On the Making of Man preface–7
Greek text: PG 44.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 5 (1893), "On the Making of Man".
On the Making of Man 0
0PG 44:125b–128b
Ei ταῖς διὰ τῶν χρημάτων τιμαῖς ἔδει γεραίρειν τοὺς κατʼ ἀρετὴν διαφέροντας, μικρὸς ἂν, καθώς φησιν ὁ Σολομὼν, ὅλος ὁ κόσμος τῶν χρημάτων ἐφάνη πρὸς τὸ γενέσθαι τῆς σῆς ἀρετῆς ἰσοστάσιος· ἐπειδὴ κρεῖττον ἢ κατὰ πλούτου τιμὴν ή χρεωστουμένη τῇ σεμνότητί σου χάρις ἐστίν. Ἀπαιτεῖ δὲ τὸ ἅγιον Πάσχα τὴν συνήθη τῆς ἀγάπης δωροφορίαν, ἣν προσἀγομέν σου τῇ μεγαλοφροσύνῃ, δῶρον, ὧ ἄνθρωπε Θεοῦ, μικρότερον μὲν ἢ ὡς ἄξιον εἶναί σοι προσκομίζεσθαι, τῆς γε μὴν δυνάμεως ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐνδεέστερον. Τὸ δὲ δῶρον λόγος ἐστὶν, οἷον ἱμάτιόν τι πενιχρὸν ὲκ τῆς πτωχῆς ήμῶν διανοίας οὐκ ἀπόνως ἐξυφασμένον. Ἦ δὲ τοῦ λόγου ὑπόθεσις τολμηρά μὲν ἴσως τοῖς πολλοῖς εἶναι δόξει, πλὴν οὐκ ἔξω τοῦ πρέποντος ἐνομίσθη. Μόνος γὰρ ἀξίως τὴν κτίσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατενόησεν, ό κατὰ Θεὸν κτισθεὶς ὅντως, καὶ ἐν εἰκόνι τοῦ κτίσαντος τὴν ψυχὴν μεμορφωμένος Βασίλειος, ὁ κοινὸς ἡμῶν πατὴρ καὶ διδάσκαλος, ὃς τὴν ὑψηλὴν τοῦ παντὸς διακόσμησιν εὔληπτον τοῖς πολλοῖς διὰ τῆς ίδίας Θεωρίας ἐποίησε, καὶ τὸν ἐν τῇ ἀληθινῇ σοφίᾳ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ συστάντα κόσμον γνώριμον τοῖς διὰ τῆς συνέσεως αὑτοῦ τῇ θεωρίᾳ προσαγομένοις ποιήσας. 5εωρίαν σκοπὸς, οὐδέ τινος τῶν ἐν κόσμῳ θαυμάτων τὰ δεύτερα φερόμενος, τάχα δὲ καὶ μείζων ἑκάστου τῶν γιγνωσκομένων, διότι οὐδὲν ἕτερον Θεῷ ἐκ τῶν όντων ὡμοίωται, πλὴν τῆς κατά τὸν ἄνθρωπον κτίσεως, ὥστε παρά τοῖς εὐγνώμοσι τῶν ἀκροατῶν πρόχειρον ήμῖν τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις συγγνώμην εἶναι, κᾶν πολὺ κατόπιν τῆς ἀξίας ό λόγος ἔλθοι. Δεῖ γὰρ, οἶμαι, τῶν περὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀπάντων, τῶν τε προγεγενῆσθαι πεπιστευμένων, καὶ τῶν εῐσύστερον ἐκβήσεσθαι προσδοκωμένων, καὶ τῶν νῦν θεωρουμένων μηδὲν παραλιπεῖν ἀνεξέταστον. *Η γάρ ἂν ἐλλιπεστέρα τοῦ ἐπαγγέλματος ή σπουδὴ διελέγχοιτο, εἰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου προκειμένου τῇ θεωρίᾳ, παρεθείη τι τῶν συντεινόντων πρὸς τὴν ὑπόθεσιν. Ἀλλά καὶ τά δοκοῦντα περὶ αὑτὸν ἐναντίως ἐχειν, διά τὸ μὴ τὰ αύτά τοῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς γεγενημένοις, καὶ νῦν περὶ τὴν φύσιν ὁρᾶσθαι διά τινος ἀναγκαίας ἀκολουθίας · ἐκ τε τῆς γραφικῆς ύφηγήσεως καλ ἐκ τῆς παρὰ τῶν λογισμῶν εὐρισκομένης ἐπινοίας συναρτῆσαι προσήκει, ὡς ἂν συμβαίνοι πᾶσα ή ὑπόθεσις είρμῷ καὶ τάξει τῶν ἐναντίως ἐχειν δοκούντων πρὸς ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πέρας συμφερομένων,οὖτω καὶ τῆς θείας δυνάμεως ἐλπίδα τοῖς ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα, καὶ πόρον τοῖς ἀμηχάνοις ἐφευρισκούσης. Σαφηνείας δέ χάριν καλῶς ἔχειν ᾠήθην, ἐπὶ κεφαλαίων σοι προθεῖναι τὸν λόγον, ὡς ἂν ἔχοις πάσης τῆς πραγματείας ὲν ὀλίγῳ τῶν καθέκαστον ἐπιχειρημάτων εἰδέναι τὴν ὑπόθεσιν.
Ei tais dia tōn chrēmatōn timais edei gerairein tous katʼ aretēn diapherontas, mikros an, kathōs phēsin ho Solomōn, holos ho kosmos tōn chrēmatōn ephanē pros to genesthai tēs sēs aretēs isostasios; epeidē kreitton ē kata ploutou timēn ē chreōstoumenē tę̄ semnotēti sou charis estin. Apaitei de to hagion Pascha tēn synēthē tēs agapēs dōrophorian, hēn prosagomen sou tę̄ megalophrosynę̄, dōron, hō anthrōpe Theou, mikroteron men ē hōs axion einai soi proskomizesthai, tēs ge mēn dynameōs hēmōn ouk endeesteron. To de dōron logos estin, hoion himation ti penichron ek tēs ptōchēs ēmōn dianoias ouk aponōs exyphasmenon. Ē de tou logou hypothesis tolmēra men isōs tois pollois einai doxei, plēn ouk exō tou prepontos enomisthē. Monos gar axiōs tēn ktisin tou Theou katenoēsen, o kata Theon ktistheis hontōs, kai en eikoni tou ktisantos tēn psychēn memorphōmenos Basileios, ho koinos hēmōn patēr kai didaskalos, hos tēn hypsēlēn tou pantos diakosmēsin eulēpton tois pollois dia tēs idias Theōrias epoiēse, kai ton en tę̄ alēthinę̄ sophią para tou Theou systanta kosmon gnōrimon tois dia tēs syneseōs hautou tę̄ theōrią prosagomenois poiēsas. 5eōrian skopos, oude tinos tōn en kosmǭ thaumatōn ta deutera pheromenos, tacha de kai meizōn hekastou tōn gignōskomenōn, dioti ouden heteron Theǭ ek tōn ontōn hōmoiōtai, plēn tēs kata ton anthrōpon ktiseōs, hōste para tois eugnōmosi tōn akroatōn procheiron ēmin tēn epi tois legomenois syngnōmēn einai, kan poly katopin tēs axias o logos elthoi. Dei gar, oimai, tōn peri ton anthrōpon apantōn, tōn te progegenēsthai pepisteumenōn, kai tōn eisysteron ekbēsesthai prosdokōmenōn, kai tōn nyn theōroumenōn mēden paralipein anexetaston. *Ē gar an ellipestera tou epangelmatos ē spoudē dielenchoito, ei tou anthrōpou prokeimenou tę̄ theōrią, paretheiē ti tōn synteinontōn pros tēn hypothesin. Alla kai ta dokounta peri hauton enantiōs echein, dia to mē ta auta tois ex archēs gegenēmenois, kai nyn peri tēn physin horasthai dia tinos anankaias akolouthias ; ek te tēs graphikēs yphēgēseōs kal ek tēs para tōn logismōn euriskomenēs epinoias synartēsai prosēkei, hōs an symbainoi pasa ē hypothesis eirmǭ kai taxei tōn enantiōs echein dokountōn pros hen kai to auto peras sympheromenōn,outō kai tēs theias dynameōs elpida tois hyper elpida, kai poron tois amēchanois epheuriskousēs. Saphēneias de charin kalōs echein ǭēthēn, epi kephalaiōn soi protheinai ton logon, hōs an echois pasēs tēs pragmateias en oligǭ tōn kathekaston epicheirēmatōn eidenai tēn hypothesin.
If those who excel in virtue had to be honoured with gifts of money, the whole world of riches, as Solomon says, would seem too small to match your virtue, since the gratitude owed to your holiness is greater than any honour paid in wealth. But the holy Pascha demands the customary offering of love, and we bring it to your magnanimity: a gift, O man of God, smaller than would be worthy to offer you, yet not short of our ability. The gift is a discourse, like a poor garment woven, not without toil, from the poverty of our understanding. The subject of the discourse will perhaps seem bold to many, yet it was judged not unfitting. For he alone has contemplated God’s creation worthily who was truly created according to God and had his soul formed in the image of the Creator: Basil, our common father and teacher, who by his own contemplation made the lofty ordering of the universe easy for many to grasp, and made the world, established by God in true wisdom, known to those who were brought to contemplation through his understanding. … the aim of our contemplation, second to none of the wonders in the world, and perhaps even greater than each of the things we know, because nothing else among existing things has been made like God except the creation of man. So we may expect fair-minded hearers to pardon readily what is said, even if the discourse falls far short of its worth. For it is necessary, I think, to leave nothing unexamined of all that concerns man: what we believe happened before, what we expect to come to pass later, and what is seen now. For our effort would be convicted of falling short of its promise if, when man is set before us for contemplation, anything that bears on the subject were passed over. Moreover, the things about him that seem contrary, because what is seen in our nature now is not the same as what was at the beginning, ought to be joined by some necessary sequence, both from the guidance of Scripture and from what is found by reasoning, so that the whole subject may agree in connection and order, the things that seem contrary being brought to one and the same end, as the divine power finds hope for what is beyond hope and a way for what has no way. For clarity’s sake I thought it well to set the discourse before you in chapter headings, so that you may know in brief the subject of each of the particular arguments of the whole treatise.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Prov 17:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 4:18 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory dedicates the treatise to his brother as an Easter gift, presents it as a supplement to Basil’s work on creation, and sets out its aim of examining everything that concerns man.
- Dedicatory letter, traditionally addressed to Gregory’s brother Peter (later bishop of Sebaste); the name does not appear in the staged text. “The whole world of riches” echoes the Septuagint addition at Prov 17:6. Basil is praised for his Hexaemeron. A passage is lost in the scan after “brought to contemplation through his understanding”; it is marked … and not supplied. The chapter headings Gregory mentions are printed in the edition as the opening line of each chapter.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (stray letters for punctuation and word division); OCR misread of Τὸ; OCR misread of ὁ as 6): φησιν 6 Σολομὼν → φησιν ὁ Σολομὼν; ὅλος 6 κόσμος → ὅλος ὁ κόσμος; ἰσοστάσιοςο ἐπειδὴλ κρεῖττονῆ → ἰσοστάσιος· ἐπειδὴ κρεῖττον ἢ; T6 δὲ δῶρον → Τὸ δὲ δῶρον; Βασίλειος, 6 κοινὸς → Βασίλειος, ὁ κοινὸς.
Extrabiblical texts: Basil, Hex. (Homilies on the Hexaemeron; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. pref. (PG 44:125b–128b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio/0/#p-0). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 1
1PG 44:128b–132c
Ἔν ᾧ τίς ἐστι μερικὴ περὶτοῦ κόσμου φυσιολογια, καί τις ἁδροτέρα δὶήγησις περὶ τῶν προγεγονότων τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου γενέσεως. Αὕτη ή βίῦλος γενέσεως ούρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, φησὶν ή Γραφήʼ ὅτε συνετελέσθη πᾶν τὸ φαινόμενον, καὶ πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν θέσιν ἕκαστον τῶν ὀντων ἀποκριθὲν ἀνεχώρησενο ὅτε περιέσχεν ἐν κύκλῳ τά πάντα τὸ οὐράνιον σῶμα, τὴν δὲ μέσην τοῦ παντὸς ἀπέλαβε χώραν τά βαρέα καὶ κατωφερῆ τῶν σωμάτων, γῆ τε καὶ ὕδωρ, ἐν ἀλλήλοις διακρατούμενα. Σύνδεσμος δέ τις καὶ βεβαιότης τῶν γεγενημένων ή θεία τέχνη καὶ δύναμις τῇ φύσει τῶν ὀντων ἐναπετέθη, διπλαῖς ἐνεργείαις ήνιοχοῦσα τὰ πάντα. Στάσει γὰρ καὶ κινήσει τὴν γένεσιν τοῖς μὴ οὖσι, καὶ τὴν διαμονὴν τοῖς οὖσιν ἐμηχανήσατο, περὶ τὸ βαρὺ καὶ ἀμετάθετον τῆς ἀκινήτου φύσεως, οόν περί τινα πάγιον άξονα, τὴν ὀξυτάτην τοῦ πόλου κίνησιν τροχοῦ δίκην ἐν κύκλῳ περιελαύνουσα, καὶ διʼ ἀλλήλων ἀμφοτέροις συντηο ροῦσα τὸ ἀδιάλυτον ο τῆς τε κυκλοφορουμένης οὐσίας διά τῆς ὀξείας κινήσεως τὺ ναστὸν τῆς γῆς ἐν κύκλῳ περισφιγγούσης, τοῦ τε στερῤοὖ καὶ ἀνενδότου διὰ τῆς ἀμεταθέτου παγιότητος ἀδιαλείπτως ἐπιτείνοντος τῶν περὶ αὐτὴν κυκλουμένων τὴν δίνησιν. Ἰση δὲ καθʼ ἑκάτερον τῶν ταῖς ἐνεργείαις διεστηκότων ή ὑπερβολὴ ἐναπειργάσθη, τῇ τε στασίμῳ φύσει καὶ τῇ ἀστὰτῳ περιφορᾷ. υύτε γὰρ ή γῆ τῆς ἰδίας βάσεως μετατίθεται, οὔτε ὀ οὐρανός ποτε τὸ σφοδρὸν ἐνδίδωσι καὶ ὑποχαλᾷ τῆς κινήσεως. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ πρῶτα ’ κατά τὴν τοῦ πεποιηκότος σοφίαν, οἷόν τις ἀρχὴ τοῦ παντὸς μηχανήματος προκατεσκευάσθη τῶν όντων, δεικνύντος, οἶμαι, τοῦ μεγάλου Μωσέως διά τοῦ ὲν ἀρχῇ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγεο νῆσθαι εἰπεῖν, ὅτι κινήσεώς τε καὶ στάσεως ἔκγονα τὰ ὲν τῇ κτίσει φαινόμενα πάντα, τά κατά τὸ θεῖον βούλημα παραχθέντα είς γένεσιν. Τοῦ τοίνυν οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς ὲκ διαμέτρου πρὸς ἄλληλα κατά τὺ ἐναντίον τῆς ἐνεργείας διεστηκότων, ή μεταξὺ τῶν ἐναντίων κτίσις ὲν μέρει τῶν παρακειμένων μετέχουσα. διʼ ἑαυτῆς μεσιτεύει τοῖς ἄκροις, ὡς ἂν ἐπίδηλον γενέσθαι τὴν πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν ἐναντίων διὰ τοῦ μέσου συνάφειαν. Τὸ γὰρ ἀεικίνητον καὶ λεπτὸν τῆς πυρώδους οὐσίας μιμεῖται μέν πως ό ἀὴρ, ἐν τε τῷ κούφῳ τῆς φύσεως καὶ τῷ πρὸς τὴν, κίνησιν ὲπιτη· δείως ἔχειν. Οὐ μὴν τοιοῦτός ἐστιν, οἷος τῆς πρὸς τά πάγια συγγενείας ἀλλοτριώσὼι, οὕτε ἀεὶ μένων ἀκίνητος, οὔτε διαπαντὸς ῥέων καὶ σκεδαννύμενος ο ἀλλά τῇ πρὸς ἕτερον οίκειότητι οἷόν τι μεθόριον τῆς τῶν ἐνεργειῶν ἐναντιότητος γίνεται, μιγνὺς ἅμα καὶ διαιρῶν ὲν αὑτῷ τά διεστῶτα τῇ φύσει.Κατά τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον, καὶ ἡ ὑγρὰ οὐσία διπλαῖς ποιότησι πρὸς ἑκάτερον τῶν ἐναντίων ἁρμόζεται. Τῷ μὲν γάρ βαρεῖά τε καὶ κατωφερὴς πρὸς τὸ γεῶδες τὴν συγγένειαν ἔχει. Τῷ δὲ μετέχειν ροὡδους τινὸς καὶ πορευτικῆς ὶνεργείας, οὐ πάντη τῆς κινουμένης ἠλλοτρίωται φύσεως, ἀλλά τίς ἐστι καὶ διά τούτου μίξις τῶν ἐναντίων καὶ σύνοδος, τῆς τε βαρύτητος εἰς κίνησιν μετατεθείσης, καὶ τῆς κινήσεως ἐν τῷ βάρει μὴ πεδηθείσης, ὥστε συμβαίνειν πρὸς ἄλληλα · τὰ κατά τὸ ἀκρότατον τῇ φύσει διεστηκότα διὰ τῶν μεσιτευόνιων ἀλλήλοις ἑνούμενα. Μᾶλλον δὲ κατὰ τὸν ἀκρισῆ λόγον οὐδὲ αὐτὴ τῶν ἀντικειμένων ἡ φύσις ἀμίκτως πάντη πρὸς τὴν ἑτέραν τοῖς ίδιὼμασιν ἔχει, ὡς ἂν, οἶμαι, πάντα πρὸς ἄλληλα νεύοι τὰ κατά τὸν κόσμον φαινόμενα, καὶ ξυμπνέοι πρὸς ἑαυτὴν η κτίέ σις ἐν τοῖς τῶν ἀντικειμένων ίδιώμασιν εὐρισκομένη. Τῆς γὰρ κινήσεως οὐ μόνον κατά τὴν τοπικὴν μετάστασιν νοουμένης, ἀλλά καὶ ὲν, τροπῇ καὶ ἀλλοιώσει θεωρουμένης· πάλιν δʼ αὗ, τῆς ἀμεταθέτου φύσεως τὴν κατὰ τὺ ἀλλοιοῦσθαι κίνησιν οὐ προσιεμένης· ὲναλλάξασα τὰς ἰδιότητας ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία, τῷ μὲν ἀεικινήτῳ τὸ ἄτρεπτον, τῷ δὲ ἀκινήτῳ τὴν τροπὴν ἐνεποίησε, προμηθείᾳ τινὶ τάχα τὸ τοιοῦτον οίκονομήσασα, ὡς ἂν μὴ τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἴδιον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ ἄτρεπτόν τε καὶ ἀμετὼ θετον, ἐπί τινος τῶν κατά τὴν κτίσιν βλεπομένων, θεὸν νομίζεσθαι τδ κτίσμα ποιήσειεν. Οὐ γὰρ ἔτι θεότητος ὑπόληψιν σχοίη, ὅπερ ἂν κινούμενον ἢ ἀλλοιούμενον τύχῃ. Διά τοῦτο ἡ μὲν γῆ στάσιμός ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ ἄτρεπτοςο ό δὲ οὐρανὸς τοῦ ἐναντίου τὸ τρεπτδν οὐκ ἔχων, οὐδὲ στάσιμον ἔχει, ἴνα τῇ μὲν φύσει ἑστώσῃ τὴν τροπὴν, τῇ δὲ μὴ τρεπομένῃ τὴν κίνησιν ἡ θεία συμπλέξασα δύναμις, καὶ ἀλλήλαις - ἀμφοτέρας ὲναλ) ἀξει τῶν ἰδιωμάτων προσοιattain“, καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον ὑπολήψεως ἀλλοτριώ. ι. Ούδέτερον γὰρ ἂν τούτων, καθὼς εἴρηται, τῆς ιοτέρας φύσεως νομισθείη · οὔτε τὸ ἄστατον, οὕτε..ε ν una, _-r, -1. -1“-.. --λι..λ τευ... ἀλλοιούμενον. Ἤδη τοίνυν τὰ πάντα πρὸς τδ ίδιον _ --.. ι ι Α ι Δ Ι η __ Il-,Ω ιθασε τέλος. Συνετελέσθη γὰρ, καθώς φησι Matiiἱς, ὃ τε οὐρανὸς ml. ἠ γῆ καὶ τὰ διὰ μέσον πάντα, ti τῷ καταλλήλῳ κάλλει τὰ καθέκαστον διεκοσμήθηοὐρανὸς μὲν ταῖς τῶν φωστήρων αύγαϊς, θάλαττα..-.. ο ι ι,_-_!-__ -3... 7.9....“ καὶ ἀὴρ τοῖς νηκτοῖς τε xa‘t ὲναερίοις τῶν ζώων, ἱ δὲ ταῖς παντοίαις τῶν φυτῶν τε καὶ βοσκημάτων αφοραῖς, ἅπερ ἀθρόως ἅπαντα θείῳ βουλήματι δυιμωθεῖσα κατὰ ταύτὸν ἁπεκύησε. Καὶ πλήρης μὲν ν τῶν ὡραίων ή γῆ, ὁμοῦ τοῖς ἄνθεσι τοὺς καρποὺς ,βλαστήσασα πλήρεις δὲ οἱ λειμῶνες τῶν, ὅσα τοὺς ὦνας ἐπέρχεται. “risui τε ῥαχίαι καὶ ἀκρώρειαι, ἡ ιί πᾶν ὅσον πλάγιόν τε καὶ ὕπτιον, καὶ ὅσον ἐν πίλοις, τῇ νεοθαλεῖ πόᾳ καὶ τῇ ποικίλῃ τῶν δένδρων pq. κατεστεφάνωτο, ἄρτι μὲν τῆς γῆς ἀνισχόντων, Θὺς δὲ πρὸς τὸ τέλειον κάλλος ἀναδραμόντων. Ἐγεῂθει δὲ πάντα κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς, καὶ διεσκίρτα τὰ Βπροστάγματι τοῦ Θεοῦ ζωογονηθέντα βοτὰ, κατʼ (eis; τε καὶ κατὰ γένη ταῖς λόχμαις ενδιαοέοντσ.. ιίς δὲ τῶν μουσικῶν ὀρνίθων ᾠδαῖς ἅπανταχῆ περι- [εϊτο πᾶν, ὅσον κατηρεφές τε καὶ σύσκιον. Ἦ τε ira θάλατταν ὕψις, ὡς εἰκὸς, mn τοιαύτη τις ἦν, lfl πρὸς ἡσυχίαν τε καὶ γαλήνην ὲν ταῖς συναγωιῖς τῶν κοίλων καθισταμένη, καθʼ ἢν ὅρμοι καὶ μένας Θείᾳ. βουλήσει ταῖς ἀκταῖς αὐτομάτως ἐγκοιινθέντες, προσημέρουν τῇ ἠπείρῳ τὴν θάλατταν. ἴτε ὴρεμαῖαι τῶν κυμάτων κινήσεις τῷ κάλλει ὃν λειμώνων ἀνθωραῖζοντο, ὑπὸ λεπταῖς καὶ ἀπή- ›σιν αὔραις κατʼ ἄκραν τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν γλαφυρῶς αφρίσσουσαι. Καὶ ἅπας ὁ κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν πλοῦτος, κατὰ γῆν τε καὶ θάλατταν ἕτοιμος ἧν, ἀλλʼ ό
En hǭ tis esti merikē peritou kosmou physiologia, kai tis hadrotera diēgēsis peri tōn progegonotōn tēs tou anthrōpou geneseōs. Hautē ē biylos geneseōs ouranou kai gēs, phēsin ē Graphēʼ hote synetelesthē pan to phainomenon, kai pros tēn oikeian thesin hekaston tōn ontōn apokrithen anechōrēseno hote perieschen en kyklǭ ta panta to ouranion sōma, tēn de mesēn tou pantos apelabe chōran ta barea kai katōpherē tōn sōmatōn, gē te kai hydōr, en allēlois diakratoumena. Syndesmos de tis kai bebaiotēs tōn gegenēmenōn ē theia technē kai dynamis tę̄ physei tōn ontōn enapetethē, diplais energeiais ēniochousa ta panta. Stasei gar kai kinēsei tēn genesin tois mē ousi, kai tēn diamonēn tois ousin emēchanēsato, peri to bary kai ametatheton tēs akinētou physeōs, oon peri tina pagion axona, tēn oxytatēn tou polou kinēsin trochou dikēn en kyklǭ perielaunousa, kai diʼ allēlōn amphoterois syntēo rousa to adialyton o tēs te kyklophoroumenēs ousias dia tēs oxeias kinēseōs ty naston tēs gēs en kyklǭ perisphingousēs, tou te sterrou kai anendotou dia tēs ametathetou pagiotētos adialeiptōs epiteinontos tōn peri autēn kykloumenōn tēn dinēsin. Isē de kathʼ hekateron tōn tais energeiais diestēkotōn ē hyperbolē enapeirgasthē, tę̄ te stasimǭ physei kai tę̄ astatǭ periphorą. yyte gar ē gē tēs idias baseōs metatithetai, oute o ouranos pote to sphodron endidōsi kai hypochalą tēs kinēseōs. Tauta de kai prōta ’ kata tēn tou pepoiēkotos sophian, hoion tis archē tou pantos mēchanēmatos prokateskeuasthē tōn ontōn, deiknyntos, oimai, tou megalou Mōseōs dia tou en archę̄ ton ouranon kai tēn gēn para tou Theou gegeo nēsthai eipein, hoti kinēseōs te kai staseōs ekgona ta en tę̄ ktisei phainomena panta, ta kata to theion boulēma parachthenta eis genesin. Tou toinyn ouranou kai tēs gēs ek diametrou pros allēla kata ty enantion tēs energeias diestēkotōn, ē metaxy tōn enantiōn ktisis en merei tōn parakeimenōn metechousa. diʼ heautēs mesiteuei tois akrois, hōs an epidēlon genesthai tēn pros allēla tōn enantiōn dia tou mesou synapheian. To gar aeikinēton kai lepton tēs pyrōdous ousias mimeitai men pōs o aēr, en te tǭ kouphǭ tēs physeōs kai tǭ pros tēn, kinēsin epitē; deiōs echein. Ou mēn toioutos estin, hoios tēs pros ta pagia syngeneias allotriōsōi, houte aei menōn akinētos, oute diapantos rheōn kai skedannymenos o alla tę̄ pros heteron oikeiotēti hoion ti methorion tēs tōn energeiōn enantiotētos ginetai, mignys hama kai diairōn en hautǭ ta diestōta tę̄ physei.Kata ton auton logon, kai hē hygra ousia diplais poiotēsi pros hekateron tōn enantiōn harmozetai. Tǭ men gar bareia te kai katōpherēs pros to geōdes tēn syngeneian echei. Tǭ de metechein roōdous tinos kai poreutikēs inergeias, ou pantē tēs kinoumenēs ēllotriōtai physeōs, alla tis esti kai dia toutou mixis tōn enantiōn kai synodos, tēs te barytētos eis kinēsin metatetheisēs, kai tēs kinēseōs en tǭ barei mē pedētheisēs, hōste symbainein pros allēla ; ta kata to akrotaton tę̄ physei diestēkota dia tōn mesiteuoniōn allēlois henoumena. Mallon de kata ton akrisē logon oude autē tōn antikeimenōn hē physis amiktōs pantē pros tēn heteran tois idiōmasin echei, hōs an, oimai, panta pros allēla neuoi ta kata ton kosmon phainomena, kai xympneoi pros heautēn ē ktie sis en tois tōn antikeimenōn idiōmasin euriskomenē. Tēs gar kinēseōs ou monon kata tēn topikēn metastasin nooumenēs, alla kai en, tropę̄ kai alloiōsei theōroumenēs; palin dʼ hau, tēs ametathetou physeōs tēn kata ty alloiousthai kinēsin ou prosiemenēs; enallaxasa tas idiotētas hē tou Theou sophia, tǭ men aeikinētǭ to atrepton, tǭ de akinētǭ tēn tropēn enepoiēse, promētheią tini tacha to toiouton oikonomēsasa, hōs an mē to tēs physeōs idion, hoper esti to atrepton te kai ametō theton, epi tinos tōn kata tēn ktisin blepomenōn, theon nomizesthai td ktisma poiēseien. Ou gar eti theotētos hypolēpsin schoiē, hoper an kinoumenon ē alloioumenon tychę̄. Dia touto hē men gē stasimos esti, kai ouk atreptoso o de ouranos tou enantiou to treptdn ouk echōn, oude stasimon echei, ina tę̄ men physei hestōsę̄ tēn tropēn, tę̄ de mē trepomenę̄ tēn kinēsin hē theia symplexasa dynamis, kai allēlais - amphoteras enal) axei tōn idiōmatōn prosoiattain“, kai tēs peri to theion hypolēpseōs allotriō. i. Oudeteron gar an toutōn, kathōs eirētai, tēs ioteras physeōs nomistheiē ; oute to astaton, houte..e n una, _-r, -1. -1“-.. --li..l teu... alloioumenon. Ēdē toinyn ta panta pros td idion _ --.. i i A i D I ē __ Il-,Ō ithase telos. Synetelesthē gar, kathōs phēsi Matiihis, ho te ouranos ml. ē gē kai ta dia meson panta, ti tǭ katallēlǭ kallei ta kathekaston diekosmēthēouranos men tais tōn phōstērōn augaïs, thalatta..-.. o i i,_-_!-__ -3... 7.9....“ kai aēr tois nēktois te xa‘t enaeriois tōn zōōn, hi de tais pantoiais tōn phytōn te kai boskēmatōn aphorais, haper athroōs hapanta theiǭ boulēmati duimōtheisa kata tauton hapekyēse. Kai plērēs men n tōn hōraiōn ē gē, homou tois anthesi tous karpous ,blastēsasa plēreis de hoi leimōnes tōn, hosa tous ōnas eperchetai. “risui te rhachiai kai akrōreiai, hē ii pan hoson plagion te kai hyption, kai hoson en pilois, tę̄ neothalei poą kai tę̄ poikilę̄ tōn dendrōn pq. katestephanōto, arti men tēs gēs anischontōn, Thys de pros to teleion kallos anadramontōn. Egeę̄thei de panta kata to eikos, kai dieskirta ta Bprostagmati tou Theou zōogonēthenta bota, katʼ (eis? te kai kata genē tais lochmais endiaoeonts.. iis de tōn mousikōn ornithōn ǭdais hapantachē peri- [eïto pan, hoson katērephes te kai syskion. Ē te ira thalattan hypsis, hōs eikos, mn toiautē tis ēn, lfl pros hēsychian te kai galēnēn en tais synagōiis tōn koilōn kathistamenē, kathʼ ēn hormoi kai menas Theią. boulēsei tais aktais automatōs enkoiinthentes, prosēmeroun tę̄ ēpeirǭ tēn thalattan. ite ēremaiai tōn kymatōn kinēseis tǭ kallei hon leimōnōn anthōraizonto, hypo leptais kai apē- ›sin aurais katʼ akran tēn epiphaneian glaphyrōs aphrissousai. Kai hapas ho kata tēn ktisin ploutos, kata gēn te kai thalattan hetoimos hēn, allʼ o
In which there is a partial account of the nature of the world, and a fuller narrative of the things that came before the genesis of man. “This is the book of the genesis of heaven and earth,” says Scripture, when all that is seen had been completed and each existing thing had been separated and had withdrawn to its proper place; when the heavenly body had encompassed all things in a circle, and the heavy, downward-tending bodies, earth and water, holding each other together, had taken the middle place of the universe. And the divine art and power was laid up in the nature of things as a bond and stability of what had come to be, guiding all things with a twofold operation. For by rest and motion it contrived genesis for what was not and continuance for what is: about the heavy and immovable element of the unmoving nature, as about a fixed axle, it drives the swiftest motion of the pole round in a circle like a wheel, and through each preserves both indissoluble, the revolving substance by its swift motion compressing the solid earth all around, while the firm and unyielding element, by its immovable fixity, continually intensifies the whirling of the things that revolve about it. And an equal intensity was produced in each of the two that are opposed in their operation, in the stationary nature and in the unresting revolution: for neither is the earth moved from its own base, nor does the heaven ever relax its vehemence or slacken its motion. These were prepared first, according to the wisdom of the Maker, as a kind of beginning of the whole machine of existing things; the great Moses showing, I think, when he says that heaven and earth were made by God “in the beginning,” that all things seen in creation, brought into being by the divine will, are the offspring of motion and rest. Since, then, heaven and earth stand diametrically opposed to each other in the contrariety of their operation, the creation between the opposites, sharing in part in what lies beside it, itself mediates between the extremes, so that the joining of the opposites to each other through the middle becomes evident. For air imitates in a way the ever-moving and subtle nature of the fiery substance, both in the lightness of its nature and in its aptness for motion. Yet it is not such as to be alien from kinship with fixed things, neither always remaining unmoved nor perpetually flowing and dispersing; but by its affinity to each it becomes a kind of borderland of the contrariety of operations, at once mixing and dividing in itself things naturally apart. In the same way the liquid substance too is fitted by a double quality to each of the opposites. For in being heavy and downward-tending it has kinship with the earthy; but in sharing a flowing and moving operation it is not wholly alien from the moving nature; and through it, too, there is a certain mixture and meeting of the opposites, weight being changed into motion and motion not being fettered by weight, so that things that stand furthest apart in nature come together, united with one another through what mediates between them. Or rather, to speak precisely, not even the very nature of the opposites is entirely unmixed with the other in its properties, so that, I think, all things seen in the world incline toward one another, and creation is in accord with itself, being found in the properties of the opposites. For since motion is understood not only as change of place but is also seen in turning and alteration, and on the other hand the immovable nature does not admit the motion of alteration, the wisdom of God exchanged the properties, producing changelessness in what is ever moving and change in what is unmoving. It arranged this perhaps by a certain providence, so that the property of the divine nature, which is to be unchangeable and immovable, might not, if seen in any created thing, cause the creature to be thought God. For whatever happens to move or be altered could no longer be supposed to be Godhead. For this reason the earth is stationary but not unchangeable, while the heaven, having no changeability, has no stability either; so that the divine power, interweaving change with the nature that stands still and motion with the nature that does not change, might bind both to each other by the exchange of their properties and make them alien from the supposition of divinity. For, as has been said, neither of these could be thought to belong to the more divine nature, neither what is unstable nor … what is altered. Now, then, all things had arrived at their own end. For, as Moses says, the heaven and the earth and all things between were finished, and each was adorned with its fitting beauty: the heaven with the rays of the luminaries, the sea and the air with the creatures that swim and fly, and the earth with every variety of plants and animals, all of which, empowered by the divine will, it brought forth together at once. The earth was full of seasonable things, bringing forth fruits together with flowers; the meadows were full of all that grows on them; and all the ridges and summits, all that is sloping and all that is level, and all that lies in the hollows, were crowned with fresh grass and the varied beauty of the trees, just risen from the earth yet already shot up to their perfect beauty. And all things rejoiced, as one would expect, and the animals brought to life by God’s command leapt about, roaming the thickets in herds by their kinds, while every sheltered and shady place rang all around with the songs of musical birds. The sight of the sea too, as one would expect, was of the same kind, as it settled into quiet and calm in the gathering of its depths, where harbours and havens, hollowed out of their own accord on the shores by the divine will, reconciled the sea with the land; and the gentle motions of the waves vied in beauty with the flowers of the meadows, rippling gracefully on their very surface under light and harmless breezes. And all the wealth of creation, on land and sea, was ready, but the one …
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Gen 2:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 1:11 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory describes how God bound the world together through rest and motion and through intermediate elements, and how the finished creation stood ready, rich and beautiful, before man appeared.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition. Gen 2:4 is quoted; “in the beginning” is Gen 1:1; “were finished” is Gen 2:1. The scan is damaged in several places, translated by sense: before “what is altered” some words are illegible; the chapter’s last sentence breaks off after “but the one” (the following words, saying that the one who was to share it was not yet there, are lost in the scan and not supplied). The physical picture (a stationary earth at the centre, a swiftly revolving heaven, air and water as mediating elements) follows the cosmology of Gregory’s time.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters); OCR dropped letters (πλοῦτος, wealth); OCR misread): τὺ 025'ράνιον → τὸ οὐράνιον; κατωφερὴς almumalth πρὸς → κατωφερὴς πρὸς; ὁ κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν πλοῦς, → ὁ κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν πλοῦτος,.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 1 (PG 44:128b–132c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio/0/#p-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 2
2PG 44:132c–133c
ιὰ τί μετὰ τὴν κτίσιν τελευταῖος δ ἄνθρωπος, Οὓπω γὰρ τὺ μέγα τοῦτο καὶ τίμιον χρῆμα ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῷ κόσμῳ τῶν ὄντων ὲπεχωρίαζεν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ι εἰκὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα πρὸ τῶν ἀρχομένων ἀναφανῆιι, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς πρότερον ἑτοιμασθείσης, ἀκόυθον ἦν ἀναδειχθῆναι τὸν βασιλεύοντα, ἐπειδὴ ίνυν οἷόν τινα βασίλειον καταγωγὴν τῷ μέλλοντι ισιλεύειν ὁ τοῦ παντὸς ποιητὴς προηυτρέπισεν. ΰτη δὲ ἦν γῆ τε καὶ νῆσοι, καὶ Θάλαττα, καὶ οὐρανὸς τὲρ τούτων ὀρόφου δίκην ὲπικυρτού μενος ’ πλοῦτος δὲ αντοδαπὸς τοῖς βασιλείοις τούτοις ὲναπετέθη. Πλοῦ- Ν δὲ λέγω πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν, ὅσον ὲν φυτοῖς καὶ βλω εή μασι, καὶ ὅσον αἰσθητικόν τε καὶ ἔμπνουν καὶ [μύωχον. ΕΞ δὲ χρὴ καὶ τὰς ’ύλας είς πλοῦτον καταριθμήι σασθαι, ὅσαι διά τινος εὐχροὶας τίμιαι τοῖς άνθρωπί· νοις ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐνομίσθησαν, οἷον χρυσίον τε καὶ ἀρ γύριον, καὶ τῶν λίθων δὴ τούτων ἀς ἀγαπῶσιν ο ἄνθρωπον καὶ τούτων πάντων τὴν ἀφθονίαν καθάπει τισὶ βασιλικοῖς θησαυροῖς τοῖς τῆς γῆς κόλποις ἐγ· κατακρύψας, οὕτως ἀναδείκνυσιν ὲν τῷ κόσμῳ rbi ἀνθρωπον, τῶν ἐν τούτῳ θαυμάτων, τῶν μὲν θεατὴε ἐσόμενον, τῶν δὲ κύριον, ὡς διά μὲν τῆς ἀπολαύσεως τὴν σύνεσιν τοῦ χορηγοῦντος ἔχειν, διά δὲ τοῦ κάλι λους τε καὶ μεγέθους τῶν ὁρωμένων τὴν άρῤητόν τε καὶ ὑπὲρ λόγον τοῦ πεποιηκότος δύναμιν ἀνιχνεύειν Διά ταῦτα τελευταῖος μετά τὴν κτίσιν εἰσήχθη ι ἄνθρωπος, οὐχ ὡς ἀπόβλητος ὲν ἐσχάτοις ἀπορριφεὶς ἀλλʼ ὡς ἅμα τῇ γενέσει βασιλεὺς εἶναι τῶν ὑποχει· ρίων προσήκων. Καὶ ὥσπερ τις ἀγαθὸς ἑστιάτωρ οὐ πρὸ τῆς παρασκευῆς τῶν ἐδωδίμων τὸν ἑστιώμενον είσοικίζεται, ἀλλʼ εὐπρεπῆ τὰ πάντα παρασκευά σας, καὶ φαιδρύνας τοῖς καθήκουσι κόσμοις τὸν οἵ· κον, τὴν κλισίαν, τὴν τράπεζαν, ἐφʼ ἑτοίμοις ἦδι τοῖς πρὸς ’τὴν τροφὴν ἐπιτηδείοις, ἐφέστιον ποιεῖτα τὸν δαιτυμόνα κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ό πλούσιός τι καὶ πολυτελὴς τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ἑστιάτωρ παντοίου κάλλεσι κατακοσμήσας τὴν οἴκησιν, καὶ τὴν μεγάληι ταύτην καὶ παντοδαπῆ πανδαισίαν ἑτοιμασάμενος οὕτως εἰσάγει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἔργον αὐτῷ δοὺς οὐ τὴε κτῆσιν τῶν μὴ προσόντων, ἀλλά τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν τῶε παρόντων. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο διπλᾶς αύτῷ τῆς κατα σκευῆς τὰς ἀφορμὰς καταβάλλεται, τῷ γηΐνῳ τὸ θεῖοε ἐγκαταμίξας ἵνα διʼ ἀμφοτέρων συγγενῶς τε κα οἰκείως πρὸς ἑκατέραν ἀπόλαυσιν ἔχῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ μὲ διὰ τῆς θειοτέρας φύσεως, τῶν δὲ κατά τὴν γῆν ἀγα· θῶν διὰ τῆς ὁμογενοῦς αἰσθήσεως ἀπολαύων.
ia ti meta tēn ktisin teleutaios d anthrōpos, Houpō gar ty mega touto kai timion chrēma ho anthrōpos tǭ kosmǭ tōn ontōn epechōriazen. Oude gar i eikos ton archonta pro tōn archomenōn anaphanēii, alla tēs archēs proteron hetoimastheisēs, akouthon ēn anadeichthēnai ton basileuonta, epeidē inyn hoion tina basileion katagōgēn tǭ mellonti isileuein ho tou pantos poiētēs proēutrepisen. ÿtē de ēn gē te kai nēsoi, kai Thalatta, kai ouranos ter toutōn orophou dikēn epikyrtou menos ’ ploutos de antodapos tois basileiois toutois enapetethē. Plou- N de legō pasan tēn ktisin, hoson en phytois kai blō eē masi, kai hoson aisthētikon te kai empnoun kai [myōchon. EX de chrē kai tas ’ylas eis plouton katarithmēi sasthai, hosai dia tinos euchroias timiai tois anthrōpi; nois ophthalmois enomisthēsan, hoion chrysion te kai ar gyrion, kai tōn lithōn dē toutōn as agapōsin o anthrōpon kai toutōn pantōn tēn aphthonian kathapei tisi basilikois thēsaurois tois tēs gēs kolpois eg; katakrypsas, houtōs anadeiknysin en tǭ kosmǭ rbi anthrōpon, tōn en toutǭ thaumatōn, tōn men theatēe esomenon, tōn de kyrion, hōs dia men tēs apolauseōs tēn synesin tou chorēgountos echein, dia de tou kali lous te kai megethous tōn horōmenōn tēn arrēton te kai hyper logon tou pepoiēkotos dynamin anichneuein Dia tauta teleutaios meta tēn ktisin eisēchthē i anthrōpos, ouch hōs apoblētos en eschatois aporripheis allʼ hōs hama tę̄ genesei basileus einai tōn hypochei; riōn prosēkōn. Kai hōsper tis agathos hestiatōr ou pro tēs paraskeuēs tōn edōdimōn ton hestiōmenon eisoikizetai, allʼ euprepē ta panta paraskeua sas, kai phaidrynas tois kathēkousi kosmois ton hoi; kon, tēn klisian, tēn trapezan, ephʼ hetoimois ēdi tois pros ’tēn trophēn epitēdeiois, ephestion poieita ton daitymona kata ton auton tropon o plousios ti kai polytelēs tēs physeōs hēmōn hestiatōr pantoiou kallesi katakosmēsas tēn oikēsin, kai tēn megalēi tautēn kai pantodapē pandaisian hetoimasamenos houtōs eisagei ton anthrōpon, ergon autǭ dous ou tēe ktēsin tōn mē prosontōn, alla tēn apolausin tōe parontōn. Kai dia touto diplas autǭ tēs kata skeuēs tas aphormas kataballetai, tǭ gēïnǭ to theioe enkatamixas hina diʼ amphoterōn syngenōs te ka oikeiōs pros hekateran apolausin echę̄ tou Theou me dia tēs theioteras physeōs, tōn de kata tēn gēn aga; thōn dia tēs homogenous aisthēseōs apolauōn.
Why man came last after the creation. For not yet had that great and precious thing, man, come to dwell in the world of existing things. It was not reasonable that the ruler should appear before those he was to rule; rather, once his dominion had first been prepared, it followed that the king should be shown forth. When, then, the Maker of all had prepared beforehand a kind of royal lodging for the one who was to reign (this was the earth and islands and sea, and the heaven arched above them like a roof), wealth of every kind was stored in this palace. By wealth I mean the whole creation, all that is in plants and shoots, and all that has sense and breath and life. And if materials too must be counted as wealth, those that for some beauty of colour are thought precious by human eyes, such as gold and silver and those stones that men love, then, having hidden an abundance of all these in the bosom of the earth as in royal treasuries, he thus shows forth man in the world, to be a spectator of some of its wonders and lord of others, so that through his enjoyment he might have knowledge of the Giver, and through the beauty and greatness of what he sees might trace out the power of the Maker, which is beyond speech and beyond reason. For these reasons man was brought in last after the creation: not as something worthless cast away among the last, but as one fitted to be king of his subjects from his very birth. And as a good host does not bring his guest into the house before the food is prepared, but when he has prepared everything fittingly and brightened the house, the couch, and the table with their proper adornments, then, when everything needed for the meal is ready, brings the diner to his hearth, so in the same way the rich and lavish host of our nature, having adorned the dwelling with beauties of every kind and prepared this great and varied banquet, then brings man in, giving him as his task not the acquiring of what was not there but the enjoyment of what was. And for this reason he lays down for him a twofold basis of his constitution, mixing the divine with the earthly, so that through both he may have a natural and proper relation to each enjoyment, enjoying God through the more divine nature, and the good things of the earth through the sense that is akin to them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Man came last because the king’s palace and banquet had to be prepared first; he was made of divine and earthly elements so that he could enjoy both God and the goods of the earth.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread): ὁ ἄνιωπος → ὁ ἄνθρωπος.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 2 (PG 44:132c–133c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio/0/#p-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 3
3PG 44:133c–136a
Ὀτι τιμιωτέρα {cian τῆ ς φαινομένης κτίσεως ’Ἄξιον δὲ μηδὲ τοῦτο παριδεῖν ἀθεώρητον, ὅτι τοῦ τηλικούτου κόσμου καὶ τῶν κατʼ αὐτὸν μερῶν στοι χειωδῶς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ παντὸς σύστασιν ὑπεληθέν των, ἀποσχεδιάζεταί πως ἡ κτίσις ὑπὸ τῆς θεία δυνάμεως ὁμοῦ τῷ προστάγματι ὑφισταμένη. Τῆ δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευῆς βουλὴ προηγεῖται, κα προτυποῦται παρά τοῦ τεχνιτεύοντος διὰ τῆς το λόγου γραφῆς τὸ ἐσόμενον, καὶ οἷον εἶναι προσήκει καὶ πρὸς ποῖον ἀρχέτυπον τὴν ὁμοιότητα φέρειν, κο ἐπὶ τίνι γενήσεται, καὶ τί ἐνεργήσει γενόμενον κο τίνων ἡγεμονεύσειʼ πάντα προδιασκοπεῖται ό λόγος ὼς πρεσβυτέραν αὐτὸν τῆς γενέσεως τὴν ἀξίαν λα χεῖν, πρὶν παρελθεῖν είς τὸ εἶναι τὴν τῶν ὄντων ήγε μονίαν κτησάμενον. «Eine: γὰρ, φησιν, ι( ὁΘεὸς, Ποιή σωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν, καὶ όμοίωσιι καὶ ἁρχέτωσαν τῶν ίχθ ύων τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ τῶν θτ ρίων τῆς γῆς, καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐ ρανοῦ, καὶ τιῖ κτηνῶν, καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς. › Ὢ τοῦ θαύματοςῑ ἧλιι κατασκευάζεται, καὶ οὐδεμία προηγεῖται βουλή· ούρι vc; ὡσαύτως, ὧν οὐδέν τι τῶν κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν ἴσον ἐστ ῥήματι μόνῳ τὸ τοιοῦτον θαῦμα συνίσταται, οὔτε ὅθεν, οὔτε ὅπως, οὕτε ἀλλο τι τοιοῦτον παρασημηναμένου τοῦ λόγου. υῦτω καί. τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστον πάντα, αἰθὴρ. ἀστέρες, ὁ διὰ μέσου ἀὴρ, θάλαττα, γῆ, ζῶα, φυτὰ. πάντα λόγῳ πρὸς γένεσιν ἄγεται. Μόνῃ δὲ τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευῇ περιεσκεμμένως πρόσεισιν ό τοῦ παντὸς ποιητὴς, ὡς καὶ ὕλην αύτῷ τῆς συστάσεως προετοιμάσαι, καὶ ἀρχετύπῳ τινὶ κάλλει τὴν μορφὴν ὁμοιῶσαι, καὶ προθέντα τὸν σκοπὸν, οὗ χάριν γενήσεται, κατάλληλον αύτῷ καὶ οἰκείαν ταῖς . ἐνεργείαις δημιουργῆσαι τὴν φύσιν, ἐπιτηδείως πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον ἔχουσαν.
Oti timiōtera {cian tē s phainomenēs ktiseōs ’Axion de mēde touto paridein atheōrēton, hoti tou tēlikoutou kosmou kai tōn katʼ auton merōn stoi cheiōdōs pros tēn tou pantos systasin hypelēthen tōn, aposchediazetai pōs hē ktisis hypo tēs theia dynameōs homou tǭ prostagmati hyphistamenē. Tē de tou anthrōpou kataskeuēs boulē proēgeitai, ka protypoutai para tou techniteuontos dia tēs to logou graphēs to esomenon, kai hoion einai prosēkei kai pros poion archetypon tēn homoiotēta pherein, ko epi tini genēsetai, kai ti energēsei genomenon ko tinōn hēgemoneuseiʼ panta prodiaskopeitai o logos ōs presbyteran auton tēs geneseōs tēn axian la chein, prin parelthein eis to einai tēn tōn ontōn ēge monian ktēsamenon. «Eine: gar, phēsin, i( hoTheos, Poiē sōmen anthrōpon katʼ eikona hēmeteran, kai omoiōsii kai harchetōsan tōn ichth yōn tēs thalassēs, kai tōn tht riōn tēs gēs, kai tōn peteinōn tou ou ranou, kai tii ktēnōn, kai pasēs tēs gēs. › Ō tou thaumatosi hēlii kataskeuazetai, kai oudemia proēgeitai boulē; ouri vc? hōsautōs, hōn ouden ti tōn kata tēn ktisin ison est rhēmati monǭ to toiouton thauma synistatai, oute hothen, oute hopōs, houte allo ti toiouton parasēmēnamenou tou logou. yytō kai. ta kathʼ hekaston panta, aithēr. asteres, ho dia mesou aēr, thalatta, gē, zōa, phyta. panta logǭ pros genesin agetai. Monę̄ de tę̄ tou anthrōpou kataskeuę̄ perieskemmenōs proseisin o tou pantos poiētēs, hōs kai hylēn autǭ tēs systaseōs proetoimasai, kai archetypǭ tini kallei tēn morphēn homoiōsai, kai prothenta ton skopon, hou charin genēsetai, katallēlon autǭ kai oikeian tais . energeiais dēmiourgēsai tēn physin, epitēdeiōs pros to prokeimenon echousan.
That the nature of man is more precious than all the visible creation. But it is worth not passing over this point either without consideration: that while this great world and its parts were laid down as elements for the constitution of the universe, creation was, so to speak, improvised by the divine power, coming into being together with the command; but counsel precedes the making of man, and what is to be is sketched out beforehand by the Craftsman in the description of the word: what it should be like, to what archetype it should bear a likeness, for what purpose it will come to be, what it will do once it has come to be, and over what it will rule. The word considers everything beforehand, so that man received a dignity older than his genesis, having obtained rule over existing things before he came into being. For “God said,” it says, “Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the earth, and the birds of heaven, and the cattle, and all the earth.” O wonder! A sun is made, and no counsel precedes it; the heaven likewise, though nothing in creation is equal to them. Such a wonder is established by a word alone, the account indicating neither whence, nor how, nor anything else of the kind. So too with each of the rest: ether, stars, the air between, sea, earth, animals, plants; all are brought into being by a word. Only to the making of man does the Maker of all approach with circumspection, so as to prepare beforehand the material for his constitution, to make his form like an archetypal beauty, and, having set before himself the purpose for which he would come to be, to fashion for him a nature suited and proper to his operations, fitted for the purpose set before it.
Gen 1:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Unlike the rest of creation, which God made by a bare command, man was made after deliberation, which shows that he is more precious than everything visible.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition. Gen 1:26 is quoted in the Septuagint form.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 3 (PG 44:133c–136a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio/0/#p-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 4
4PG 44:136b–136d
Ὀτι διὰ πάντων ἐπισημαίνει τὴν ἀρχικήν ἐξα ουσίαν ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευή. Καθάπερ γὰρ ὲν,τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ καταλλήλως τῇ χρείᾳ σχηματίζεται παρά τῶν τεχνιτευόντων τί. ᾕργανον οὕτως οἷόν τι σκεῦος είς βασιλείας ἐνέργειαν ἐπιτήδειον τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν ό ἀριστοτέχνης ἐδημιούργησε, τοῖς τε κατά τὴν ψυχὴν προτερήμασι καί αύτῷ τῷ τοῦ σώματος σχήματι τοιοῦτον εἶναι παρασκευάσας, οἷον ἐπιτηδείως πρὸς βασιλείαν ἔχε ιν. Ἦ μὲν γὰρ ψυχὴ τὸ βασιλικόν τε καὶ ἐπηρμένον αύτόθεν δείκνυσι πὸρῤω τῆς ἰδιωτικῆς ταπεινότητος κεχωρισμένον, ἐκ τοῦ ἀδέσποτον αὐτὴν εῖναι κιιί αὐτο εξούσιον, ἰδίοις θελή μασιν αὐτοκρατορικῶς διοικουμέο νην. Τίνος γὰρ ἄλλου τοῦτο, καὶ ούχί βασιλέως ἐστίνς Καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις, τὸ τῆς δυναστευούσης τῶν πάν· των φύσεως εἰκόνα γενέσθαι, οὐδὲν ἔτερόν ἐστιν, ἢ εὐθὺς βασιλίδα δημιουργηθῆναι τὴν φύσιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ κατά τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην συνήθειαν οἰ τὰς εἰκόνας τῶν κρατούντων κατασκευάζοντες, τόν τε χαρακτῆρα τῆς μορφῆς ἀναμάσσονται, καὶ τῇ περιβολῇ τῆς πορο φυρίδος τὴν βασιλικὴν ἀξίαν συμπαραγρὼρουσι, καὶ λέγεται κατὰ συνήθειαν καὶὴ εἰκὼν, βασιλεύς ο οὓτω καὶὴ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἄλλων κατεσκευάζετο, διά τῆς πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα τοῦ παντὸς ὁμοιότητος, οἷόν τις ἔμψυχος εἰκὼν ἀνεστάθη, κοινωνοῦσα τῷ ἀρχετύπῳ καὶ τῆς ἀξίας καί τοῦ ὀνόμαο τος· ού πορφυρίδα περικειμένη, οὐδὲ σκήπτρῳ καὶ διαδήματι τὴν ἀξίαν ὲπισημαίνουσα (οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ ἀρχέτυπον ὲν τούτοις ἐστὶν), ἀλλʼ ἀντί μὲν. τῆς &io‘097£80g τὴν ἁρετῆν ἠμφίεσμένη, ὃ δὴ- πάντων βασιλικώτατον ἐσθημάτων ἐστίνʼ ἀντί δὲ τοῦ σκήπτρου τῇ μακαριότητι τῆς ἀθανασίας ἐρειδομένη · ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ διαδήματος τῷ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στεφάνῳ κεκοσμημένη, ὥστε διὰ πάντων ὲν τῷ τῆς βα. σιλείας ἀξιώματι δείκνυσθαι διʼ ἀκριῦείας πρὸς τὸ ἀρχέτυπον κάλλος ὁμοιωθεῖσαν.
Oti dia pantōn episēmainei tēn archikēn exa ousian hē tou anthrōpou kataskeuē. Kathaper gar en,tǭ biǭ toutǭ katallēlōs tę̄ chreią schēmatizetai para tōn techniteuontōn ti. hę̄rganon houtōs hoion ti skeuos eis basileias energeian epitēdeion tēn hēmeteran physin o aristotechnēs edēmiourgēse, tois te kata tēn psychēn proterēmasi kai autǭ tǭ tou sōmatos schēmati toiouton einai paraskeuasas, hoion epitēdeiōs pros basileian eche in. Ē men gar psychē to basilikon te kai epērmenon autothen deiknysi porrō tēs idiōtikēs tapeinotētos kechōrismenon, ek tou adespoton autēn einai kiii auto exousion, idiois thelē masin autokratorikōs dioikoumeo nēn. Tinos gar allou touto, kai ouchi basileōs estins Kai eti pros toutois, to tēs dynasteuousēs tōn pan; tōn physeōs eikona genesthai, ouden eteron estin, ē euthys basilida dēmiourgēthēnai tēn physin. Hōsper gar kata tēn anthrōpinēn synētheian oi tas eikonas tōn kratountōn kataskeuazontes, ton te charaktēra tēs morphēs anamassontai, kai tę̄ peribolę̄ tēs poro phyridos tēn basilikēn axian symparagrōrousi, kai legetai kata synētheian kaiē eikōn, basileus o houtō kaiē anthrōpinē physis, epeidē pros tēn archēn allōn kateskeuazeto, dia tēs pros ton basilea tou pantos homoiotētos, hoion tis empsychos eikōn anestathē, koinōnousa tǭ archetypǭ kai tēs axias kai tou onomao tos; ou porphyrida perikeimenē, oude skēptrǭ kai diadēmati tēn axian episēmainousa (oude gar to archetypon en toutois estin), allʼ anti men. tēs &io‘097£80g tēn haretēn ēmphiesmenē, ho dē- pantōn basilikōtaton esthēmatōn estinʼ anti de tou skēptrou tę̄ makariotēti tēs athanasias ereidomenē ; anti de tou basilikou diadēmatos tǭ tēs dikaiosynēs stephanǭ kekosmēmenē, hōste dia pantōn en tǭ tēs ba. sileias axiōmati deiknysthai diʼ akriyeias pros to archetypon kallos homoiōtheisan.
That the making of man signifies in every respect his ruling power. For as in this life craftsmen shape a tool to suit its use, so the best of craftsmen fashioned our nature as a kind of vessel fitted for the exercise of kingship, preparing it, both by the excellences of the soul and by the very form of the body, to be such as to be fitted for kingship. For the soul shows at once its royal and exalted character, far removed from the lowliness of a private person, in that it has no master and governs itself, ruling sovereignly by its own will. Whose is this but a king’s? And besides this, to have become the image of the nature that rules over all means nothing else than that our nature was created royal from the first. For as, by human custom, those who make images of rulers both copy the stamp of their form and represent their royal dignity by the wrapping of the purple, and the image too is customarily called “the king,” so human nature too, since it was prepared to rule others, was set up through its likeness to the King of all as a kind of living image, sharing with the archetype both the dignity and the name: not clothed in purple, nor signifying its dignity by sceptre and diadem (for the archetype is not in these either), but clothed with virtue instead of the purple, which is the most royal of all garments; supported by the blessedness of immortality instead of the sceptre; and adorned with the crown of righteousness instead of the royal diadem; so that in everything it is shown, in the dignity of kingship, to have been made exactly like the archetypal beauty.
2 Tim 4:8 (echo, medium confidence) · Gen 1:27 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Human nature was made for kingship: the soul is free and self-governing, and as God’s living image it is robed not in purple but in virtue, immortality, and righteousness.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition. The word for the purple robe is garbled in the scan and is translated by sense. “Crown of righteousness” echoes 2 Tim 4:8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread of γὰρ; OCR misread of γὰρ and breathing): Τίνος 7&9 ἄλλου → Τίνος γὰρ ἄλλου; Ὠσπερ 7&9 κατά → Ὥσπερ γὰρ κατά.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 4 (PG 44:136b–136d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio/0/#p-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 5
5PG 44:137a
ὀτι ὁμοίωμα τῆς θείας,βασιλείας ό ἄνθρωπος Τὸ δὲ θεῖον κάλλος οὐ σχήματί τινι, καὶ μορφῆς εὐμοιρίᾳ, διά τινος εὐχροίας ἀγλαΐζεται, ἀλλʼ ὲ ἀφράστῳ μακαριότητι κατʼ ἀρετὴν θεωρεῖται. Ὥσπε τοίνυν τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας μορφὰς διὰ χρωμάτων τινῶ ἐπὶ τοὺς πίνακας οἱ γραφεῖς μεταφέρουσι, τὰς ὀἱ κείας τε καὶ καταλλήλους βαφὰς ἀπαλείφοντες τε μιμήματι, ὡς ἂν διʼ ἀκριβείας τὸ ἀρχέτυπον κάλλο patsvsxfisiq πρὸς τὸ ὁμοίωμα ο οὕτω μοι νόει καὶ τὸ ἡμέτερον πλάστην, οἷόν τισι βαφαῖς τῇ τῶν ἀρετῶ ἐπιβολῇ πρὸς τὺ ἴδιον κάλλος τὴν εἰκόνα περιανθίσαντο ἐν ἡμῖν δεῖξαι τὴν ἰδίαν ἀρχὴν. Πολυειδῆ δὲκαὶ ποι κίλα τὰ οἱονεὶ χρώματα κτῆς εἰκόνος, διʼ ὧν ἡ ἀληθιν ἀναζωγραφεῖται μορφὴ, οὐκ ὲρύθρημακκαὶ λαμπρέ τηςξκαὶ. ἡ ’ποιά ’στρος ἄλληλα μίξις, οὐδέτινο μέλανος ὑπογραφὴ ὀφρύν τε καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑπαλεί φουσα, καὶ κατά τινα κρᾶσιν τὰ κοῖλα τοῦ χαρακτῆ ρος ὕποσκιάξου σα, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα ζωγράφων χεῖρε ιπετεχνήσαντο · ἀλλʼ ἀντὶ τούτων καθαρότης, ἅπά θεια, μακαριότηςι, κακοῦ παντὸς ἀλλοτρίωσις, κα ὅσα τοῦ τοιούτου γένους ἐστὶ, διʼ ὧν μορφοῦται τοῖ ἀνθρώποις ἡ πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον ὁμοίωσις. Τοιούτοις ἀνθε σιν 6 δημιοῦργὺς τῆς ἰδίας εἰκόνος τὴν ἡμετέραν δι εχάραξε φύσιν. El δὲ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα συνεξεταζοις, δι ὧν τὸ θεῖον κάλλος χαρακτηρίζεταιο εὑρήσεις κα πρὸς ἐκεῖνα διʼ ἀκριβείας σωζομένην ὲν τῇ καθʼ ήμᾶ εἰκόνι τὴν ὁμοιότητα. Νοῦς καὶ λόγος ὴθειότης ἐστίν ιν ἀρχῇ τε γὰρ ῆν 6 Λόγος. Καὶ οἱ προφῆται κατε Παῦλον νοῦν Χριστοῦ ἔχουσι, τὸν ὲν αὐτοῖς λαλοῦντα os πάρρῴ ὧὲἐςῴζ ’καῖʼ..".‘.o.;..;..;f ea; ἐ σεαυτῴ καὶ τὸν λόγον, καὶ διάνοιαν, μίμημα τοῦ ὃν τως νοῦ τε καὶ λόγου. Ἀγάπη πάλιν 6 Θεὸς, κα ἀγάπης πηγή. Τοῦτο ξγὰρ φησιν Ἰωάννης ὁ μέγας ὅτι ι Ἀγάπη ὲκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ο ι καὶ, ι 'U Θεὸς. ἀγάπη ἐστι· τοῦτο καὶ ἡμέτερον πεποίηται πρόσωπον ὁ τῆς φύσεω πλάστης, ‹ Ἐν τούτῳ › γὰρ, φησιν σ γνώσονται πάνῖες ὅτι μαθηταί μου ἐστὲ, ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους. ι Οὐ κοῦν μὴ παρούσης ταύτης, ἄπας 6 χαρακτὴρ τῆς εἰ κόνος μεταπεποίηται. Πάντα ὲπιὸλέπει, καὶ πάντι ἐπακούει τὸ Θεῖον, καὶ πάντα διερευνᾶται. Ἔχεις κα σὺ τὴν διʼ ὄψεως καὶ ἀκοῆς τῶν ὄντων ἀντίληψιν xzi. τὴν ζητητικόν τε καὶ διερευνητικὴν τῶν ὅντωι
oti homoiōma tēs theias,basileias o anthrōpos To de theion kallos ou schēmati tini, kai morphēs eumoirią, dia tinos euchroias aglaïzetai, allʼ e aphrastǭ makariotēti katʼ aretēn theōreitai. Hōspe toinyn tas anthrōpinas morphas dia chrōmatōn tinō epi tous pinakas hoi grapheis metapherousi, tas hoi keias te kai katallēlous baphas apaleiphontes te mimēmati, hōs an diʼ akribeias to archetypon kallo patsvsxfisiq pros to homoiōma o houtō moi noei kai to hēmeteron plastēn, hoion tisi baphais tę̄ tōn aretō epibolę̄ pros ty idion kallos tēn eikona perianthisanto en hēmin deixai tēn idian archēn. Polyeidē dekai poi kila ta hoionei chrōmata ktēs eikonos, diʼ hōn hē alēthin anazōgrapheitai morphē, ouk erythrēmakkai lampre tēsxkai. hē ’poia ’stros allēla mixis, oudetino melanos hypographē ophryn te kai ophthalmous hypalei phousa, kai kata tina krasin ta koila tou charaktē ros hyposkiaxou sa, kai hosa toiauta zōgraphōn cheire ipetechnēsanto ; allʼ anti toutōn katharotēs, hapa theia, makariotēsi, kakou pantos allotriōsis, ka hosa tou toioutou genous esti, diʼ hōn morphoutai toi anthrōpois hē pros to Theion homoiōsis. Toioutois anthe sin 6 dēmiourgys tēs idias eikonos tēn hēmeteran di echaraxe physin. El de kai ta alla synexetazois, di hōn to theion kallos charaktērizetaio heurēseis ka pros ekeina diʼ akribeias sōzomenēn en tę̄ kathʼ ēma eikoni tēn homoiotēta. Nous kai logos ētheiotēs estin in archę̄ te gar ēn 6 Logos. Kai hoi prophētai kate Paulon noun Christou echousi, ton en autois lalounta os parrǭ hōeesǭz ’kaiʼ..".‘.o.?..?..?f ea? e seautǭ kai ton logon, kai dianoian, mimēma tou hon tōs nou te kai logou. Agapē palin 6 Theos, ka agapēs pēgē. Touto xgar phēsin Iōannēs ho megas hoti i Agapē ek tou Theou o i kai, i 'U Theos. agapē esti; touto kai hēmeteron pepoiētai prosōpon ho tēs physeō plastēs, ‹ En toutǭ › gar, phēsin s gnōsontai panies hoti mathētai mou este, ean agapate allēlous. i Ou koun mē parousēs tautēs, apas 6 charaktēr tēs ei konos metapepoiētai. Panta epiolepei, kai panti epakouei to Theion, kai panta diereunatai. Echeis ka sy tēn diʼ opseōs kai akoēs tōn ontōn antilēpsin xzi. tēn zētētikon te kai diereunētikēn tōn hontōi
That man is a likeness of the divine kingship. The divine beauty is not made splendid by some shape or comeliness of form or beauty of colour, but is contemplated in ineffable blessedness according to virtue. As painters, then, transfer human forms to their panels by means of colours, laying on the copy the proper and corresponding tints so that the archetypal beauty may be transferred exactly to the likeness, so think of our Maker too: painting the image, as it were with tints, by the laying on of virtues, to resemble his own beauty, he showed in us his own sovereignty. Many and varied are the colours, so to speak, of the image, by which the true form is portrayed: not red and white or some blending of these with each other, nor a touch of black that outlines eyebrow and eyes and by some mixture shades the hollows of the features, nor all such things as painters’ hands have contrived; but instead of these, purity, freedom from passion, blessedness, estrangement from all evil, and all things of that kind, by which the likeness to the divine is formed in human beings. With such hues the Creator of his own image painted our nature. And if you also examine the other things by which the divine beauty is characterized, you will find that in them too the likeness in the image that is in us is exactly preserved. The Godhead is mind and word; for “in the beginning was the Word.” And the prophets, according to Paul, have “the mind of Christ,” who speaks in them … you see in yourself both word and understanding, an imitation of the true Mind and Word. Again, God is love and the fount of love. For this is what the great John says: “Love is from God,” and “God is love.” This the Fashioner of our nature has made our feature too; for “by this,” he says, “all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” If this is absent, then, the whole stamp of the image is transformed. The divine sees all things and hears all things and searches out all things. You too have the perception of existing things through sight and hearing, and the [understanding] that inquires into and searches out existing things.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:16 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 13:3 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 John 4:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 4:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 13:35 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:10 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s image in man is painted not in colours but in virtues; mind, word, love, and the power to perceive and search out things mirror the divine nature.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition. Quotations: John 1:1; 1 Cor 2:16; 1 John 4:7–8; John 13:35. “Who speaks in them” echoes 2 Cor 13:3; “searches out all things” echoes 1 Cor 2:10. After “who speaks in them” several words are lost in the scan (marked …); the chapter’s last word (the noun “understanding”) is also lost and is supplied in brackets from the sense. “The prophets” is the reading of the staged text.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread): Τδ δὲ θεῖον κάλλος → Τὸ δὲ θεῖον κάλλος.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 5 (PG 44:137a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio/0/#p-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 6
6PG 44:137a–140c
’Eféfao'tg τῇς τοῦ νοῦ ἀτρὸς,τῆς φύσιν qur-[8' νείρς, ἑνῷζᾶιαὶ ὲκ παρόδου τὸ ἐῶνθʼἉνομοιωνῖ διελέγχεται δόγμα. Καί με μηδεὶς οἰέσθω καθʼ ὁμοιότητα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐνεργείας ὲν διαφόροις δυνάμεσι τὸ Θεῖον λέγεις τῶν ὄντων ἐφάπτεσθαι. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι δυνατὸν ἐν si ἁπλότητι τῆς θειότητος τὸ ποικίλον τε καὶ πολυειδὲς τῆς ἀντιληπτικῆς ἐνεργείας κατανοῆσαι. Οὐδὲ γάε ἡμῖν πολλαί τινές εἰσιν αἱ ἀντιληπτικώ τῶν πρα‹ ηιάτων δυνάμεις, εἰ καὶ πολυτρόπως διὰ τῶν αἰσθήιω σεων τῶν κατὰ ζωὴν ὲφαπτὼμεθα. Μία γάρ τίς ἐστι δύναμις, αὐτὸς ὁ ἐγκείμενος νοῦς, ὁ διʼ ἑκάστου τῶν αἰσθητηρίων διεξιὼν, καὶ τῶν ὅντων ὲπιδρασσόμενος. Οὗτος θεωρεῖ διὰ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὸ φαινόμενον οῦ· τος συνιεῖ διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς τὺ λεγόμενον, ἀγαπᾷ τε τὸ κατευθύμιον, καὶ τὸ μὴ καθʼ ἡδονὴν ἀποστρέφεται, καὶ τῇ χειρὶ χρῆται πρὸς τὸ ὅ τι βούλεται, κρατῶν διʼ αὐτῆς καὶ ἀπωθούμενος ἅπερ ἂν λυσιτελεῖν κρίνῃ, τῇ τοῦ ὀργάνου συνεργίᾳ είς τοῦτο συγχρώμενος. Εἰ τοίνυν ὲν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ κᾶν διάφορα τύχῃ τά πρὸς αἴσθησιν κατεσκευασμένα παρὰ τῆς φύσεως ὄργανα, ὁ διὰ πάντων ἐνεργῶν καὶ κινούμενος καὶ καταλλήλως ἑκάστῳ πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον κεχρημένος, εἷς ἐστι καὶ 6 αὐτὸς, ταῖς διαφοραῖς τῶν ἐνεργειῶν ού συνο εξαλλάσσων τὴν φύσιν · πῶς ἂν τις ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τῶν ποικίλων δυνάμεων τὸ πολυμερὲς τῆς οὐσίας κατοπτεύσειεν; ι Ὀ ι· γάρ ι πλάσας τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, ι καθώς φησιν 6 Προφήτης, καὶ ι ὁ φυτεύσας τὸ οῦς,ι πρὸς τὰ ὲν αύτῴ παραδείγματα τὰς ἐνεργείας ταύτας οἶόν τινας γνωριστικοὺς χαρακτῆρας τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθ ρώπων ἐνεσημήνατο. ι Ποιήσωμεν ι γὰρ, φησὶν, ι ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν.» Ἀλλὰ ποῦ μοι τῶν Ἀνομοίων ἡ αἵρεσις; τί πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην ἐροῦσι φωνήν; πῶς διασώσουσιν ὲν τοῖς εἰρημένοις τοῦ δόγματος αὐτῶν τὴν κενότητα ; ἆρα δυνατὸν εἶναι φήσουσι, μίαν είκόνα διαφόροις ὁμοιωθῆναι μορφαῖς; Ei ἀνόμοιος κατὰ τὴν φύσιν τῷ Πατρὶ ὁ Υἱὸς, πῶς μίαν κατα σκευάζει τῶν διαφόρων φύσεων τὴν είκόνα; Ὀ γὰρ, ι Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατέἰκόνα ἡμετέραν, ι εἰπὼν. · καὶ διὰ τῆς πληθυντικῆς σημασίας τὴν ἁγίαν Τριάδα δηλώσας,1 οὐκ ἀν τῆς είκόνος μοναδικῶς ἐπεμνήσθη, εἴπερ ἀνομοίως ἔχοι πρὸς άλληλα τὰ ἀρχέτυπα. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν δυνατὸν τῶν ἀλλήλοις μὴ συμβαινόντων εἰς ἒν ἀναδειχθῆναι ὁμοίωμα· ἀλλʼ εί διάφοροι ἦσαν αι φύσεις, διαφόρους πάντως καὶ τὰς εἰκόνας αύτῶν ὲνεστήσατο, τὴν κατάλληλον ἑκάστῃ δημιουργήσας. Ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ μία μὲν ἠ εἰκὼν, οὐχ ἓν δὲ τὸ τῆς είκόνος ἀρχέτυπον· τίς οῦτως ἔξω διανοίας ἐστὶν ὡς ἀγνοεῖν, ὅτι τὰ τῷ ἐνὶ ὀμοιούμενα, καὶ πρὸς ἄλληλα πάντως ὁμοίως Exn; Διὰ τοῦτό φησι, τάχα τὴν κακίαν ταύτην ὲν τῇ κατασκευῇ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ζωῆς 6 λόγος ὑποτεμνόμενος, ί Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν. ι
’Efefao'tg tę̄s tou nou atros,tēs physin qur-[8' neirs, henǭzaiai ek parodou to eōnthʼHanomoiōni dielenchetai dogma. Kai me mēdeis oiesthō kathʼ homoiotēta tēs anthrōpinēs energeias en diaphorois dynamesi to Theion legeis tōn ontōn ephaptesthai. Ou gar esti dynaton en si haplotēti tēs theiotētos to poikilon te kai polyeides tēs antilēptikēs energeias katanoēsai. Oude gae hēmin pollai tines eisin hai antilēptikō tōn pra‹ ēiatōn dynameis, ei kai polytropōs dia tōn aisthēiō seōn tōn kata zōēn ephaptōmetha. Mia gar tis esti dynamis, autos ho enkeimenos nous, ho diʼ hekastou tōn aisthētēriōn diexiōn, kai tōn hontōn epidrassomenos. Houtos theōrei dia tōn ophthalmōn to phainomenon ou; tos syniei dia tēs akoēs ty legomenon, agapą te to kateuthymion, kai to mē kathʼ hēdonēn apostrephetai, kai tę̄ cheiri chrētai pros to ho ti bouletai, kratōn diʼ autēs kai apōthoumenos haper an lysitelein krinę̄, tę̄ tou organou synergią eis touto synchrōmenos. Ei toinyn en tǭ anthrōpǭ kan diaphora tychę̄ ta pros aisthēsin kateskeuasmena para tēs physeōs organa, ho dia pantōn energōn kai kinoumenos kai katallēlōs hekastǭ pros to prokeimenon kechrēmenos, heis esti kai 6 autos, tais diaphorais tōn energeiōn ou syno exallassōn tēn physin ; pōs an tis epi tou Theou dia tōn poikilōn dynameōn to polymeres tēs ousias katopteuseien? i O i; gar i plasas ton ophthalmon, i kathōs phēsin 6 Prophētēs, kai i ho phyteusas to ous,i pros ta en autǭ paradeigmata tas energeias tautas oion tinas gnōristikous charaktēras tę̄ physei tōn anth rōpōn enesēmēnato. i Poiēsōmen i gar, phēsin, i anthrōpon katʼ eikona hēmeteran.» Alla pou moi tōn Anomoiōn hē hairesis? ti pros tēn toiautēn erousi phōnēn? pōs diasōsousin en tois eirēmenois tou dogmatos autōn tēn kenotēta ? ara dynaton einai phēsousi, mian eikona diaphorois homoiōthēnai morphais? Ei anomoios kata tēn physin tǭ Patri ho Huios, pōs mian kata skeuazei tōn diaphorōn physeōn tēn eikona? O gar, i Poiēsōmen anthrōpon kateikona hēmeteran, i eipōn. ; kai dia tēs plēthyntikēs sēmasias tēn hagian Triada dēlōsas,1 ouk an tēs eikonos monadikōs epemnēsthē, eiper anomoiōs echoi pros allēla ta archetypa. Ou gar ēn dynaton tōn allēlois mē symbainontōn eis en anadeichthēnai homoiōma; allʼ ei diaphoroi ēsan ai physeis, diaphorous pantōs kai tas eikonas autōn enestēsato, tēn katallēlon hekastę̄ dēmiourgēsas. Allʼ epeidē mia men ē eikōn, ouch hen de to tēs eikonos archetypon; tis outōs exō dianoias estin hōs agnoein, hoti ta tǭ eni omoioumena, kai pros allēla pantōs homoiōs Exn? Dia touto phēsi, tacha tēn kakian tautēn en tę̄ kataskeuę̄ tēs anthrōpinēs zōēs 6 logos hypotemnomenos, i Poiēsōmen anthrōpon katʼ eikona kai homoiōsin hēmeteran. i
An examination of the kinship of the mind with the [divine] nature, in which the doctrine of the Anomoeans is also refuted in passing. And let no one suppose me to say that the divine, like human activity, lays hold of existing things by various faculties. For it is not possible to conceive in the simplicity of the Godhead the variety and multiplicity of perceptive activity. Not even in us are the faculties that perceive things many, even though we lay hold of the things of life in many ways through the senses. For there is one faculty, the mind itself that is set within us, which passes through each of the sense organs and grasps existing things. It is this that contemplates through the eyes what appears; it is this that understands through the hearing what is said; it loves what pleases it and turns away from what is not to its liking; and it uses the hand for whatever it wishes, holding by it and pushing away whatever it judges profitable, making use of the organ’s cooperation for this. If, then, in man, even though the organs prepared by nature for sense happen to be different, what acts and moves through them all and uses each suitably for its purpose is one and the same, not changing its nature along with the differences of its activities, how could anyone discern a multiplicity of parts in the substance of God because of the variety of his powers? For “he who formed the eye,” as the Prophet says, and “he who planted the ear,” stamped these activities on human nature as a kind of distinguishing marks, after the patterns in himself. For “let us make man,” he says, “according to our image.” But where is the heresy of the Anomoeans? What will they say to such a word? How will they preserve the emptiness of their doctrine in the face of what has been said? Will they say that it is possible for one image to be made like different forms? If the Son is unlike the Father in nature, how does he fashion one image of the different natures? For he who said, “Let us make man according to our image,” and by the plural form indicated the Holy Trinity, would not have mentioned the image in the singular if the archetypes were unlike one another. For it would not be possible for one likeness to be shown forth from things that do not agree with each other; but if the natures were different, he would certainly have set up different images of them as well, fashioning the one that corresponds to each. But since the image is one, while the archetype of the image is not one, who is so out of his mind as not to know that things made like one and the same thing are certainly alike to one another too? This is why, perhaps cutting off this evil at the very making of human life, the word says, “Let us make man according to our image and likeness.”
Ps 94:9 (93:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Just as one human mind works through many senses, God is not divided by his many powers; and since the three persons make one image, they cannot be unlike in nature, as the Anomoeans claim.
- The chapter heading is badly garbled in the scan; its opening words are translated by sense, with “divine” supplied in brackets. Quotations: Ps 94:9 (93:9 LXX); Gen 1:26. The Anomoeans (followers of Aetius and Eunomius) held that the Son is unlike the Father in substance; Gregory reads the plural “let us” as indicating the Trinity and the singular “image” as showing one nature. Translated exactly as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread of ὁ as 6): αὐτὸς 6 ἐγκείμενος νοῦς, 6 διʼ → αὐτὸς ὁ ἐγκείμενος νοῦς, ὁ διʼ; τῷ Πατρὶ 6 Υἱὸς → τῷ Πατρὶ ὁ Υἱὸς.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 6 (PG 44:137a–140c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio/0/#p-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio-6) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.
Chapter 7
7PG 44:140d–144a
Διὰ τί γυμνὸς τῶν ἐκ φύσεως ὅπλων τε και προ. καλυμμάτων ό ἅνθρωπος. ’Λλλά τί βούλεται τὸ τοῦ σχήματοξ δρθιον; Τί δὲ οὐχὶ συμφυεῖς εἰσιν αἱ πρὸς τὸν βίον δυνάμεις τῷ σώματι ; ἀλλὰ γυμνὸς μὲν τῶν φυσικῶν σκεπασμάτων, ἄοπλος δέ τις καὶ πένης ὁ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τῶν πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἐνδεὴς ἁπάντων ἐπὶ τὸν βίον παράγεται, ἐλεεῖσθαι μᾶλλονῆ μακαρίζεσθαι κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον ἄξιος, οὐ προβολαῖς κεράτων καθωπλισμένος, οὐκ ὀνύχων ἀκμαῖς, οὐχ ὁπλαῖς, ἢ ὀδοῦσιν, ἡ τινι κέντρῳ θανατηφόρον ἰὸν ἐκ φύσεως ἔχοντι, οἷα δὴ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν ζώων ὲν ἑαυτοῖς πρὸς τὴν τῶν λυπούντων ἄμυναν κέκτηται* οὑ τῇ τῶν τριχῶν περιβολῇ τὸ σῶμα καλύπτεται· καίτοιγε ἴσως τὸν είς ἀρχὴν τῶν ἄλλων προτεταγμένον, οἰκείοις ὅπλοις ἔδει περιπεφράχθαι παρὰ τῆς φύσεως, ὡς ἂν μὴ τῆς παρʼ ἐτέρων ἐπικουρίας πρὸς τὴν ίδίαν ἀσφάλειαν δέοιτο. Νυνὶ δὲ λέων μὲν, καὶ σῦς, καὶ τίγρις, xal. πάρδαλις, καὶ εί τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον, ἀρκοῦσαν ἔχει πρὸς σωτηρίαν τὴν ἐκ φύσεως δύναμιν. Kal. τῷ ταύρῳ μὲν τὸ κέρας, καὶ τῷ λαγωῷ τὸ τάχος, καὶ τῇ δορκάδι τὸ πήδημα καὶ τὸ κατʼ ὀφθαλμὸν ἀσφαλὲς, καὶ άλλῳ τινὶ ζώῳ τὸ μέγεθος, καὶ ἑτέροις ἡ προνομαία, καὶ τοῖς πετεινοῖς τὸ πτερὸν, καὶ τῇ μελίσσῃ τὸ κέντρον, καὶ πᾶσι πάντως ἓν τι εἰς σωτηρίαν παρὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐμπέφυκε· μόνος δὲ πάντων ὀ ἅνθρωπος τῶν μὲν ταχυδρομούντων ἀργότερος, τῶν δὲ πολυσαρκούντων βραχύτερος, τῶν δὲ τοῖς συμφύτοις ὅπλοις ἡσφαλισμένων εὐαλωτότερος. Καὶ πῶς, ὲρεί τις, ὀ τοιοῦτος τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν κατὰ πάντων κεκλή ρωται; Ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν οἶμαι χαλεπὸν δεῖξαι, ὃτι τὸ δοκοῦν ὲπιδεὲς τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, ἀφορμὴ πρὸς τὸ κρατεῖν τῶν ὑποχειρίων ἐστίν. Et γὰρ οὑτω δυνάμεως εἶχεν ὀ ἄνθρωπος, ὡς τῇ μὲν ὠκύτητι παρατρέχειν τὸν ἵππον, ἄτριπτον δὲ ὑπὸ στερρότητος ἔχειν τὸν πόδα, ὁπλαῖς τισιν ἢ χηλαῖς ἐρειδόμενον, κέρατα δὲ καὶ κέντρα καὶ ὄνυχας ὲν ἑαυτῷ φέρεινʼ πρῶτον μὲν θηριώδης τις ἂν ἦν, καὶ δυσάντητος, τοιούτων αὑτοῦ τῷ σώματι συμπεφυκότῖΓἜπειτα δὲ παρεῖδεν ἂν τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἀρχὴν, οὐδὲν τῆς συνεργίας τῶν ὑποχειρίων δεόμενος, Νυνὶ δὲ τούτου χάριν ἐφʼ ἕκαστον τῶν ὑπ· c εζευγμένων ἡμῖν αἱ τοῦ βίου χρεῖαι κατεμερίσθησαν, ὡς ἀναγκαίαν ποιεῖν τὴν κατʼ ἐκείνων ἀρχήν. Τὸ μὲν τοῦ σώματος δυσκίνητον, τὸν ἵππον τῇ χρείᾳ προσήγαγέ τε καὶ ὲδαμάσατο. Ἠ δὲ τῆς σαρκὸς γυμνότης ἀναγκαίαν τὴν τῶν προβάτων ἐπιστασίαν ἐποίησεν, ἐκ τῆς ἐτησίου τῶν ἐρίων φορᾶς τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως ἀναπληροῦσαν τὸ λεῖπον. Τὸ δὲ τὰς ἀφορμὰς ἡμῖν τὰς πρὸς τὸν βίον καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρων εἰσάγεσθαι, τὰ ἀχθοφόρα τῶν ζώων ταῖς τοιαύταις ὑπηρεσίαις ὑπέζευξεν. Ἀλλὰ μὴν τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι καθʼ ὁμοιότητα τῶν βοσκημάτων ποηφαγείν, ὑποχείριον τῷ βίῳ τὸν βοῦν ἀπειργάσατο, τοῖς ἰδίοις πόνοις τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῖν ὲξευμαρίζοντσ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ὀδόντων καὶ δήγματος ἦν χρεία πρὸς τὸ καταγωνίξεσθαί τινα τῶν ἄλλων ζώων. διὰ τῆς τῶν ὀδόντων βλάβης, παρέσχεν ὀ κύων μετὰ τοῦ τάχους τὴν ίδίαν γένυν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ χρείᾳ, οἷόν τις ἔμψυχος μάχαιρα τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ γενόμενος. Κεράτων δὲ προβολῆς καὶ ὀνύχων ἀκμῆς ίσχυρότερός τε καὶ τομώτερος ἐπινενόηται τοῖς άνθρώποις ὀ σίδη ρος, οὐκ ἀεὶ συμπεφυκὼς ἡμῖν, ὥσπερ τοῖς θηρίοις ἐκεῖνα. ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ καιροῦ συμμαχήσας, τὸ λοιπὸν ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ μένει. Καὶ ἀντὶ τῆς τοῦ κροκοδείλου φωλίδος, ἔστι μὲν καὶ αὑτὸν ἐκεῖνον ὅπλον ποιήσασθαι, κατά καιρὸν τὴν δορὰν περιθέμενον. Εἰ δὲ μὴ, σχηματίζεται καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο παρὰ τῆς τέχνης ὀ σίδηρος, ὃς ἐπὶ καιροῦ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ὑπηρετήσας. πάλιν ἐλεύθερον τοῦ ἄχθους ἐπʼ εἰρήνης τὸν ὁπλίτην κατέλιπεν. ’Υπηρετεῖ δὲ τῷ βίῳ καὶ τὸ πτερὸν τῶν ὀρνέων, ὡς μηδὲ τοῦ πτηνοῦ τάχους διʼ- ἐπινοίας ιιι ἡμᾶς ἀπολείπεσθαι. Τὰ μὲν γάρ ἐξ αὐτῶν τιθασσά γίνεται, καὶ συνεργεῖ τοῖς θηρεύουσν τὰ δὲ διʼ ὲκείνων ταῖς χρείαις ἡμῶν διʼ ἐπινοίας ὑπάγεται. Ἀλλά καὶ πτερόεντας ή μίν τοὺς ὀϊστοὺς ἡ τέχνη διʼ ἐπινοίας ποιησαμένη, τὸ πτηνδν τάχος ταῖς ἡμετέραις χρείαις διά τοῦ τόξου χαρίζεταιζ Τὸ δὲ εὐπαθεῖς καὶ εὑτρίο πτους ἡμῖν πρὸς τὴν πορείαν εἶναι τὰς βάσεις, ἀναγκαίαν ποιεῖ. τὴν ὲκ τῶν ὑποχειρίων συνεργίαν. Ἐκεῖ- Θεν γάρ ἔστι τοῖς ποσὶ περιαρμόσαι τὰ πέδιλα.
Dia ti gymnos tōn ek physeōs hoplōn te kai pro. kalymmatōn o hanthrōpos. ’Llla ti bouletai to tou schēmatox drthion? Ti de ouchi symphyeis eisin hai pros ton bion dynameis tǭ sōmati ? alla gymnos men tōn physikōn skepasmatōn, aoplos de tis kai penēs ho anthrōpos, kai tōn pros tēn chreian endeēs hapantōn epi ton bion paragetai, eleeisthai mallonē makarizesthai kata to phainomenon axios, ou probolais keratōn kathōplismenos, ouk onychōn akmais, ouch hoplais, ē odousin, hē tini kentrǭ thanatēphoron ion ek physeōs echonti, hoia dē ta polla tōn zōōn en heautois pros tēn tōn lypountōn amynan kektētai* hou tę̄ tōn trichōn peribolę̄ to sōma kalyptetai; kaitoige isōs ton eis archēn tōn allōn protetagmenon, oikeiois hoplois edei peripephrachthai para tēs physeōs, hōs an mē tēs parʼ eterōn epikourias pros tēn idian asphaleian deoito. Nyni de leōn men, kai sys, kai tigris, xal. pardalis, kai ei ti toiouton heteron, arkousan echei pros sōtērian tēn ek physeōs dynamin. Kal. tǭ taurǭ men to keras, kai tǭ lagōǭ to tachos, kai tę̄ dorkadi to pēdēma kai to katʼ ophthalmon asphales, kai allǭ tini zōǭ to megethos, kai heterois hē pronomaia, kai tois peteinois to pteron, kai tę̄ melissę̄ to kentron, kai pasi pantōs hen ti eis sōtērian para tēs physeōs empephyke; monos de pantōn o hanthrōpos tōn men tachydromountōn argoteros, tōn de polysarkountōn brachyteros, tōn de tois symphytois hoplois hēsphalismenōn eualōtoteros. Kai pōs, erei tis, o toioutos tēn archēn tēn kata pantōn keklē rōtai? Allʼ ouden oimai chalepon deixai, hoti to dokoun epidees tēs physeōs hēmōn, aphormē pros to kratein tōn hypocheiriōn estin. Et gar houtō dynameōs eichen o anthrōpos, hōs tę̄ men ōkytēti paratrechein ton hippon, atripton de hypo sterrotētos echein ton poda, hoplais tisin ē chēlais ereidomenon, kerata de kai kentra kai onychas en heautǭ phereinʼ prōton men thēriōdēs tis an ēn, kai dysantētos, toioutōn hautou tǭ sōmati sympephykotiGEpeita de pareiden an tēn tōn allōn archēn, ouden tēs synergias tōn hypocheiriōn deomenos, Nyni de toutou charin ephʼ hekaston tōn hyp; c ezeugmenōn hēmin hai tou biou chreiai katemeristhēsan, hōs anankaian poiein tēn katʼ ekeinōn archēn. To men tou sōmatos dyskinēton, ton hippon tę̄ chreią prosēgage te kai edamasato. Ē de tēs sarkos gymnotēs anankaian tēn tōn probatōn epistasian epoiēsen, ek tēs etēsiou tōn eriōn phoras tēs hēmeteras physeōs anaplērousan to leipon. To de tas aphormas hēmin tas pros ton bion kai ex heterōn eisagesthai, ta achthophora tōn zōōn tais toiautais hypēresiais hypezeuxen. Alla mēn to mē dynasthai kathʼ homoiotēta tōn boskēmatōn poēphagein, hypocheirion tǭ biǭ ton boun apeirgasato, tois idiois ponois tēn zōēn hēmin exeumarizonts. Epei de kai odontōn kai dēgmatos ēn chreia pros to katagōnixesthai tina tōn allōn zōōn. dia tēs tōn odontōn blabēs, pareschen o kyōn meta tou tachous tēn idian genyn tę̄ hēmeterą chreią, hoion tis empsychos machaira tǭ anthrōpǭ genomenos. Keratōn de probolēs kai onychōn akmēs ischyroteros te kai tomōteros epinenoētai tois anthrōpois o sidē ros, ouk aei sympephykōs hēmin, hōsper tois thēriois ekeina. allʼ epi kairou symmachēsas, to loipon ephʼ heautou menei. Kai anti tēs tou krokodeilou phōlidos, esti men kai hauton ekeinon hoplon poiēsasthai, kata kairon tēn doran perithemenon. Ei de mē, schēmatizetai kai pros touto para tēs technēs o sidēros, hos epi kairou pros ton polemon hypēretēsas. palin eleutheron tou achthous epʼ eirēnēs ton hoplitēn katelipen. ’Ypēretei de tǭ biǭ kai to pteron tōn orneōn, hōs mēde tou ptēnou tachous diʼ- epinoias iii hēmas apoleipesthai. Ta men gar ex autōn tithassa ginetai, kai synergei tois thēreuousn ta de diʼ ekeinōn tais chreiais hēmōn diʼ epinoias hypagetai. Alla kai pteroentas ē min tous oïstous hē technē diʼ epinoias poiēsamenē, to ptēndn tachos tais hēmeterais chreiais dia tou toxou charizetaiz To de eupatheis kai heutrio ptous hēmin pros tēn poreian einai tas baseis, anankaian poiei. tēn ek tōn hypocheiriōn synergian. Ekei- Then gar esti tois posi periarmosai ta pedila.
Why man is bare of natural weapons and coverings. But what does the uprightness of his form mean? And why are the powers needed for life not grown into the body? Instead man is brought into life naked of natural coverings, unarmed and poor, lacking everything needed for his use, by all appearances more worthy of pity than of being called happy: not armed with projecting horns, nor with sharp claws, nor with hoofs or teeth, nor with a sting that carries a deadly poison by nature, such as many animals possess in themselves for defence against what harms them; nor is his body covered with a wrapping of hair. And yet perhaps one appointed to rule over the others ought to have been fenced about by nature with weapons of his own, so as not to need help from others for his own safety. As it is, the lion, the boar, the tiger, the leopard, and any other such animal have a power from nature sufficient for their safety. The bull has its horn, the hare its speed, the gazelle its leap and the security of its eye; another animal has its size, others their trunk, the birds their wings, the bee its sting; and in all, some one thing for their safety is implanted by nature. Man alone of all is slower than the swift runners, smaller than those of great bulk, and easier to catch than those protected by natural weapons. “And how,” someone will say, “has such a one been allotted rule over all?” But I think it is not hard to show that what seems a lack in our nature is an occasion for ruling over our subjects. For if man had such power as to outrun the horse in swiftness, and to have a foot that could not be worn down because of its hardness, supported on hoofs or claws, and to carry horns and stings and talons on himself, he would first of all have been something beastly and fearsome to meet, with such things grown on his body; and then he would have neglected his rule over the others, needing nothing from the cooperation of his subjects. But as it is, the needs of life have for this reason been distributed among each of the creatures yoked under us, so as to make our rule over them necessary. The slowness and sluggishness of our body brought the horse to our use and tamed it. The nakedness of our flesh made the keeping of sheep necessary, which supplies what our nature lacks from the yearly yield of wool. The fact that the means of life must also be brought to us from elsewhere has yoked the beasts of burden to such services. Again, our inability to eat grass like the cattle has made the ox subject to our life, easing our living by its own labours. And since teeth and biting were needed to overcome some of the other animals by wounding them with teeth, the dog, together with its speed, has offered its own jaw for our use, becoming as it were a living sword for man. And iron has been devised by men, stronger than projecting horns and sharper than claws; it does not grow on us always, as those do on the beasts, but, having fought with us when the moment requires, it remains by itself for the rest of the time. And in place of the crocodile’s scales it is possible to make that very creature our armour, putting on its hide when the moment requires; or, if not, iron is shaped by art for this purpose too, and, having served at the moment for war, leaves the soldier free of the burden again in peace. The wing of birds also serves our life, so that by our ingenuity we are not left behind even by the swiftness of flight. For some of them become tame and help hunters, and others are brought under our use through them by ingenuity. Moreover, art, having by ingenuity made our arrows winged, gives us the swiftness of flight for our needs by means of the bow. And the fact that our feet are tender and easily hurt in walking makes the help of our subjects necessary; for from them we can fit sandals to our feet.
Notes and citation
Summary: Man is born without natural weapons or covering so that he must rule and use the animals, whose gifts, together with his own inventions such as iron, arrows, and sandals, supply what he lacks.
- The opening sentence is the chapter’s heading as printed in the edition. The word rendered “slowness” in “the slowness and sluggishness of our body” is garbled in the scan and translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (a garbled word removed; translated by sense); OCR misread of ὁ as 6): πένης 6 ἄνθρωπος → πένης ὁ ἄνθρωπος; Τὸ μὲν 9318b τοῦ σώματος → Τὸ μὲν τοῦ σώματος.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 7 (PG 44:140d–144a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-hominis-opificio/0/#p-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 5 (Moore and Wilson, 1893); differences checked against the Greek.