Miscellanies 7.18.111
Summary: Clement compares his Miscellanies to a wild wooded mountain rather than a formal garden: the doctrines are deliberately scattered and hidden so that diligent readers must search them out; the next book will begin afresh.
Greek text · Stählin 2
ἐοίκασι δέ πως οἱ Στρωματεῖς οὐ παραδείσοις ἐξησκημένοις ἐκείνοις τοῖς ἐν στοίχῳ καταπεφυτευμένοις εἰς ἡδονὴν ὄψεως, ὄρει δὲ μᾶλλον συσκίῳ τινὶ καὶ δασεῖ κυπαρίσσοις καὶ πλατάνοις δάφνῃ τε καὶ κισσῷ, μηλέαις τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἐλαίαις καὶ συκαῖς καταπεφυτευμένῳ, ἐξεπίτηδες ἀναμεμιγμένης τῆς φυτείας καρποφόρων τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀκάρπων δένδρων διὰ τοὺς ὑφαιρεῖσθαι καὶ κλέπτειν τολμῶντας τὰ ὥρια, ἐθελούσης λανθάνειν τῆς γραφῆς. ἐξ ὧν δὴ μεταμοσχεύσας καὶ μεταφυτεύσας ὁ γεωργὸς ὡραῖον κατακοσμήσει παράδεισον καὶ ἄλσος ἐπιτερπές. οὔτʼ οὖν τῆς τάξεως οὔτε τῆς φράσεως στοχάζονται οἱ Στρωματεῖς, ὅπου γε ἐπίτηδες καὶ τὴν λέξιν οὐχ Ἕλληνες εἶναι βούλονται καὶ τὴν τῶν δογμάτων ἐγκατασπορὰν λεληθότως καὶ οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πεποίηνται, φιλοπόνους καὶ εὑρετικοὺς εἶναι τοὺς ἀναγιγνώσκοντας εἴ τινες τύχοιεν παρασκευάζοντες. πολλὰ γὰρ τὰ δελέατα καὶ ποικίλα διὰ τὰς τῶν ἰχθύων διαφοράς. Καὶ δὴ μετὰ τὸν ἕβδομον τοῦτον ἡμῖν Στρωματέα τῶν ἑξῆς ἀπʼ ἄλλης ἀρχῆς ποιησόμεθα τὸν λόγον.
English · Claude translation
The Miscellanies are somewhat like, not those cultivated gardens planted in rows for the pleasure of the eye, but rather a shady, densely wooded mountain planted with cypress and plane, laurel and ivy, and apple trees together with olives and figs, the planting of fruit-bearing and fruitless trees deliberately mixed together because of those who dare to carry off and steal the ripe fruit, since the writing wishes to escape notice. From these the farmer, transplanting and replanting, will lay out a beautiful garden and a delightful grove. The Miscellanies, then, aim neither at order nor at style, since they deliberately wish not to be Greek even in their diction, and they have sown the doctrines in hidden fashion and not openly, so as to make readers, if any should be found, industrious and inventive. For there are many and various baits, because fish differ. And now, after this seventh Miscellany, we will make our discourse on what follows from another beginning.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Not openly” renders “not according to the truth,” whose exact sense here is uncertain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray character in the digital text; stray period in the digital text): εἰς ἡδονὴν ὄψεως. ὄρει → εἰς ἡδονὴν ὄψεως, ὄρει; ἀναγιγνώσκοντας> → ἀναγιγνώσκοντας.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.18.111 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/18/111/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.18.111 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/18/111/).
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