On Prayer 6.1
Summary: Origen distinguishes things moved from outside, things moved by their nature, animals that move themselves, and rational beings who move by their own reason.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:311–312
Τῶν κινουμένων τὰ μέν τινα τὸ κινοῦν ἔξωθεν ἔχει ὥσπερ τὰ ἄψυχα καὶ ὑπὸ ἕξεως μόνης συνεχόμενα καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ φύσεως καὶ ψυχῆς κινούμενα. οὐχ ᾗ τοιαῦτα ἔσθʼ ὅτε κινούμενα ἀλλʼ ὁμοίως τοῖς ὑπὸ ἕξεως μόνης συνεχομένοις· λίθοι γὰρ καὶ ξύλα, τὰ ἐκκοπέντα τοῦ μετάλλου ἢ τὸ φύειν ἀπολωλεκότα, ὑπὸ ἕξεως μόνης συνεχόμενα τὸ κινοῦν ἔξωθεν ἔχει, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τῶν ζῴων σώματα καὶ τὰ φορητὰ τῶν πεφυτευμένων, ὑπό τινος μετατιθέμενα, οὐχ ᾗ ζῷα καὶ φυτὰ μετατίθεται ἀλλʼ ὁμοίως λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις τοῖς τὸ φύειν ἀπολωλεκόσι· κἂν κινῆται καὶ ταῦτα τῷ ῥευστὰ εἶναι πάντα τὰ σώματα φθίνοντα, παρακολουθητικὴν ἔχει τὴν ἐν τῷ φθίνειν κίνησιν. δεύτερα δὲ παρὰ ταῦτά ἐστι κινούμενα τὰ ὑπὸ τῆς ἐνυπαρχούσης φύσεως ἢ ψυχῆς κινούμενα, ἃ καὶ ἐξ αὑτῶν κινεῖσθαι λέγεται παρὰ τοῖς κυριώτερον χρωμένοις τοῖς ὀνόμασι, τρίτη δέ ἐστι κίνησις ἡ ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις, ἥτις ὀνομάζεται ἡ ἀφʼ αὑτῶν κίνησις· οἶμαι δὲ ὅτι ἡ τῶν λογικῶν κίνησις διʼ αὐτῶν ἐστι κίνησις. ἐὰν δὲ περιέλωμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῴου τὴν ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ κίνησιν, οὐδὲ ζῷον ἔτι ὂν ὑπονοηθῆναι δύναται, ἀλλὰ ἔσται ὅμοιον ἤτοι φυτῷ ὑπὸ φύσεως μόνης κινουμένῳ ἢ λίθῳ ὑπό τινος ἔξωθεν φερομένῳ. ἐὰν δὲ παρακολουθῇ τι τῇ ἰδίᾳ κινήσει, ἐπεὶ τοῦτο διʼ αὐτοῦ κινεῖσθαι ὠνομάσαμεν, ἀνάγκη τοῦτο εἶναι λογικόν.
English · Claude translation
Of things that move, some have their mover outside them, such as lifeless things held together only by their cohesion, and things moved by nature and soul, when they are sometimes moved not as such but like things held together only by cohesion. For stones and pieces of wood cut from the quarry or that have lost the power of growth, being held together only by cohesion, have their mover outside them; and so also the bodies of animals and plants that can be carried, when they are moved by someone, are moved not as animals and plants but like stones and wood that have lost the power of growth; and even if these too move, because all bodies are in flux and decay, they have the motion of decay as a consequence. Second, besides these, are things moved by the nature or soul within them, which are also said to move “out of themselves” by those who use terms more strictly. And third is the motion in living creatures, which is called motion “from themselves”; and I think that the motion of rational beings is motion “through themselves.” If we take from a living creature its motion from itself, it can no longer even be thought of as a living creature, but will be like either a plant moved by nature only or a stone carried by something outside it. And if a thing is aware of its own motion, since we have called this moving “through itself,” it must be rational.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Origen here begins his reply. The classification of motion (by cohesion, ἕξις; by nature, φύσις; by soul, ψυχή; and rational motion) is Stoic; he gives the same classification in On First Principles 3.1.2–3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent and breathing in the digital text; stray punctuation mark in the digital text): ἐὰν· δὲ → ἐὰν δὲ; ἔτι ον → ἔτι ὂν.
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 6.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/6/1/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 6.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/6/1/).
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