The Instructor 2.8.71
Summary: Flowers and beauty fade; the Christian's crowns are spouse, marriage, and children, and Christ is the crown of the church; flowers have medicinal properties but garlands are for revelers.
Greek text · Stählin 1:200–201
αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα καὶ διελέγχεται τὸ ἐφήμερον αὐτῶν· ἄμφω γὰρ μαραίνεσθον, καὶ τὸ ἄνθος καὶ τὸ κάλλος. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς θιγγάνοντας αὐτοῖν τὸ μὲν ἐνέψυξεν, τὸ δὲ ἐξέκαυσεν. ἑνὶ δὲ λόγῳ ἡ παρὰ τὴν ὄψιν ἀπόλαυσις αὐτοῖν ὕβρις ἐστίν, οὐ τρυφή· τρυφᾶν δὲ ἡμῖν, ὡς ἐν παραδείσῳ, προσῆκεν σωφρόνως τῷ ὄντι παρεπομένοις τῇ γραφῇ. στέφανον μὲν γυναικὸς τὸν ἄνδρα ὑποληπτέον, ἀνδρὸς δὲ τὸν γάμον, ἄνθη δὲ τοῦ γάμου τὰ τέκνα ἀμφοῖν, ἃ δὴ τῶν σαρκικῶν λειμώνων ὁ θεῖος δρέπεται γεωργός. »στέφανος δὲ γερόντων τέκνα τέκνων, δόξα δὲ παισὶν οἱ πατέρες«, φησίν· ἡμῖν δὲ δόξα ὁ πατὴρ τῶν ὅλων, καὶ τῆς συμπάσης ἐκκλησίας στέφανος ὁ Χριστός. Καθάπερ δὲ αἱ ῥίζαι καὶ αἱ βοτάναι, οὕτως δὲ καὶ τὰ ἄνθη ἰδίας ἔχει ποιότητας καὶ τὰς μὲν ἐπωφελεῖς, τὰς δὲ ἐπιβλαβεῖς, ἔστι δὲ ἃς καὶ ἐπισφαλεῖς. ὁ γοῦν κιττὸς ἐμψύχει, ἡ δὲ καρύα πνεῦμα ἀφίησιν καρωτικόν, ὡς ἐμφαίνει καὶ τοὔνομα ἐτυμολογούμενον. νάρκισσος δὲ βαρύοδμόν ἐστιν ἄνθος, ἐλέγχει δὲ αὐτὸ ἡ προσηγορία νάρκαν ἐμποιοῦν τοῖς νεύροις. αἱ δὲ τῶν ῥόδων καὶ τῶν ἴων ἀποφοραὶ ἡσυχῇ οὖσαι ψυχραὶ συστέλλουσι καὶ ἐπιστύφουσι τὰς καρηβαρίας· ἡμῖν δὲ οὐχ ὁπωστιοῦν συμμεθύειν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ οἰνοῦσθαι ἐπιτέτραπται. ναὶ μὴν ὁ κρόκος καὶ τῆς κύπρου τὸ ἄνθος εἰς ὕπνον ἄλυπον ὑπάγετον. πολλὰ δὲ αὐτῶν φύσει ψυχρὸν ὄντα τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ἀναθάλπει ταῖς ἀποφοραῖς λεπτύνοντα τῆς κεφαλῆς τὰ περιττεύματα. ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὸ ῥόδον ἐπωνόμασται, φασίν, ὅτι πάμπολυ τῆς ὀδωδῆς ἀφίησι ῥεῦμα· διὸ καὶ θᾶττον μαραίνεται.
English · Claude translation
Their short life is shown at once; for both wither, the flower and beauty. Of those who touch them, the one (the flower) chills them, the other (beauty) inflames them. In a word, the enjoyment of both beyond sight is insolence, not delight; it befits us to take delight, as in paradise, self-controlled, truly following Scripture. We should consider the husband the crown of the wife, and marriage the crown of the husband, and the children the flowers of the marriage of both, which the divine Farmer gathers from the fleshly meadows. “Children's children are the crown of old men, and fathers the glory of children,” it says; and our glory is the Father of all, and the crown of the whole church is Christ. Like roots and plants, flowers too have their own qualities, some beneficial, some harmful, and some dangerous. Ivy cools; the walnut (karya) gives off a stupefying (karōtikon) air, as its name shows by derivation. The narcissus is a heavy-scented flower, and its name convicts it of causing numbness (narkē) in the sinews. The scents of roses and violets, being mildly cold, contract and check headaches; but we are not permitted to get drunk with others in any way at all, nor even to be flushed with wine. Saffron and the henna flower lead to painless sleep. Many of them, by their scents, warm the brain, which is naturally cold, thinning the residues of the head. Hence, they say, the rose (rhodon) was named, because it gives off a great stream (rheuma) of scent; that is why it withers so quickly.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Prov 17:6; “the husband the crown of the wife” reverses Prov 12:4, perhaps deliberately. The etymologies are ancient.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.8.71 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/8/71/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.8.71 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/8/71/).
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