Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 1.16.78

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Paul says that one who does not understand a language is a “barbarian” to its speaker; prose and many poetic forms came late to the Greeks.

Greek text · Stählin 2:50–51

ὁ δὲ ἀπόστολος οὕτω φησὶν καὶ ὑμεῖς διὰ τῆς γλώσσης ἐὰν μὴ εὔσημον λόγον δῶτε, πῶς γνωσθήσεται τὸ λαλούμενον; ἔσεσθε γὰρ εἰς ἀέρα λαλοῦντες. τοσαῦτα, εἰ τύχοι, γένη φωνῶν εἰσιν ἐν κόσμῳ, καὶ οὐδὲν ἄφωνον· ἐὰν οὖν μὴ εἰδῶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς φωνῆς, ἔσομαι τῷ λαλοῦντι βάρβαρος καὶ ὁ λαλῶν ἐμοὶ βάρβαρος. καὶ ὁ λαλῶν γλώσσῃ προσευχέσθω, ἵνα διερμηνεύῃ. Ναὶ μὴν ὀψέ ποτε εἰς Ἕλληνας ἡ τῶν λόγων παρῆλθε διδασκαλία τε καὶ γραφή. Ἀλκμαίων γοῦν Περίθου Κροτωνιάτης πρῶτος φυσικὸν λόγον συνέταξεν. οἳ δὲ Ἀναξαγόραν Ἡγησιβούλου Κλαζομένιον πρῶτον διὰ γραφῆς ἐκδοῦναι βιβλίον ἱστοροῦσιν. μέλος τε αὖ πρῶτος περιέθηκε τοῖς ποιήμασι καὶ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίων νόμους ἐμελοποίησε Τέρπανδρος ὁ Ἀντισσαῖος, διθύραμβον δὲ ἐπενόησεν Λᾶσος Ἑρμιονεύς, ὕμνον Στησίχορος Ἱμεραῖος, χορείαν Ἀλκμὰν Λακεδαιμόνιος, τὰ ἐρωτικὰ Ἀνακρέων Τήιος. ὑπόρχησιν Πίνδαρος Θηβαῖος νόμους τε πρῶτος ᾖσεν ἐν χορῷ καὶ κιθάρᾳ Τιμόθεος ὁ Μιλήσιος.

English · Claude translation

And the apostle says thus: “So you too, unless you give an intelligible word by the tongue, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none is without meaning. If, then, I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a barbarian to the speaker, and the speaker a barbarian to me.” And “let the one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.” Indeed, the teaching and writing of prose came late to the Greeks. Alcmaeon of Croton, son of Perithus, first composed a treatise on nature; others record that Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, son of Hegesibulus, first published a book in writing. Terpander of Antissa first set poems to music and put the laws of the Spartans into song; Lasus of Hermione devised the dithyramb, Stesichorus of Himera the hymn, Alcman of Sparta the choral dance, Anacreon of Teos love songs; Pindar of Thebes the dance song; and Timotheus of Miletus first sang nomes with chorus and cithara.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:50–51 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.
Scripture
Topics
Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are 1 Cor 14:9–11, 13.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.16.78 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/16/78/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.16.78 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/16/78/).

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