Gregory the Miracle-Worker, Panegyric to Origen 16.63-16.92
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/327
Context
Theodore, who later became known as Gregory the Miracle-Worker (ὁ
Θαυματουργός), was a Christian convert from a leading family of Pontic Neocaesarea who
became an influential theologian and bishop during the middle decades of the 3rd
century. As a wealthy youth traveling with his brother to study law at Berytus in ca.
231-233, he escorted his sister to Caesarea, where her husband was called to serve as
legal attaché to the governor. There Theodore entered the training of Origen for several
years, at the end of which he delivered an eloquent valedictory lauding the integration
of classical and Christian intellectualism. In this passage he describes vividly the
prospect of leaving Caesarea, which he describes as a utopia for spiritual growth, and
rejoining his mundane existence in some place that is dangerous and without inspiration,
like the Jews deported to Babylon.
Text
Πολέμιοί ποτε λέγονται ἐπελθόντες πόλει μεγάλῃ καὶ ἱερᾷ, ἐν ᾗ τὸ θεῖον
ἐθεραπεύετο, αἰχμαλώτους κατασῦραι τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας καὶ ὑμνῳδοὺς καὶ θεολόγους εἰς τὴν
αὐτὴν χώραν, Βαβυλωνία δὲ ἦν· τοὺς δ’ ἐνεχθέντας εἰς αὐτήν, μηδ’ ἀξιουμένους ὑπὸ τῶν
κρατούντων ὑμνεῖν ἐθέλειν τὸ θεῖον, μηδὲ ψάλλειν ἐν γῇ βεβήλῳ· ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ὄργανα τὰ
μουσικὰ κρεμάσαι ἐπὶ τῶν ἰτεῶν ἀρτήσαντας, αὐτοὺς δὲ κλαίειν ἐπὶ τῶν ποταμῶν Βαβυλῶνος.
Ἐκείνων τις εἶναι δοκῶ, ἐξελαυνόμενος ἀπὸ πόλεως καὶ πατρίδος ἐμῆς ταύτης καὶ ἱερᾶς·
ἔνθα μεθ’ ἡμέραν τε καὶ νύκτα οἱ ἱεροὶ ἀπαγγέλλονται νόμοι ὕμνοι τε καὶ ᾠδαὶ καὶ λόγοι
μυστικοί, καὶ φῶς τὸ ἡλιακὸν καὶ τὸ διηνεκές, ἡμέρας ὕπερ ἡμῶν προσομιλούντων τοῖς
θείοις μυστηρίοις, καὶ νυκτὸς ὧν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εἶδέ τε καὶ ἔπραξεν ἡ ψυχὴ ταῖς φαντασίαις
κατεχομένων· καὶ ὅλως συνελόντα εἰπεῖν ἔνθα ἡ ἔνθεος διὰ παντὸς κατακωχή, ταύτης
ἐξελαύνομαι, αἰχμάλωτος φερόμενος εἰς τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν γῆν, ἔνθα μοι οὔτε αὐλεῖν ἐξέσται
κρεμασαμένῳ τὸ ὄργανόν μου, ὥσπερ κἀκείνοις, ἀπὸ τῶν ἰτεῶν· ἀλλ’ ἐν μὲν τοῖς ποταμοῖς
ἔσομαι, πηλὸν δὲ ἐργάσομαι καὶ ὕμνους λέγειν οὐκ ἐθελήσω, μεμνημένος· ἀλλ’ ἴσως ὑπὸ
κακοεργίας τῆς ἄλλης καὶ ἐπιλήσομαι συληθεὶς κατὰ τὰς μνήμας. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀπιὼν οὐκ ἄκων
μόνον, ὥσπερ αἰχμάλωτος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑκὼν ἄπειμι, οὐχ ὑπ’ ἄλλου του, ὑπὸ δὲ ἐμαυτοῦ
ἐκπεπολεμημένος, ἐξὸν μένειν, τάχα καὶ ἀπιὼν ἐντεῦθεν οὐκ ἀσφαλῶς πορεύσομαι, ὡς ἀπὸ
ἀσφαλοῦς καὶ εἰρηνευομένης τινὸς πόλεως ἐξελθών· εἰκὸς δὲ ὡς ἄρα ὁδοιπορῶν καὶ λῃσταῖς
συντεύξομαι καὶ συλληφθήσομαι, καὶ γυμνωθεὶς τρωθήσομαι τραύμασι πολλοῖς, καὶ κείσομαί
που ἡμιθνὴς ἐρριμμένος.
1
Textual Note
Ed. Crouzel 1969Translation
It is told that
that the enemy once assailed a great and sacred city in which the God was worshipped,
and dragged away its inhabitants as prisoners, both singers and prophets, into their own
country, Babylonia. And it is told that the captives in that land were unwilling, even
when it was demanded by their conquerors, to sing the divine song or psalms in a profane
place. Instead they hung their musical instruments on the willows, and wept by the
rivers of Babylon. I imagine I am one of these, driven from this city and this sacred
homeland of mine, where by day and by night the holy laws are declared, and hymns and
songs and secret words are heard, and there is perpetual sunlight, (where) in the day we
converse with the mysteries of God, and at night the things our soul has seen and done
during the day occupy our dreams—a place, in short, of divine inspiration, everywhere
and completely. From this city I am driven, a prisoner carried away to a foreign land
where I will not be able to play my music, for, like those men long ago, I shall have
hung my instrument from the willow; and I will sit on the riverbanks, and I will work in
mud, and I will not want to sign hymns, even though I remember them. It may even be
that, exposed to the variety of evil, I will be robbed of my memory and forget. Would
that I were only departing unwillingly, like a prisoner of war, and yet I am departing
willingly, not at the hands of another, but by my own hands I have become the enemy,
even though I can stay. Perhaps departing from here I will embark on a dangerous
journey, as can befall one who leaves a safe and peaceful city. To be sure, it is likely
that I will run into robbers on the road, they will capture me, strip me naked, cripple
me with many wounds, and throw me away to lie somewhere half-dead.
2
Translation Note
Adapted from Salmond 1886Works Cited
- 1 Gregory the Miracle-Worker, Remerciement à Origène, suivi de la Lettre d’Origène à Grégoire., ed. Henri Crouzel, Sources chrétiennes 148 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1969), section: 16, line: 63-92.
- 2 Gregory the Miracle-Worker, The Oration and Panegyric Addressed to Origen, in Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius, trans. S. D. F. Salmond, American edition, vol. 6, 10 vols., The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 (Buffalo: The Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1886), 50–91
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Gregory the Miracle-Worker, Panegyric to Origen 16.63-16.92,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/327.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Gregory the Miracle-Worker, Panegyric to Origen 16.63-16.92.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/327.About this Entry
Entry Title: Gregory the Miracle-Worker, Panegyric to Origen 16.63-16.92
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Gregory the Miracle-Worker, Panegyric to Origen 16.63-16.92”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Gregory the Miracle-Worker, Panegyric to Origen 16.63-16.92”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife