Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 3.6.51

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

Summary: Aristotle of Cyrene kept his oath to Lais by sending her portrait home; celibacy is no virtue unless for love of God; Paul condemns those who forbid marriage and counsels spouses to stay together.

Greek text · Stählin 2:219–220

ὀμωμοκὼς οὖν τῇ ἑταίρᾳ ἦ μὴν ἀπάξειν αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν πατρίδα, εἰ συμπράξειεν αὐτῷ τινα πρὸς τοὺς ἀνταγωνιστάς, ἐπειδὴ διεπράξατο, χαριέντως ἐκτελῶν τὸν ὅρκον, γραψάμενος αὐτῆς ὡς ὅτι μάλιστα ὁμοιοτάτην εἰκόνα, ἀνέστησεν εἰς Κυρήνην, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Ἴστρος ἐν τῷ Περὶ ἰδιότητος ἄθλων. ὥστʼ οὐδʼ ἡ εὐνουχία ἐνάρετον, εἰ μὴ διʼ ἀγάπην γίνοιτο τὴν πρὸς τὸν θεόν. Αὐτίκα περὶ τῶν βδελυσσομένων τὸν γάμον Παῦλος ὁ μακάριος λέγει· ἐν ὑστέροις καιροῖς ἀποστήσονταί τινες τῆς πίστεως, προσέχοντες πνεύμασι πλάνοις καὶ διδασκαλίαις δαιμονίων, κωλυόντων γαμεῖν, ἀπέχεσθαι βρωμάτων. καὶ πάλιν λέγει· μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω ἐν ἐθελοθρησκείᾳ ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ ἀφειδίᾳ σώματος. ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς κἀκεῖνα γράφει· δέδεσαι γυναικί; μὴ ζήτει λύσιν· λέλυσαι ἀπὸ γυναικός; μὴ ζήτει γυναῖκα. καὶ πάλιν· ἕκαστος δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα ἐχέτω, ἵνα μὴ πειράζῃ ὑμᾶς ὁ σατανᾶς.

English · Claude translation

Having sworn to the courtesan that he would take her to his homeland if she helped him in something against his rivals, when she had done it, he fulfilled the oath wittily: he had a portrait of her painted, as lifelike as possible, and set it up in Cyrene, as Istrus relates in his work On the Peculiarity of Contests. So not even the eunuchate is virtuous unless it comes about through love of God. Indeed, about those who abhor marriage the blessed Paul says: “In later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons, forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods.” And again he says: “Let no one disqualify you by self-made worship of humility and severity to the body.” The same writer also writes this: “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.” And again: “Let each one have his own wife, so that Satan may not tempt you.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:219–220 · 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
Marriage, Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are 1 Tim 4:1, 3, Col 2:18, 23 (a combination), 1 Cor 7:27, and 1 Cor 7:2, 5 (a free form).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.6.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/6/51/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.6.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/6/51/).

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