Greek Fragments on the Passover (Stählin) (complete)
Authorship disputed: Three sentences quoted from Clement's lost work On the Passover (Περὶ τοῦ πάσχα) in the Sacra Parallela and by Nikephoros of Constantinople, as collected by O. Stählin (GCS 17, p. 217). The other fragments of this work (Stählin 25-29, 33-58) are not yet staged.
Greek text: GCS 17.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 30
30GCS 17 17:217
Τὰ ἐναντία ἅμα τῷ αὐτῷ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ συμβῆναι ἀδύνατον.
Ta enantia hama tǭ autǭ kata to auto pros to auto symbēnai adynaton.
It is impossible for contraries to occur at the same time in the same thing, in the same respect, and in relation to the same thing.
Notes and citation
Summary: A rule of logic: opposites cannot belong to the same thing at once in the same respect.
- From Clement's lost work On the Passover, preserved in the Sacra Parallela. The saying restates the principle of non-contradiction (compare Aristotle, Metaphysics 4.3).
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, Metaph. 4.3 (Aristotle (works); echo)
Cite (SBL): Clement of Alexandria, Frag. (Stählin) 30 (GCS 17 17:217; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-fragmenta-staehlin-graeca-2/30/#p-30). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Stählin's Greek (GCS 17, 1909); no public-domain English of these fragments: re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 31
31GCS 17 17:217
Ὁ ἄρα γινώσκων ἑαυτὸν τόπος ἐστὶ καὶ θρόνος τοῦ κυρίου.
Ho ara ginōskōn heauton topos esti kai thronos tou kyriou.
He, then, who knows himself is a place and throne of the Lord.
Notes and citation
Summary: Self-knowledge makes a person a dwelling and throne of the Lord.
- From On the Passover, preserved in the Sacra Parallela.
Cite (SBL): Clement of Alexandria, Frag. (Stählin) 31 (GCS 17 17:217; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-fragmenta-staehlin-graeca-2/30/#p-31). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Stählin's Greek (GCS 17, 1909); no public-domain English of these fragments: re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 32
32GCS 17 17:217
Κοπτομένων τῶν λεοντίων ὀστέων καθάπερ ἐκ τῶν πυρίων λίθων πῦρ ἐξάπτεται.
Koptomenōn tōn leontiōn osteōn kathaper ek tōn pyriōn lithōn pyr exaptetai.
When lions' bones are struck, fire is kindled from them as from flints.
Notes and citation
Summary: A piece of natural lore: lions' bones give off sparks like flint.
- From On the Passover, preserved in the Sacra Parallela and by Nicephorus of Constantinople; the lore about lions' bones is also found in ancient natural history.
Cite (SBL): Clement of Alexandria, Frag. (Stählin) 32 (GCS 17 17:217; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-fragmenta-staehlin-graeca-2/30/#p-32). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Stählin's Greek (GCS 17, 1909); no public-domain English of these fragments: re-read against the Greek.