (τἀπὶ τούτοις) [the Ascension]” (222), followed by an ecclesiological fragment. It in turn ends with the phrase: “Christ in the Father’s glory after (Μεθ’ ἣν) will appear...” (249), followed by a description of the end of the world. Thus, we can say that St. Gregory first describes universal cosmology, anthropology and ethics, then moves on to two history-defining events, between which the current stage of the world’s existence takes place. This stage after the Ascension (or, more precisely, Pentecost, see from. 31.25) and before the Second Coming is the implementation of the economy perfected by Christ in the new “people” - the Church. At this stage St. Gregory also describes not these or those changeable conditions, but the universal phenomena necessary for the sanctification of this people: church, hierarchy, sacraments, preaching. As a result, this text is not a presentation of Orthodox doctrine, but precisely a worldview, that is, a cosmology transformed by the Christian sense of time, determined by the Logos. We place this poem, the only one presented in the collection, together with the Greek text, since the translation in this case, from our point of view, cannot be considered a completely independent work. Translating poetry is always problematic. However, the above-mentioned features of this poem: laconic style and large-scale content - make it exceptional even against this background. Since almost every verse of this work contains a definition of one of the key concepts of ancient Christian thinking, the problem of asymmetry of concepts in the 4th and 21st centuries was added to the usual complexity of translating such a short and rich verse. Even the simplest words, like “fire”, “beauty” or any other, although, perhaps, retain a common semantic core throughout this time, due to profound shifts in worldview that have occurred over the past centuries, they change their connotations, since they already stand in a completely different associative row. Open fire is a rare phenomenon in today's world and, at the same time, completely alien to the philosophical language of our time; in Antiquity, it is not only part of everyone’s everyday life, but also one of the four elements that form the whole world, i.e., the basic category of cosmology. Beauty appears twice in this poem, as a definition of God and as “the harmony of everything” 254. In the modern world, it is enough to remember the ubiquitous “beauty salons” to see that the word “beauty” today is associated with something else. The same problem is reflected in the style. At St. Gregory we see the use of a venerable vocabulary of ancient cosmology and ethics, with the addition of biblical vocabulary and Christian neologisms. At the same time, it is important to remember that everything ancient in the era of Late Antiquity aroused respect, as something from the Golden Age. In our country, the duality between the ecclesiastical-secular, as well as the old-new, has completely different connotations: “old-ecclesiastical”, whether we like it or not, carries echoes of “decrepitness”. As a result of the above, we place the two texts in parallel, in the hope that in this way the reader will be able to become acquainted with the holistic and deep worldview of the Theologian, who lived in the era of the freshness of the Christian world. One last note is about comments. In them we did not claim any completeness - the origins of each definition can be studied like a detective story, comparing it with a dozen other texts, identifying what St. reacted to. Gregory, what he took and what he rejected from them. Accordingly, the parallels indicated in them are not always an indication of the direct or even indirect source of the saint’s thoughts. We only hope that these comments will make it possible to understand a little more fully the degree of his inclusion in the intellectual context of his era when creating both this and his other works. In doing so, we focused primarily on lexical parallels, while semantic parallels are only weakly reflected in the comments. Some of the comments were taken from Gregorio Nazianzeno. Poesie/2 / Costa I., Crimi C. Roma: Città nuova, 1999. P. 258–267. Translation and comments by T.L. Alexandrova See: Simelidis. Op. cit. P. 121–128. There is an allusion here to the Beatitudes (see: Matthew 5:3–10) and to some psalms (primarily Ps.1:1), however, the replacement of μακάριος with ὄλβιος; evokes other associations. The combination ὄλβιος, ὅστις is found in Theognis (Theogn. 1335.2; 1375.2), Pindar (fr. 137.1), Theocritus (Theocr. 15.34) and several other authors in other metrical positions. Gregory himself - cf. сarm. 2. 1. 28. 1. χαμαὶ ἐρχομένοις - cf. in Homer, II. 5. 442: χαμαὶ ἐρχομένων. The same formula is used in Homer's hymn to Hestia (h. Hom. Vest. 2) and in Hesiod (Theogn. 272). οὐκ ἐπὶ πολλοῖς // στρωφᾶτ’... Wed. in Quintus of Smyrna: ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ἔργα στρωφῶντ’ ἄλλος ἐπ’ ἄλλα (QS 1. 464–465). χεῖρα Θεοῖο φέροι - cf. сarm. 2. 2. 2. 30. The expression χεῖρα φέρειν in Homer (Il. 1. 89; 18. 261) and other authors is used in the sense of “raising one’s hand” (with negative connotations). For Gregory, the combination, on the contrary, has an exclusively positive meaning. θεσμοῖσι γάμου τυτθὸν ὑποείξας - cf. in Oppian (Opp. Hal. 3,. 331): τυτθὸν ὑπείξεται and 4. 25: γάμων ἐζεύξαο θεσμούς. Wed. also in Gregory: сarm. 2. 2. 6. 21 and 88 (see below). μοῖραν... ἄγει – cf. in Pindar: λαοῖσί τε μοῖραν ἄγων (Pind. Pyth. 12.12), and in Gregory himself - сarm. 2. 1. 45. ὃς χείρεσσι πολυκμήτοισιν Ἄνακτα τίει - cf. in Quintus of Smyrna: πολυκμήτων ἀπὸ χειρῶν (QS 8.397). πάντα τάδ’ οὐρανίων πληρώματα ἔπλετο ληνῶν – cf. πάντα τάδ’ in Homer (Il. 15.158; Od. 15.156), Theognis (Theogn. 1.833). Gregory also has arm. 1. 2. 15. 66; 2. 1. 34. 39. ptwcὸn paqέwn – the same construction is found in AG 9. 258. 2: ptwcὴ nῦn numjῶn. σπλάγχνοισιν - the use of this word in the meaning of “mercy” is characteristic of Christian authors, but not of the epic tradition. πολλὰ... ἀνέτλη || ἄλγεα - cf. in Quintus of Smyrna: ἄλγε’ ἀνέτλη (QS 2.114); ἄλγε’ ἀνατλάς (7.638). ἣν ἐθέλεις, τάμνε τρίβον. Wed. also сarm. I. 1. 37: τήνδε τέμνω τρίβον. Gregory uses a similar image of an overly zealous horse in an epigram dedicated to the brother of Basil the Great, Naucratius (epigr. 8. 157. 4). Gregory, apparently, accepted and attributed to monastic work the Platonic and Neoplatonic image of the winged soul (Plat. Phaedr. 246b-e; orac. Chald. 217. 6). The image of the “wings of the singing Pierides” is also found in Pindar (Pind. Isthm. 1.64) ἐς χθόνα νεύσῃ - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 1. 423. νηῦς ὀλίγη - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 1. 576; 2. 1. 10. 22 (see below). γόμφοισιν ἀρηραμένη πυκινοῖσι - the image of a ship fastened with bolts - an allusion to Apollonius of Rhodes (AR 1. 365–366). The expression πυκνοῖς γόμφοις is also found in Plato (Plat. Tim. 43a). στεινὴ... ὁδός - cf. in Homer (Il. 23.419): στεῖνος ὁδοῦ κοίλης – and in Apollonius of Rhodes (AR 4. 1576): στεινὴ τελέθοι ὁδός. Compare: Matthew 19:11–12 and 1 Cor.7:7. πᾶσιν ἄριστον - cf. in Theognis (Theogn. 1.401): καιρὸς δ’ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἄριστος. Wed: сarm. 2. 1. 45. 182: οἷσίν μ’ ἐκ παθέων εἵλκυσεν ἀργαλέων. Wed. also in Philo of Alexandria (Phil. spec. leg. 3. 28. 6: πάθος ἀργαλεώτατον). καὶ τρομέειν ἦμαρ ἐπερχόμενον – repeated in сarm. 2. 1. 34. 90. Wed: Mark 13:35. Wed: Matthew 10:22, 24:13; Mark 13:13. See: Simelidis. Op. cit. P. 152–154. ὦ θυσίας πέμποντες ἀναιμάκτους, ἱερῆες – сarm begins with the same verse. 2. 1. 13. Objection to the accusations brought against St. Gregory in Constantinople, that he allegedly introduces polytheism (сarm. 2. 1. 11. 654–659). A reference to Theodosius I (the use of the word “king” in the plural as a hyper-polite formula in this era is often found in prose). Constantinople (officially called "New Rome"). Wed. сarm. 2. 1. 11. 15: Ῥώμη νεουργής. οὐρανὸς ἀστερόεις – Homeric formula. Wed: Il. 15.371; 19.128; Od. 9.527; 11. 17: οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα. Similar comparisons of heaven and earth are found in Homer (Il. 8.16) and Hesiod (Hes. Theog. 720). φθόνος is one of the most frequent words in Gregory’s poetry. The expression οὐράνια δόγματα is first found in Origen (Orig. sel. in Ps. 147. 13). “Light-bearer” – φαεσφόρος – Gregory also calls himself in сarm. 1. 1. 3. 46. Allusion to Exodus 17:1–7. Wed. сarm. 1. 1. 38. 4. ἄστεος εὐσεβίῃ πρῶτα χαρασσομένου – the proposed translation option is possible only taking into account roll call 2. 1. 19. 59 (see below). In this case, there is an allusion to the parable of the sower (see: Matthew 13:3–23; Mark 4:3–20; Luke 8:5–15). Simelidis (Simelidis. Op. cit. P. 160) sees here an allusion to Hesiod: φαίνονται τὰ πρῶτα χαρασσομένοιο σιδήρου (Hes. Op. 387). Hesiod says that the Pleiades appear in the sky “when iron is being sharpened,” that is, for the harvest. With this reading, one can also see an allusion to Matthew 9:37; Luke 10:2. Before Theodosius I came to power, Constantinople was dominated by the Arians, and St. Gregory first served in the small church of Anastasia. Only by imperial decree was the main church of the city, the Basilica of the Apostles, transferred to the Orthodox. This means the archbishop. Nektarios of Constantinople, who succeeded St. Gregory at the See of Constantinople. θυμὸν ἰαίνειν is a formula found in Homer (Od. 15.379) and other poets (Theogn. 1.1122; Theocr. 7.29; AR 2.306; Mosch. Eur. 72). Gregory also uses it in сarm. 2. 2. 6. 14. ἀρθέντ’ ἐξαπίνης – cf. Homeric formula ἐλθόντ’ ἐξαπίνης (Il. 5.91; 9.6; 15.325). νόσος στυγερή - cf. Il. 13.670. δῆριν στονόεσσαν - cf. in Quintus of Smyrna: δῆριν ἐπὶ στονόεσσαν (QS, 1.581; 1.642). Gregory also has arm. 2. 1. 1. 22. ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοισιν ἔχοντες – cf. in Homer ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοισιν ἰόντες (Il. 5. 14; 5. 630 et passim). Gregory also has arm. 2. 1. 32. 60: ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοισιν ἴοιεν. Χριστὲ ἄναξ is a formula that appears at least ten times in Gregory’s poetry. θρασὺς ἀσπιδιώτης - cf. by Theocritus (Theocr. 14.67). ἀμπλακίη - cf. in Callimachus (Call. Del. 245) and Apollonius of Rhodes (AR 1.1054; 2.484; 4.413). αὐτὰρ ἔγωγε is an expression with which classical and Hellenistic poets often begin the final part of a poem or the last sentence. ἀσπασίως προφυγών - cf. in Oppian (Opp. Hal. 1.471): ἀσπασίως προφυγόντες. In arm. 2. 1. 45. 229–270 Gregory describes how in Athens Purity and Chastity appeared to him in a vision and urged him to follow them to the radiance of the Trinity. δείμασιν ἀργαλέοις - cf. in Apollonius of Rhodes (AR 2. 643–644): εὖτε πέλεσθε || ἔμπεδοι ἀργαλέοις ἐνὶ δείμασιν. In the poem About his life (Carm. 2. 1. 11. 124–210), Gregory tells how his ship was wrecked on the way from Alexandria to Athens and how his greatest fear was to die unbaptized. πεῖσμα βάλον - cf. in Apollonius of Rhodes (AR 4.894): πεῖσμα βάλοιτο. θρέψατο γαῖα - cf. in Euripides (Eur. Ph. 626): τὴν δὲ θρέψασάν με γαῖαν καὶ θεοὺς μαρτύρομαι and Apollonius of Rhodes (AR 1. 761–762): θρέψεν δὲ καὶ ἂψ ἐλοχεύσατο Γαῖα. See: Simelidis. Op. cit. P. 170–171. πολλάκι – the Causes of Callimachus begin with the same word (fr. 1. 1): πολλάκι μοι Τελχῖνες ἐπιτρύζουσιν ἀοιδῇ. κακοῖς μογέων μεγάλοισιν - cf. сarm. 2. 1. 21. 3 μηδ’ ἔργοις μογέοιμι κακοῖς. ὠνοσάμην – verb ὄνομαι, to reproach, to reproach. Enjambement emphasizes the unexpectedness of such word usage in addressing Christ. ἄκος παθέεσσιν - cf. сarm. 2. 2. 3. 162. Possibly an allusion to Callimachus (fr. 714). ἐπὶ μητέρα γαῖαν - cf. in the Orphic Hymns (h. Orph. 21.7; 82.7). Wed. also сarm. 2. 1. 50. 69–50. μύθοις τ’ ἀντιθέτοις - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 2. 312. καὶ λαϊνέαις νιφάδεσσι – perhaps an allusion to Homer (Il. 12. 278–289). διακριδὸν ἐξαγορεύσει - cf. сarm. 2. 2. 7. 11; 110; 2. 2. 6. 95 (see below). μοῦνος ἐγώ - cf. in a different metrical position in Callimachus (Call. epigr. 29.4). Gregory cf. сarm. 2. 2. 3. 41. πάντεσσιν ἀοίδιμος - cf. A.G. 9. 521. 5. Also in Gregory himself cf. Carm. 2. 2. 7. 295 and epigr. 8. 31. 5. ἄλγεα δὲ στοναχάς τε - cf. Homeric formula ἄλγεά τε στοναχάς τε (Il. 2.39; 356; 590; Od. 14.39). Wed. also сarm. 2. 1. 1. 171. The image of a lion surrounded by dogs is also found in Homer (Il. 5.476) and Quintus of Smyrna (QS 7.516). τάχ’ ἄν ποτε καὶ τὸ γένοιτο – cf. in Hesiod (Hes. Op. 362): τάχα κεν μέγα καὶ τὸ γένοιτο. ἤ τις ὁδίτης - cf. in Apollonius of Rhodes (AR 3.746): καί τις ὁδίτης. Wed. also сarm. 1. 1. 7. 30. Diocaesarea is another name for Nazianza. πλοῦτον ὄπασσας - cf. in Theognis (Theogn. 321): θεὸς... πλοῦτον ὀπάσσηι. Rhetorical device “priamel” (a series of alternative options). αὐτὰρ ἐμοί – Homeric formula (Il. 1.118; 21.157; Od. 3.351); in Gregory it occurs at least ten times. πικρὸς ὀϊστός – Homeric formula (Il. 4.118; 5.110; 8.323; Od. 22.8). Wed. сarm. I. 1. 34. 39. “Bitter arrows” and “sweetest hand” are an antithesis. Compare: Proverbs. 3:11 ; Hebrews 12:6. ἀλκὶ πεποιθὼς – Homeric formula (Il. 5.299; 13.471 et passim). ὥς κεν ἀριστεύσαντι γέρας καὶ κῦδος ὀπάσσῃς - cf. Carm. 2. 1. 42. 17. ἐντὸς ἐέργε – Homeric formula (Il. 2.617; 845; 9.404; 22.121; 24.544). Wed. сarm. I. 2. 1. 250. βιότοιο ἀφυσγετὸν εἰς ἅλα ῥίψας - cf. in Homer (Il. 11.495): πολλὸν δέ τἀφυσγετὸν εἰς ἅλα βάλλει. θεότητι πελάζων – repeated in Carm. 1. 2. 2. 490; 1. 2. 9. 151. αἰθέρα τέμνειν - cf. in Manetho (Man. Apot. 4.62): αἰθέρα τέμνει. χρυσείαις πτερύγεσσι - cf. (h. Orph. 6.2): ​​χρυσέαισιν ἀγαλλόμενον πτερύγεσσι. ὑψός’ ἄειρε – cf. in Quintus of Smyrna (QS 7.323): εἰς ὕψος ἀείρει. πατρὸς ἐμοῦ μεγάλοιο - cf. in Homer (Od. 6.299): πατρὸς ἐμοῦ μεγαλήτορος. πνεύματος αἴγλη - an expression that appears more than once in Gregory; cf.: сarm. 2. 1. 13. 88; 2. 2. 7. 20; 2. 2. 3. 284, etc. νούσῳ τε στυγερῇ - cf. in Homer (Od. 15.408; Il. 13.670). ἀργαλέαις μελεδώναις - cf. in Mimnermus of Colophon (fr. 6.1): βαιὸν δὲ χρόνον - cf. in Sophocles (Soph. Tr. 44): χρόνον γὰρ οὐχὶ βαιόν. πλήσειεν ἀναιδέα γαστέρα φορβῆς - cf. in Oppian (Opp. Hal. 2.88): ἀνεύρατο γαστέρι φορβήν. ἡγεμόνος τε ποθῇ – Homeric formula (cf. Od. 10.505). θήρεσιν οὐλομένοισιν - cf. in both Oppians (Opp. Hal. 5.239): οὐλόμενος θήρ; (Opp. Cyn. 1. 379): θηρσί τε καὶ σκυλάκεσσι καὶ οὐλομένοισι δράκουσιν. πολλοὶ δ’ αὖ – cf. in Homer (Il. 6.229); in the Sibylline Books (orac. Sib. 12.113; 14.92; 14.102). A difficult place to understand. Perhaps what is meant is that, compared with the hardships of life, death should no longer seem scary to Gregory. αὐχέν’ ἔκαμψα is an expression found in many Christian authors (Athan. exp. Ps. 45; Chrys. hom. in 1 Cor. 3. 1). ἄλγεσι κάμφθην - cf. сarm. 2.1.46.23–24: ἄλγεσι παντοδαποῖσι || κάμπτων. Gregory compares himself with the prophet Jonah more than once (сarm. 2.1.1.6; 2.1.17.54; 2.1. 51.34). ζωῆς τόδε λείψανον - cf. in Gregory: Ep.93:3; сarm. 2. 1. 73. 5–6. This comparison occurs several times in Gregory (cf. сarm. 2.1.11. 1919; 2.1.1. 203; 2.1.77. 16–17). Sophocles has the same image: Soph. Ant. 1167 (ἀλλ’ ἔμψυχον ἡγοῦμαι νεκρόν); Soph. Ph. 1018 αἵματι ῥαίνων - cf. in Euripides (Eur. IA 1589): ἧς αἵματι βωμὸς ἐραίνετ’ ἄρδην τῆς θεοῦ. Matthew 9:9–13; 10:3; Luke 8:9–14. δάκρυα λείψας - cf. Homeric formula δάκρυα λείβων (Il. 13.658; 18.32 et passim) This refers to the publican from the parable of the publican and the Pharisee (see: Luke 18:9–14). ὣς γὰρ ἄνωγας - cf. Homeric formula ὣς γὰρ ἀνώγει (Il. 9.690; 23.123). Matthew 9:18–26; Mark 5:22; Luke 8:41. ἄρχοντος θυγάτηρ - cf. сarm. 1. 1. 20. 10. φάρμακ’ ἔχοιμ’ ὀδυνήφατα – cf. сarm. 2. 5. 401: ὀδυνήφατα φάρμακα πάσσων. See Bacci. Op. cit. P. 26–35. See: Whitby M. “Sugaring the pill.” Gregory of Nazianzusʼ Advice to Olympias (Carm. 2.2.6) // Ramus. 2008. Vol. 37. No. 1–2. P. 79. On the Olympics, see: Mclynn N. The Other Olympias: Gregory Nazianzen and the Family of Vitalianus // Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum. 1998. No. 2. S. 227–246. τέκνον ἐμόν - cf. Il. 9.254. πεμπτήριον ἐσθλὸν ὀπάζω - cf. h. Orph. 28. 11: βιότου τέλος ἐσθλὸν ὀπάζων. πατρὸς δὲ παραίφασίς ἐστιν ἀρίστη - cf. Il. 11. 793: ἀγαθὴ δὲ παραίφασίς ἐστιν ἑταίρου. κόσμος θηλυτέρῃσιν. The adjective θηλυτέρη in the meaning of a noun is found in many later poets. Compare, for example, Quintus of Smyrna, QS. 1.730. the form λιθάκεσσι is found in Trifiodorus (Triph. 621). Gold, purple and shining clothes, as well as various other objects decorated with gold and purple, are repeatedly mentioned in Homer (Il. 3.248; 8.221; 9.200; 22.154; Od. 4.115; 19.242, etc.). ὁ δὲ τρόπος, ἄνθος ἄριστον - cf. AG 7. 157. 3: ὁ γὰρ χρόνος ἄνθος ἄριστον. θεσμοῖς ὑποείκειν – the expression is repeated in v. 98 (see below). Perhaps this is an allusion to Oppian (Orp. Cyn. 3:53–55). LeontokόmoV can be translated not as “tamer”, but as “a servant who cares for animals.” χωομένη περ - cf. Il. 21.384. οὐ γὰρ ἐοικός - cf. сarm. 1. 1. 8. 7 ἦ γὰρ κρατέοντι μάχαιρα - that is, the force is still on his side. See: Bacci. Op. cit. P. 96. παρβλήδην ἐπέεσσι καθαπτομένη δολίοισι - cf. in Homer Il. 1. 582: ἀλλὰ σὺ τὸν ἐπέεσσι καθάπτεσθαι μαλακοῖσιν. ἀνδράσιν ἠδὲ γυναιξίν - cf. Od. 19.408. ἄλγεα πάντα - cf. in Oppian (Opp. Cyn. 2.418) φάρμακον ἄλγεός ἐστι - cf. сarm. 2. 1. 13. 26 ὦκα δ’ ἔπειτα – cf. Il. 18.527 αἴθριον εἶδος ἔχουσα - cf. in Hesiod (Hes. Theog. 908): κούρη πολυήρατον εἶδος ἔχουσα. λύειν μελεδήματα θυμοῦ - cf. Il. 23. 62: λύων μελεδήματα θυμοῦ (we are talking about sleep). ἀνδρὶ γὰρ ἀσχαλόωντι λιμὴν εὔορμος ἄκοιτις - cf. from the gnomic poet of the 2nd century. Naumachia (fr. 18): ἀνδρὶ γὰρ ἀσχαλόωντι παραίφασίς ἐστιν ἄκοιτις. κερκίς σοί γε μέλοι, καὶ εἰρία, καὶ μελεδῶναι - cf. сarm. 1. 1. 2. 320. Wed. ὁμήγυριν – in Quintus of Smyrna (QS 10.56): ἐς ὁμήγυριν, ἄλλοτ’ Ἀχαιῶν. σαόφροσιν - cf. in Theognis: πειθόμενος μύθοισι σαόφροσιν – Theogn. 1.437. καὶ πολιῇ - cf. epigr. 8. 7. 5. 6: καὶ πολιῆς τί τοι τόσον ἐστὶν ὄνειαρ - cf. above v. 29. ἐπὴν μόνον ἀμφαγαπάζῃς - cf. in Oppian (Opp. Hal. 1.697): μητρὸς νομόν, ἀμφαγαπάζει. λίην μὲν φρονέειν, λίην δέ τε μὴ βλεμεαίνειν. - Wed сarm. 1. 2. 9. 113. αἰνῶ θηλυτέρων, τὰς ἄρσενες οὐδὲ ἴσασι - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 2. 353. δαῖτα γαμήλιον - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 2. 671. χοροιτυπία - a rare word, cf. AG 448.3. κατὰ δώματ’ ἐγείρειν – cf. in Homer, Il. 24.512: κατὰ δώματ’ ὀρώρει. τὴν δ’ ἄθυρον τρομέω - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 2. 295. μηδὲ παρειάων σκιρτήμασι - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 2. 301. θηλυτέραις δὲ μάλιστα – cp. сarm. 1. 2. 29. 203. ἐσθλὰ δέχεσθαι – cp. in Bion (fr. 8. 7). τοῖς δὲ κακοῖσιν - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 29. 205. παρθένος αἰδώς - cf. in Trifiodorus (Triph. 368). δ’ ὁρόωσιν ἔρευθος – cf. сarm. 1. 2. 2. 305. ὄμματα πηρά - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 29. 148. ἐχθοδοπήσεις - cf. in Homer (Il. 1.518): ὅ τέ μ’ ἐχθοδοπῆσαι ἐφήσεις. φέρειν χάριν - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 1. 608. “The image of the great God” – that is, man. The expression εἰκόνα τὴν μεγάλοιο Θεοῦ is repeated in сarm. 1. 1. 8. 4; 1. 1. 9. 20. θεσμοῖς ὑποείκειν - cf. above v. 21. In poetry, the word ἄσαρκος was previously found in Oppian (Opp. Cyn. 1.474). ἕλκηται μερόπων τρεπτὸν γένος - cf. сarm. 1.1.1.126. οἷα ῥέεθρον - cf. сarm. 2. 1. 51. 10. ἄστατον ἐκ θανάτοιο, καὶ ἱστάμενον τεκέεσσιν - cf. сarm. 1. 1. 1. 127. See note above. by 2.1.19.16. In Bacci's edition (Bacci. Op. cit. P. 68) the name is conveyed in two words: Θεοῦ δόσις - “God’s gift.” Centaur, teacher of Achilles. θηλυτέρης Χείρωνος· ὑπὸ προπόδεσσι γάμοιο - cf. сarm. 2. 2. 3. 168. ἤθεσι κεδνοῖς - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 30. 486; 2. 2. 1. 319. αὐτοκασιγνήτη - cf. Od. 10.137. Perhaps this refers to the revered tomb of the monk. Thekla in Seleucia. τὸν ἔπεμψα Θεῷ – we are talking about the installation of St. Amphilochius to bishop (in 374). See: Mclynn. Op. cit. P. 239. ἄγγελον ἀτρεκίης - cf. сarm. 2. 2. 7. 22; AG 8.5.3. εὖχος ἔχουσα - cf. h. Orph. 72.4; from Gregory himself εὖχος ἔχουσαι - cf. сarm. 1.2.5.4. In Bacci (Op. cit. P. 70) - γαμήλιον. πολύκαρπος ἀλῳή - cf. Od. 7.122. δολοπλόκε is an epithet that in the ancient tradition referred exclusively to Aphrodite (cf. Theognis Theognis. 2. 1386), Sappho (fr. 1. 2), etc.). Gregory turns to the demon, which for him is identical to pride (see: Ricceri. Op. cit. P. 84). βένθος ἐμῆς κραδίης ἔνδοθι βοσκόμενος - cf. сarm. 1.2. 20.5: πῦρ ἔνδον αὐτὴν βόσκεται τὴν καρδίαν. καὶ πολλοῖς κρατεροῖς τε τινάγμασι τοῦδε βίοιο - almost entirely repeated in сarm. 2.1.13.46 The ending of the verse is also repeated several times in Gregory (epigr. 8. 157. 3; Carm. 1. 1. 27. 28; 1. 2. 2. 146 et passim). γνὺξ βαλέειν – literally “bring to your knees”; Wed сarm. 2.1.13.48. εἰς πόδας ἐκ κεφαλῆς – Homeric formula (cf. Il. 18.353): ἐς πόδας ἐκ κεφαλῆς. Perhaps this is an indication of the myth about the giant Enceladus, who participated in the Gigantomachy, on whom Athena brought down the island of Sicily (Trinacria). A similar comparison of old age with the heaviness of the Trinacrian cliffs is found in Euripides (Eur. Herc. 638–639): χθος δὲ τὸ γῆρας αἰεὶ || βαρύτερον Αἴτνας σκοπέλων. Wed. in Homer (Il. 13.670; Od. 15.408): νοῦσόν τε στυγερήν; νοῦσος ἐπὶ στυγερή. Possibly an allusion to Homer (Il. 17. 109–111): ὥς τε λὶς ἠϋγένειος... τοῦ δ’ ἐν φρεσὶν ἄλκιμον ἦτορ. οὐκ ἐρατεινὴν...|| πᾶσιν ὁμηλικίην - cf. in Homer (Il. 3. 175): ὁμηλικίην ἐρατεινήν. Gregory also recalls this expression in ep. 230. 2. 6 ἐν σπλάγχνοισιν ἁγνῆς... τεκούσης – cf. сarm. 1.1.8.28–29: ἐν σπλάγχνοισι τεκούσης. Gregory treated his mother, Nonna, with the greatest respect and considered her a saint. She is mentioned in many of his works (see Or. 7; 8; 18 epigr. 8. 24–74, the poem “About his life” - сarm. 2. 1. 11) See note above. to сarm. 2. 1. 10. 30. λαοῖο θεόφρονος ἡνία ῥίψας - cf. сarm. 2. 1. 17. 103: λαοῖο θεόφρονος ἡνία ῥῖψαι. This refers to the departure of St. Gregory from the See of Constantinople. νηπίαχος θηλὴν ἔσπασεν - cf. in Long (Long. 3.13.1): θηλὴν ἔσπασαν. An allusion to Os is also possible. 9. 14. Wed. сarm. 2. 1. 10. 13 (see above). Allusion to 1 Pet. 2, 5. ἔμπνοος ὥστε λίθος - cf. сarm. 2. 2. 1. 72. δάκρυα θερμὰ χέον – Homeric formula (cf. Il. 7.426; 16.3; 18.17 et passim). Gregory speaks of prayerful concentration. In the manuscript tradition, a word with the opposite meaning of τῆξις is “relaxation”, translated by conjecture πῆξις (Ricceri. Op. cit. P. 142). We are talking about the Eucharist. θυέεσσιν ἁγνοῖς ἐπὶ χεῖρας ἀείρω - cf. сarm. 2. 1. 17. 39 (καὶ λαὸν θυέεσσιν ἁγνοῖς θεοειδέα τεύχων); 2. 1. 34A. 93 The adjective ἀθλοφόρος is found in Pindar (Pind. Ol. 7.7): ἀεθλοφόροις ἀνδράσιν. In Gregory the word is used both as an adjective and as a noun, and refers to martyrs. Compare: epigr. 102.2; 118.2; 152.2; 166. 1–2; 175. 3–4. φίλην ἵστημι χορείην – in the classical tradition the expression ἵστημι χορούς is used (for example, in Pindar (Pind. Pyth. 9. 114), Sophocles (Soph. El. 280), Euripides (Eur. IA. 676), etc.) ἐς μητέρα γαῖαν - cf. above сarm. 2. 1. 19. 10. That is, the flesh that became mortal as a result of Eve’s disobedience (see: Gen. 3:14–20). Wed: Matthew 22:34–40; Gal.6:2. Wed: Matthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:3–12; Luke 5:18–25. Wed: Matthew 14:36; Mark 6:56. Gregory mixes two gospel stories: about the bent woman (see: Luke 13:11–13) and about the Canaanite woman (see: Matthew 15:22–28). See also arm above. 2. 1. 19. 95. σοὶ δ’ ὕπνος ἔπι γλυκύς - cf. Homeric formula γλυκὺς ὕπνος (Il. 1.610; 2I. 71 et passim). Wed. also Eccl.5:11. Wed: Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:36–41; Luke 8:22–25. ἅψεα νοῦσος ἔχουσα - cf. in Apollonius of Rhodes (AR 6.376). ὕπερθε φέρειν ὀφρὺν - cf. сarm. I. 2. 29. 236. οὐ τόσσον ὀδύρομαι - cf. сarm. 2. 1. 1. 121. ἄλγεα πάσχων – Homeric formula (cf. Il. 2.667; 721 et passim). μή τις ὀλισθήσῃ πήμασιν ἡμετέροις - cf. carm. 2.1.27.10. τῶν μνῆσαι, καὶ ἄλαλκε - cf. in Homer (Il. 15.375): τῶν μνῆσαι καὶ ἄμυνον. τεοῖς δ’ ἐπὶ χεῖρας ἰάλλω || δώροις - cf. carm. 2. 1. 54. 14 (τεὰς δ’ ἐπὶ χεῖρας ἰάλλοις); epigr. 242.1 (ἐπὶ χεῖρας ἰάλλειν). ἵλαθι, Χριστέ – the expression appears in Gregory several times, cf. carm. 1. 2. 1. 237; 290; 2. 2. 1. 105. Wed. in Theognis (Theogn. 1. 153: τίκτει τοι κόρος ὕβριν). The expression is found in different forms in other authors. ἀντιταλαντεύοις - cf. сarm. 1. 2. 15. 59–60. ἐμὴν πολιήν - cf. carm. 2. 1. 55. 16; 2. 2. 6. 104. Gregorius Nazianzenus. Hymnus ad Christum post silentium, in paschale // PG. 37. Col. 1325–1329. About the silence of St. Gregory, see: Storin B. K. In a Silent Way: Asceticism and Literature in the Rehabilitation of Gregory of Nazianzus // Journal of Early Christian Studies. 2011. Vol. 19. No. 2. P. 225–257. Source: Gregorius Nazianzenus. Poemata dogmatica, 10: De incarnatione adversus Apollinarium // PG. 37. Col. 465–470. For parallel passages on Christology, see: or. 23. 13, ep. 125 (112 according to TCO), carm. 2. 1. 11. 609–651. Of considerable interest is also the work of St. Mark Eugenics On the Blood of the Lord to Dionysius, which was intended as a kind of commentary on the discussion of atonement in Or. 45. Ed.: Τσελεγκίδης K. Γ. Ὁ Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Εὐγενικὸς καὶ τὸ λειτουργικὸ τοῦ ἔργο. Θεσσαλονίκη, 2012. Σ. 206–209. First published in: Gregory the Theologian, St. Selected creations. M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2008. pp. 386–396.. Averintsev S.S. Rhetoric as an approach to generalizing reality // Poetics of ancient Greek literature. M., 1981. pp. 15–46. For texts of this kind as a special genre, see: Alieva O.V. Messages to young men on education in Cappadocia in the 4th century. // Aristaeus. 2017. T. 15. pp. 77–89. This poem was not taken into account by the researcher, but is completely integrated into the range of ideas she is considering. Among other things, it clearly shows the idea of ​​two stages in the formation of a theologian, about which see: Alieva O.V. Paideia as “small mysteries”: Basil of Caesarea on Greek literature // Bulletin of ancient history. 2017. No. 2 (77). S. A particularly striking example here will be the appearance during this period of centons - poetic works composed of fragments of other poems, for example, the poem Suffering Christ, a fragment of which is given in O. Tsybenko’s article in this collection. Characteristic here are descriptions of how a student should read and listen to the works of the classics, as well as the theory of paraphrase in the textbook by Aelius Theon. See: Kennedy G. A. Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric. Atlanta, 2003, pp. 66–70. For the reader’s position on the material of Greek literature, see the chapter “The World as a Riddle and Solution,” in which, as an example of bringing a certain logic to its conclusion, the Areopagitik method is described as follows: “Of course, the “silence” that Pseudo-Dionysius is looking for cannot be realized in the text itself; it must be provoked in another place - in the mind of the reader” (Averintsev S.S. Poetics of Early Byzantine Literature. M.: Nauka, 1977. P. 145). And also the chapter “The World as a School”: “Let us return, however, to the world, which is a school, and to literature, which acts in this world as “educational” literature and carries certain “lessons” (διδάγματα). Mastering these lessons is associated with effort, with difficult tension of the mind and heart, which must internally “transform” the listener or reader. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” // Ibid. pp. 182–183. The role of the reader is described in more detail on Latin material of the same period, see, for example: Pelttari A. The Space that Remains: Reading of Latin Poetry in Late Antiquity. NY: Cornell University Press, 2014. Plutarch. How can a young man listen to poetic works? 12: “The bee, by virtue of natural instinct, seeks out very sweet and very delicate honey in fragrant flowers. Likewise, children, if they correctly perceive poetic works, will one way or another learn to extract what is necessary and useful even from those places that give rise to absurd and bad suspicions.” Translation by L. A. Freyberg. Plutarch. About suppressing anger. 2. Translation by Ya. M. Borovsky. More details about “examples” (παράδειγμα/exempla) from St. Gregory see: Demoen K. Pagan and Biblical Exempla in Gregory Nazianzen. A Study in Rhetoric and Hermeneutics. Turnhout, 1996. (CC LP, 2). See: Averintsev S.S. Poetics... P. 156–157. “Know thyself” (Γνῶθι σεαυτόν) is a famous saying inscribed above the entrance to the Church of Apollo at Delphi, which was attributed to Socrates. St. Gregory uses it in the Christian sense also in or. 32. 21. Wed: conversation with St. Basil the Great to the words “Listen to yourself.” ἄριστε, πόθεν καὶ ὅστις ἐτύχθης – a variant of the dating formula in Greece, attested from the Homeric epic to the present day. The medical metaphor of illness as sin and the priest as doctor is elaborated in or. 2. 19. According to the ideas of zoology of that time, the echidna, when born, gnaws through the womb of its mother. See: Plato. Dialogues. M.: Mysl, 1986. pp. 42–48. This program is explicitly prescribed by St. Gregory in the poem About his poems (carm. 2. 1. 39. Russian poetic translation, see: St. Gregory the Theologian. Selected poems / Trans., introductory article and note. V.N. Genke // Theological Bulletin. 2008–2009. No. 8–9. pp. 17–67). Its detailed analysis and contextualization are offered in a very thorough, but not entirely uncontroversial, article by Fr. John McGuckin: McGuckin J. Gregory: The Rhetorician as Poet // Gregory of Nazianzus: Images and Reflections. / Børtnes J., Hägg T. eds. Copenhagen, 2006, pp. 193–212. See: Stolyarov A. A. Fragments of the early Stoics. T. 3.1. M.: GLK, 2007. Fr. 169–196. There, fr. 197–294. Wed. example of definitions of virtues: fr. 262. Stobaeus. Anthologium. 2. 7. 5b. “Rationality (φρόνησις) is the knowledge of what should and what should not be done, as well as the knowledge of what is neither one nor the other, or the knowledge of good, evil and indifferent things, characteristic of a being social by nature (they prescribe the same [addition] to be implied when [defining] other virtues). Sanity (σωφροσύνη) is the knowledge of what to choose, what to avoid, and what is neither one nor the other. Justice (δικαιοσύνη) is the knowledge of how to give everyone what they deserve. Courage (ἀνδρεία) is the knowledge of what one should and should not be afraid of, as well as what is neither one nor the other. Unreason (ἀφροσύνη) - [ignorance of] good, evil and indifferent, or ignorance of what should and should not be done, as well as what does not belong to either one or the other. Promiscuity (ἀκολασία) is ignorance of what to choose, what to avoid, and what is neither one nor the other. [Injustice (ἀδικία) – ignorance of how to give everyone what they deserve]. Cowardice (δειλία) is ignorance of what one should and should not be afraid of, as well as what is not one or the other.” It is important to note that virtues and vices are defined in this tradition as correct or incorrect knowledge, which was not accepted by St. Gregory. There, fr. 377–490. See an example of the definition of passions: fr. 413. Stobaeus. Anthologium. 2. 7. 10c: “Envy (Φθόνος) is grief over the benefits of another. Jealousy (ζῆλος) is grief over the fact that another has received what you want; There is another definition - boasting about what you don’t have, and another one - imitation of someone who has more. Malice (ζηλοτυπία) - grief over the fact that another received what you want. Pity (ἔλεος) – grief over the fact that someone seems to suffer undeservedly. Grief (πένθος) - grief for an untimely death. Melancholy (ἄχθος) – burdensome sorrow. Suffering (ἄχος) – grief that leaves one speechless. Dokuka (ἀνία) – grief from thoughts. Grief (ὀδύνη) - piercing and striking sorrow. Disgust (ἄση) is grief accompanied by a feeling of repulsion.” See the chapter “The order of space and the order of history” in: Averintsev S.S. Poetics of early Byzantine literature. M.: Nauka, 1977. See: or. 31. 25, the first two articles in this collection, as well as the article: Baghos M. St. Gregory the Theologian’s Metanarrative of History // Phronema. 2011. Vol. 26. No. 2. P. 63–79. In fact, however, these definitions are deeply related to the worldview of St. Gregory, since it is the beauty and harmony (understood as an ordered and perfect unity in difference, when many things become one) of the world that are for him a kind of seal of the divine presence in it: the world is harmonious and beautiful because God as the Trinity is the highest beauty and harmony (perfect unity that does not exclude trinity). The definition of God as “essence” and “first beauty” makes it possible to clarify which Platonic tradition of St. Gregory connects with the Christian worldview. Most likely, he is influenced by middle Platonism, where the Origin of all things was usually identified with Mind, or being-in-itself, understood as the world of ideas (containing, among other ideas, the idea of ​​beauty, i.e. πρῶτον καλόν). The parallel with Timaeus indicated in the introduction allows us to understand that when St. Gregory defines “nature” as “the being of each thing of this or that” (Τὸ δ’ εἶν’ ἕκαστον τοῖον ἢ τοῖον), he perhaps means precisely the ideas that are in God Himself, since He is the Mind. This statement has polemical connotations in the context of the Arian controversy: it is directed against those who argued that Christ was the first creation. In the translation, we were not able to translate the entire rich meaning of these two lines, we give their interlinear translation: Matter, the basis of forms, is the second creation, / And the beauty of formed matter is an appearance accessible to the eyes (εἶδος). As far as one can judge, here this term does not mean the Platonic idea and not the incorporeal form by which matter is formed, but the visible appearance of every created material thing. The editors of the collection express their deep gratitude to Svetlana Viktorovna Mesyats for her help in commenting on the cosmological ideas of St. Gregory. Compare: Anaximenes. Testimonia. 14. The definition of time as movement, going back to Aristotle (ὁ χρόνος μέτρον κινήσεως. Physics, 221a), is here clarified as exactly the movement of the Sun. The same definition before St. Gregory is found in St. Theophilus of Antioch (II century), see: Epistle to Autolycus. 1. 4. 14. Compare: Aristotle. Metaphysics. 1037a.: ἡ μὲν ψυχὴ οὐσία ἡ πρώτη, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ὕλη, ὁ δ’ ἄνθρωπος ἢ τὸ ζῷον τὸ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ὡς καθόλου. By “primary” it is meant that the elements, or more precisely, the elements of different elements serve as components of the body. Compare: Plotinus. Enneads. 1. 7. 3. 14: σύνοδος μὲν ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ζωή, θάνατος δὲ διάλυσις τούτων. Wed: Ibid. 3. 8. 11. 1: ὁ νοῦς ἐστιν ὄψις τις καὶ ὄψις ὁρῶσα, δύναμις ἔσται εἰς ἐνέργειαν ἐλθοῦσα. A term found before the 4th century. almost exclusively in medical literature: in Galen and Orbius, and in the 5th century. Commentary on Aristotle: Ammonius. In Aristotelis librum de interpretatione commentarius. 62. 23: ὁ λόγος, φησίν, ὄργανόν ἐστι τῆς φωνητικῆς ἐν ἡμῖν δυνάμεως φύσει οὔσης. Compare: Plato. Philebus. 33rd: Ἔστι γὰρ λήθη μνήμης ἔξοδος. Phaedo. 75 d: λήθην – ἐπιστήμης ἀποβολήν; Nemesius of Emesa, St. About human nature. 13. 69: λήθη δέ ἐστι μνήμης ἀποβολή, ἀλλ’ ἡ μὲν διηνεκής, ἡ δὲ ἐπὶ ποσόν, ἧς ἐστιν ἡ ἀνάμνησις. Wed. definitions of attraction in: Stobaeus. Anthologium. 2. 7. 10c: Ὀργὴ μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἐπιθυμία τιμωρήσασθαι τὸν δοκοῦντα ἠδικηκέναι παρὰ τὸ προσῆκον· θυμὸς δὲ ὀργὴ ἐναρχομένη... ἔρως δὲ ἐπιβολὴ φιλοποιίας διὰ κάλλος ἐμφαινόμενον· πόθος δὲ ἐπιθυμία κατ’ ἔρωτα ἀπόντος. According to Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics. 1107a), virtue is the habit (skill) of choice (Ἔστιν ἄρα ἡ ἀρετὴ ἕξις προαιρετική) between extremes (μεσότης δὲ δύο κακιῶν). St. Gregory simplifies his scheme to the opposition “the habit of good - the habit of vice.” As we said above, God is like the Trinity for St. Gregory is perfect harmony - “the single harmony of the Divine”, in which trinity does not abolish unity, and unity does not develop into singularity (PG. 37. Col. 415). Absolute harmony in this case is based on absolute love and absolute consent (without which the individual will be multiple), which are completely impossible in the created world (PG. 36. Col. 76). Nevertheless, the world and man must, to some (imperfect) degree, reflect the harmonious existence of the Divine and demonstrate the same unity in plurality; in this way they too will be beautiful, since they will reflect in themselves the πρῶτον καλόν of Divine life. It is this kind of harmony that permeates everything that exists and the superexistent: from the harmony of the Divine Trinity to the harmony of the microcosm within an individual person. The Three Divine Persons are in harmony; this is the first and highest Beauty. But She does not withdraw into Herself, but, on the contrary, pours outward in Her energies (PG. 37. Col. 1256); the universe “cognizes” the beauty of God and, having cognized Her, rushes towards Her in love, for beauty is, first of all, what causes love. Everything that exists is thus united by the love of God. The essential unity of the three persons of the Divine is reflected in the unity of love, and this is how the original harmony arises as the first principle of the universe. This initially Platonic intuition (see the so-called “Second Letter of Plato”: St. III. 312e; Enn. V. 5, 12) in St. Gregory receives completeness thanks to the concept of God, inaccessible to Platonic thought, as a consubstantial and equal Trinity, combining unity and trinity. Here and below cf. with a set of Stoic definitions of virtues given in the introduction. Plato. Gorgias. 483p. Callicles says that “the desire to rise above others” (τὸ πλέον ζητεῖν ἔχειν τῶν πολλῶν) is called “injustice” by the weak in order to avoid oppression by the strong, and does not agree with this principle. However, Socrates then forces him to admit that “justice is the maintenance of equality” (489b). The Stoics argued that “envy is grief over other people’s goods” (Stolyarov. Fragments of the Early Stoics. P. 156. Fr. 412 et seq.). A definition reminiscent of the Stoic “Bashfulness (αἰδημοσύνην) is knowledge that protects against fair censure” (Stolyarov. Fragments of the Early Stoics. P. 101. Fr. 264). Compare: Ptolemaeus. De differentia vocabulorum [sp.]. 395.33; ζῆλος μίμησις καλοῦ; Onasander. Strategicus. 42. 25: ζῆλος δὲ μίμησις τῶν παρ’ ἄλλοις καλῶν... A classic example here would be Socrates’ self-positioning in Plato’s dialogues. See, for example: “my friend, Euthyphro, explain to me, so that I may become wiser...” (Euthyphro. 9) or “But you are just as much younger than me, at least as much wiser!” (Euthyphron. 12). In the Old Testament, the idolatry of the Jewish people is often seen as adultery against God. Wed: or. 37. 19: Οὐ γὰρ ἡ περὶ σῶμα μόνον ἁμαρτία, πορνεία καὶ μοιχεία λέγεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁτιοῦν ἥμαρτες, καὶ μάλιστα ἡ περὶ τὸ θεῖον παρανομία. In this case, apparently, we are not talking about ascetic contemplative practices, but about intellectual activity opposed to practical. Compare: Stobaeus. Anthologium. 2. 7. 3b (Stolyarov. Fragments of the early Stoics. P. 2. Fr. 1): “And the Stoic definition says: τέλος - that for the sake of which everything is done properly, and it itself is not done for the sake of anything else.” Compare: Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Instead of the regular μοναχός St. Gregory prefers to use the word μοναστής, which in addition to him in the 4th century. used only once by St. Ephraim the Syrian and St. Basil the Great, and then gained relative popularity in the 5th century. Wed: Rom.2:12. Those who, not having the law, sinned, are outside the law and will perish; and those who have sinned under the law will be condemned by the law. Most likely, here the event accompanying Christmas receives a typological eschatological meaning, cf.: Rev. 3:5; Phil.4:3. By nakedness is meant the deprivation of Adam's divine grace after the Fall. The wrapping of Christ in swaddling clothes is allegorically understood as a symbol of the fact that in Christ human nature is again covered with grace. Wed. with or. 2.24–25. Literally the Greek phrase is: the death of infants is the abolition of infantile images. Massacre of the Innocents for St. Gregory is the end of the Old Testament, which was an infant, i.e., an inferior state of humanity. Wed. with a partially similar intuition: “...The law, containing only the initial foundations, held in power the still infant Israel, prescribing the future sacrifice in bloody sacrifices...” or. 6.4. An allusion to the oiling of the body by wrestlers before a fight. For similar places see: or. 39. 13, carm. 1. 2. 1. As above, the allusion to the wrestling competition continues. In this passage we encounter a discussion about Christ, typical of patristic thought, according to the principle of “inverse correspondence”: in the humiliation of humanity is, paradoxically, the power of the Divine. Compare: “That is why I call Him king, because I see Him crucified” (John Chrysostom, St. On the Cross and the Thief. 1. 3 // Complete Collection of Creations. St. Petersburg, 1896. T. 2. Part 1. P. 442). That is, for eating the forbidden fruit by Adam. Wed: or. 38. 17. Thought of St. Gregory here is approximately this: in relation to Adam, every person is both an heir and an imitator of his sin. After the Crucifixion, everyone can be saved by imitating the humble recognition of their guilt and the confession of a prudent thief. Wed: Carm. 2. 1. 63. Fall: Alas, my Christ! the ancient serpent approaches. Alas, he begins, but I am weak. Alas, I have eaten from the tree of knowledge. Alas, I myself am prone to malice. I am no longer divine, I have lost Paradise. Fiery sword, extinguish your flame for a moment, so that I can enter again into the blessed garden, like this thief, admitted from the cross to Eden (translated by S.S. Averintsev). In Greek literally: “the destruction of stones is the protection of stones.” Probably this place should be understood this way: in the second case, stones mean human hearts (cf. Eze. 36:26: “And I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh,” and Matthew 6:52: “They did not understand by the miracle of the loaves, because their heart was hardened”), which do not recognize God in Christ. Remembering the quote from Luke 19:40: “if they remain silent, the stones will cry out,” we understand that since human hearts have become petrified, i.e., people, instead of confessing Christ as the Messiah, crucified Him, the stones “cry out” - they are torn apart. In the interpretation of St. Gregory, the resurrection of the dead at the crucifixion of Christ indicates His removal of righteous souls from hell and introduction to the heavenly abodes. Literally: leading man to God, and God to man. It describes how the divine economy unfolds in the Church. Everything necessary for the implementation of the economy of salvation in the lives of people, that is, for the perfection of the saints, is mentioned. The priesthood brings God down to man in the sacrament of the Eucharist, celebrated on the throne in the church (the altar at this moment already exists and is distinguished by a lattice, see: The Dream of Anastasia, carm. 2. 1. 16. 13–14), in order to lead people to God. It is noteworthy that St. Gregory speaks of the “sanctification of minds” (ἁγνισμὸς φρενῶν), i.e., that the physical communion with Christ in the Eucharist changes the entire composition of man, so that the sacrament, which surpasses the capabilities of human understanding, sanctifies the human mind. Wed. below: 258 “What does kingdom mean? Contemplation of God." If before this we speak of sanctification through the “ineffable,” i.e., the sacraments, then here another aspect of sanctification given in the Church is revealed, expressed in the word, and precisely in the word of Scripture, since St. Gregory clearly implies three liturgical readings: the Old Testament, the Gospel and the Apostolic, which at that time were certainly accompanied by a sermon. Probably the path to entry into the Church is described: catechumen, pre-baptismal repentance, exorcism, baptism. The question of how long each stage took and what their order was requires a separate study. The passage is difficult to understand, since the connections between the latest definitions are not entirely clear. The translation is based on a hypothetical interpretation. That is, a person consisting of body and soul, separated by death. Hints on the possible assumption of universal salvation in St. Gregory was discovered, in particular, by St. Mark Evgenik: “That the dogma [about the posthumous fate of sinners] was then debatable and it was not yet completely clear what it exactly was, the witness is the Theologian Gregory, who in his word for Baptism philosophizes about the unquenchable fire, and after that says: “Unless someone here wants to present this more philanthropically and in accordance with the dignity of the Punisher.” Do you see how he allows those who wish to understand this fire “more philanthropically”? But by the Fifth of the Ecumenical Councils this opinion was recognized as the most inhumane of all [possible] and anathematized as harmful to the Church and weakening the zealous [in the cause of salvation]" (Marci Ephesii Oratio prima de igne purgatorio. 11 / Ed. L. Petit. P., 1927. P. 54 [PO; T. 15]).