1 (165). To Eusthathius, the Philosopher
1. To Eustathius, the Philosopher1 III HOUGH I had for some time been disheartened by the malice of what men call Fortune, which has always put some obstacle in the way of our meeting, you cheered and consoled me mightily by your letter.
As it chanced, I was already pondering the question of whether or not there is any truth in the popular saying that a certain Necessity or Fate controls our affairs, both great and small j that we in ourselves are masters of nothing j or, at any rate, that a sort of chance directs the lives of men.
You will readily pardon these reflections when you learn the causes which provoked them.
Disdaining all things there, I left Athens, drawn by the renown of your philosophy. The city on the Hellespont 2 I passed by as no Odysseus ever avoided the songs of the Sirens.3
And admiring Asia, I hurried on toward the mother-city,· set in the midst of her splendors. Many varied and unexpected obstacles beset my path from the moment I reached the fatherland, where I sought but did not find you, the object of my search. For, I seemed fated either to be ill and for this reason to miss you or to be prevented from setting out with you for the East. And when at length, after innumerable
I From St. Basil's own letter we may infer that this Eustathius was an itinerant pagan philosopher. As St. Basil left Athens in !l56. but on reaching Caesarea missed Eustathius. whom he was eager to hear. the date of this letter is evidently !l57.
2 Constantinople.
3 Cf. Odyssey 12.158.
4 Probably Caesarea.
SAINT BASIL
troubles, I did reach Syria, I was not able to join my philosopher because he had departed for Egypt. Therefore, I, in turn, had to 'go to Egypt, a long and weary way,'5 not even there attaining the object of my pursuit. But I was so drawn by love that either I had to continue my journey toward Persia and then accompany you to the uttermost limits of the land of the barbarians-whither you steadfastly proceeded, so persistently was chance keeping us apart--Dr else I had to take up my abode at Alexandria. This latter course
I adopted. For, if I had not grown weary of following you as a lamb follows the green bough held out before it, I think that you would have been driven on even beyond the Indian
Nyssa,s or, if there is an uttermost region of our world, you would have wandered there.
But, why go to such lengths? To conclude, then, though you are now tarrying in the fatherland, it has not been in my power, because of long illnesses, to meet you. And if these illnesses do not finally become more moderate, we shall not meet your Eloquence7 this winter. Is not this the work of Fate, as you yourself would say? Is it not the work of Necessity? Have not these happenings almost surpassed even the poets' myths of Tantalus? But, as I said, I have been much encouraged by your letter and no longer entertain the same fanciful notions. And I now say that I ought to feel grateful to God for the benefits He gives, and not be dissatisfied with what He bestows. If, then, He should allow us to join you, we shall consider it at once best and most pleasing; but, if He should defer the meeting, we shall endure the privation without complaint. At all events, He manages our affairs better than should we ourselves were we given the choice.
5 Odyssey 4.483.
6 In the Punjab. Cf. Sophocles, Ajax 700.
7 Logioteti-a Byzantine title of address used by S1. Basil for laymen only.