Letter 114 (382)
THE FATHERS SPEAK
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS TO EUGENIOS.
LETTER 111 (382)
Fasting without measure is your philosophy, Mine is the discipline of silence. Let us exchange OUf particular gifts, and when we meet together, we shaH sing to God, offering to Him the fruit of an eloquent silence, as well as of godly words.
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS TO BASIL, LETTER 245
(written before January 1, 379, Basil's death) For you he is a mime, for me a pious man. He asked me to write, that he may be liberally received and given audience by you.
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS TO KELEUSIOS, A CITY OFFICIAL,
LETTER 114 (382)
Since you blame my mutism and my boorishness, you who are talkative and urbane, allow me to tell you a fable which is by no means meaningless, so that I may find out whether I am able to check your idle talking: The swallows reproached the swans for their unwillingness to associate with men or to let their song be heard in public, to live in the meadows, on the banks of rivers; to delight in solitude,
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singing little; and whatever they sing, singing it only among themselves, as if they were ashamed of their melody. "But," said the swallows, "the cities and the humans and their houses are ours, and we chatter all around, recounting our adventures and the ancient tales of Attica: Pandion, Athens;
Tirea, Thrace; the story of the journey abroad, the kinship, the rape [of Philomela, daughter of Pandion, by her brotherin-law], the mutilation, the letter and the legend of Itys, and how from human beings we became birds. The swans could scarcely bear with them, hating their frivolous chatter, and when they deigned to answer, they said to the swallows:
"Well, look you. It is because of us that a man decides to withdraw into the solitude, to hear our song, when we open our wings to Zephirus, that the breeze may inspire sweet harmonies; if we sing little, and not before a crowd, the more beautiful it is, for we aim at keeping the right measure in our harmony, and we do not mix noise and music. But you, who settle among men, you exasperate men and when you sing, they turn away .... Understand what I mean, and if you find our muteness better than your chatter, stop disparaging our rule of silence, or I will quote a proverb which is both true and concise: "The swans will sing when the jays shut up."
And yet, laconism should not be exaggerated. Gregory and Basil remind their correspondents that they would appreciate receiving "newsletters" now and then and be kept upto-date on current events.
BASIL TO OLYMPIOS, LETTER 12
(written from the "Solitude") So far you wrote precious tittle to us, but now it is not
THE FATHERS SPEAK
even little; your brevity progresses in time into complete muteness, Return to your former habit and we will not have to take you to task by letter for your laconism. Even your short letters are marks of your great interest, and we value them highly. Only write!
Basil's letter 21, written from the "Solitude," is addressed to a certain Leontios, a sophist lIot otherwise identified; it is brimming with irony and sophisticated wit, as can be expected from an ex-Athenian scholar writing to a professional sophist. The "good Julian" all the first line of the missive is of course not the Emperor Julian, but a friend .
BASIL TO LEONTlOS, SOPHIST, LETTER 21
(364-365) It seems that the good Julian gets something out of the current state of affairs. He too is the object of claims and of numerous charges, for nowadays there are many people who are the target of claimants and are being indicted. Only it is not for arrears of contributions that Julian is indicted, but arrears of letters. How he can be in debt, I don't know. He always sends letters and buries away the answers. Maybe the quadruplum is held in honor by you; the Pythagorians have not esteemed the number four as much as the collectors of taxes who exact from the delinquents quadruple fines. The contrary would seem normal, namely that you, a sophist rich in words, should be mortgaged toward payment of the quadruplum. But we do not write this because we bear you a grudge. I rather rejoice to hear reproaches from you be· cause, as they say, everything done by nice persons is fine, and even grief and anger befits them. At least it is more
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pleasant to see one who loves you but is angry, than an enemy who flatters you. So, do not refrain from "unflattering re· proaches." Letters, that is what my claim is about, and no news shall be more precious to me or give me more pleasure.
To close the series, two notes of Gregory of Nyssa: letter 9 to Stagirios, and letter 21 to Ablabios. They show forth the same pattern of style: a little story with a tinge of pre· ciosity, which leaves the reader totally in the dark as to the real object of the message-what on earth is the point Gregory wishes to make? Then, in a few lines, he discloses what he is aiming at.
GREGORY OF NYSSA TO STAGIRIOS, A SOPHIST FROM
CAESARAEA, LETTER 9
They say that the jugglers in the theater perform their tricks by borrowing some myth from history or by drawing their subject from ancient collections, transforming it into a real story and putting the entire show, acting and playing, under the eyes of the spectators, as if it had actually hap. pened. They put on the stage the various characters in the guise of actors and mimes; they simulate a city by means of painted curtains over the orchestra, transforming the empty stage to suggest the various scenes. Thus the elements of the story, the discourses of the personages, and the picture of the town on the painted curtains are offered to the spectators as make·believe.
But what do we mean by this preamble? We want to show our little city [Nyssa] not as it actually is, but how it should appear to guests. We wish you would become a frequent
THE FATHERS SPEAK
resident of our citywe shall see to it that our secluded borough looks really like a city. It will not be a long journey for you, but the favor you will do us is a very great one. We wish to be more considerate to our guests, priding ourselves on your fame rather than on any luster of the entire world.
Letter 21 of Gregory of Nyssa to Ablabios follows the same pattern as letter 9. The addressee has been wrongly identified with bishop Ablabios, on the basis of a most confused manuscript tradition which had not been satisfactorily elucidated until the col/ation by G. Pasquali. Ablabios, whom
Gregory exhorts to i1 more intense spiritual life, is like Stagirios of letter 9, a sophist, namely a professor of philosophy, desirably but nor necessarily a "friend of wisdom." The text of this note, give or take some inconsequential variants, has been credited, erroneollsly so it seems, to Saint Basil
(letter 10), riot given. I retain here the reading "Diomedes," versus "Diogerles" (Pasqllali), in the second part of Gregory's letter. Diomedes is a hero of the Homeric cycle, who sailed with his companions to small islands of the Adriatic. According to the legend, they were changed into a flock of birds
(Ovid, Metamorphoses XIV, 457 U). The Mallrists' interpretation of the letter to A blabios the bishop as a mild admonition has to be abandoned.
GREGORY OF NYSSA TO ABLABIOS, LETTER 21
The art of hunting doves goes like this: when those who practice this sport have caught one dove, tamed her, and made a pet of her, they anoint her wings with a fragrant oil and turn her loose to join the other doves outside. The sweet
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smell of the tamed dove lures the entire flight of the wild ones; attracted by the fragrance, they all flock together homing into the house.
But what do I mean to say by this preamble? That having caught your son Basilios and having anointed the wings of his soul with a divine perfume, I send him, new Diomedes, to Your Dignity, in order that you too would alight on the nest which the tamed dove of our story has built. U I see this happen while I live, and if I see Your Nobility raised to a higher degree of spiritual life, I will be in debt to God, to render Him worthy thanksgivings.
On Giving and Soliciting Presents
GREGORY OF NAzlANZUS TO THEODOROS,
BISHOP OF l'YANA, LETTER 115 (before Easter 383) It is also a feast [to receive] letters from you. It is better still that you anticipate the date, and that your eagerness gratifies us on the eve of the feast. That is the fruit of Your
Piety; as for us, we give you in return the best we have: prayers. So that you may also have a keepsake from us and our holy Basil, we send you a copy [TIUK'TlOV, properly "a writing tablet"] of Origen's Philokalia, which contains selections useful for studious people. Kindly accept it and give us a proof of the profit you can gain from it, with the help of your zeal and the help of the Spirit.