E00671: Basil of Caesarea delivers his Homily on *Gordios (martyr of Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia, S00114) during a service held at the saint's shrine. He recounts the story of the martyrdom from oral tradition. Written in Greek in Caesarea (central Asia Minor), in the 370s.
Creators: name: Pnowakowski
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2015
Subjects: History

description: Basil of Caesarea, Homily 18, On Gordios (CPG 2862, BHG 703)<br><br>Εἰς Γόρδιον τὸν μάρτυρα.<br><br>Νόμος ἐστὶ φύσεως ταῖς μελίσσαις μὴ ἀπαίρειν τῶν σίμβλων πρὶν ἂν ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτῶν τῆς πτήσεως ἀφηγήσηται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ τὸν λαὸν Κυρίου εἶδον νῦν πρῶτον ἐπὶ τὰ οὐράνια ἄνθη, τοὺς μάρτυρας, ἐξιόντα, ζητῶ τὸν ἡγεμόνα. Τίς ὁ κινήσας τὸν πολὺν τοῦτον ἐσμόν; τίς ὁ τὴν χειμερινὴν κατήφειαν εἰς ἐαρινὴν φαιδρότητα μεταστήσας; Νῦν γὰρ δὴ πρῶτον ὁ λαὸς, οἱονεὶ σίμβλων τινῶν, τῆς πόλεως προχυθέντες, τὸν προπόλεον κόσμον, τὸ σεμνὸν τοῦτο καὶ πάγκαλον τῶν μαρτύρων στάδιον, πανδημεὶ κατειλήφασιν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀναστῆσαν ἤγαγε τὸ θαῦμα τοῦ μάρτυρος, ἐκλαθομένους τῆς ἀσθενείας, δεῦρο δὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ τῇ κατὰ δύναμιν φωνῇ, οἷόν τινι ἄνθει τῶν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἔργων περιβομβήσωμεν, ὅσιά τε ποιοῦντες καὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἅμα κεχαρισμένα· Ἐγκωμιαζομένου γὰρ δικαίου, εὐφρανθήσονται λαοὶ, ὁ σοφὸς ἡμῖν ἀρτίως ἔλεγε Σολομών.<br><br>‘On the martyr Gordios<br><br>Bees have the natural law not to leave their hives before their king (sic) leads the way in flight. And so, since I have now seen the Lord’s people going out so early to the heavenly flowers, the martyrs, I look for their leader. Who is he that has stirred up this great swarm? Who is he that has changed winter gloom into spring brightness? For, as early as this time, the people have poured forth out of the city in a crowd, as if from their beehives, and reached the jewel of the suburbs, this hallowed and most beautiful stadium of the martyrs. And so, since admiration for the martyr has raised and brought here even us, forgetting our feebleness, let us then also hum around the man’s works, as if on a flower, as much as our voice permits, thus doing both what is right and what is agreeable to those attending. Indeed, when the righteous is praised, the people will rejoice (Prov. 29:2), the wise Solomon has just told us.’<br><br>There follows an explanation of the biblical phrase as referring to the importance of studying the examples of righteous men like Moses, Joseph or Samson. Basil notes that an ecclesiastical sermon cannot conform to the norms of biographical panegyric which demands starting by praising one’s country and family origins. It would make no difference to start the talk by praising the past war trophies of the city, its landscape, men and wealth. These things lead to no spiritual improvement, and it is ridiculous to use them in praise of people who rejected the world. A commemoration of the actual deeds of the martyr is more than enough for his praise and for the edification of the congregation. <br><br>Καίτοι οὐδὲ τοῦτο μικρὸν, ἀκριβῶς τυχεῖν τῆς ἀληθείας τῶν τότε. Ἀμυδρὰ γάρ τις φήμη πρὸς ἡμᾶς διεδόθη, τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγώνων ἀνδραγαθίας τοῦ ἀνδρὸς διασώζουσα. Καί πως δοκεῖ τὸ καθ’ ἡμᾶς τῷ τῶν ζωγράφων προσεοικέναι. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι, ἐπειδὰν ἐξ εἰκόνων μεταγράφωσι τὰς εἰκόνας, πλεῖστον, ὡς εἰκὸς, τῶν ἀρχετύπων ἀπολιμπάνονται· καὶ ἡμᾶς, αὐτῆς τῆς θέας τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπολειφθέντας, κίνδυνος οὐ μικρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐλαττῶσαι. Ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὴ ἐνέστηκεν ἡ ἡμέρα ὑπόμνησιν φέρουσα μάρτυρος, ἐπιφανῶς τοῖς ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρίοις ἐναθλήσαντος, εἴπωμεν ὅσα οἴδαμεν. Οὗτος ἔφυ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ταύτης, ὅθεν καὶ μᾶλλον αὐτὸν ἀγαπῶμεν, διότι οἰκεῖος ἡμῖν ὁ κόσμος ἐστίν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ εὔκαρπα τῶν φυτῶν, οὓς ἂν ἐκθρέψῃ καρποὺς, τῇ οἰκείᾳ γῇ παρατίθεται· οὕτω καὶ οὗτος ἐκ τῶν λαγόνων τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀναδραμὼν, καὶ πρὸς μήκιστον ὕψος τῆς δόξης διαναστὰς, τῇ ἐνεγκούσῃ καὶ θρεψαμένῃ τῶν οἰκείων τῆς εὐσεβείας καρπῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ἐχαρίσατο. Καλοὶ μὲν γὰρ καὶ οἱ ἐκ τῆς ὑπερορίας καρποὶ, ὅταν ἡδεῖς τε ὦσι καὶ τρόφιμοι· πολλῷ μέντοι ἡδίους τῶν ἐπηλύδων οἱ ἡμεδαποὶ καὶ ἐγχώριοι, πρὸς τῇ ἀπολαύσει ἔτι καὶ καλλωπισμόν τινα ἡμῖν διὰ τῆς οἰκειότητος χαριζόμενοι.<br><br>‘But even this is no small task, to acquire an accurate and truthful sense of the events of that time. For it is only vague hearsay that has come down to us, preserving the feats of the man in his struggles. Our task somehow appears to resemble that of painters: indeed, when they copy pictures from pictures, they usually, and quite naturally, fall short of their models. And there is no mean danger that we also do injustice to truth, since we were not present to see the events. But since the day has come, which bears the memory of a martyr who was prominently distinguished in the martyrdom for Christ, let us say as much as we know. He hailed from this city, and, therefore, we love him even more, because his honour is our own. Just like fruitful plants offering the fruit they grow to their land, so too did he, having sprouted out of the womb of our land and risen to the loftiest height of glory, grant the enjoyment of the fruits of his piety to the land which had produced and reared him. Fruits from abroad are indeed good, when they are sweet and edible. Yet much more pleasant than the foreign are the local ones, from our own land, since, in addition to pleasure, they also give us some pride by being our own.’<br><br>The martyr is a native of Kaisareia and serves as a centurion in the army, when a bitter persecution against the church starts. General turmoil prevails in the city, as people get tortured, properties of Christians get plundered, houses are deserted, and people take refuge to the wilderness. Gordios resigns from his office and retreats to the wilderness where he purifies his spirit and has revelatory visions. He returns to the city during the public festival of a war-loving demon (probably Mars), while the whole town attends horse races. All the people, including Jews, pagans and several lax Christians are gathered in the stadium, when Gordios comes down from the mountain, enters the stadium, and before everyone declares that he is there for anyone that seeks and asks about him. The people are amazed by the sight of the man, thin, crooked and dirty after his long stay in the mountains, but shining with some kind of grace. As his name gets known, the crowd gets excited and the building is filled with noise. The heralds call for silence and they take Gordios before the magistrate who interrogates him. Gordios reports his name, origin, office, and the reasons for his flight, and declares that he is there in contempt of the magistrate’s orders and in order to demonstrate his faith to God. The magistrate is enraged and calls for tortures to be prepared for Gordios. The martyr says prayers reciting from the psalms, and provokes the torturers to harm him. Seeing that violence cannot bend Gordios’ determination, his torturers try to entice him with promises and frauds, at which he laughs. The magistrate condemns him to death, and the whole city comes out to watch. Some advise him to save his own life, and to denounce God by his words only, but not by his heart, but Gordios remains steadfast in his decision. He addresses those admonishing him, and advises them not to think of earthly life which is necessarily due to finish, but to seek eternal heavenly life. He crosses himself, and calmly gives himself up to martyrdom. The homily finishes as follows:<br><br>Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ στάδιον ἐκείνου τοῦ στεφανίτου. Αὕτη ἐπεῖδεν ἡ ἡμέρα τὸ θαυμαστὸν ἐκεῖνο θέαμα, ὃ οὐκ ἠμαύρωσεν ὁ χρόνος, οὐδὲ ἐξέλυσεν ἡ συνήθεια· οὐκ ἐνίκησεν ἡ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων ὑπερβολή. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸν ἥλιον ἀεὶ καθορῶντες, ἀεὶ θαυμάζομεν· οὕτω καὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐκείνου ἀεὶ νεαρὰν τὴν μνήμην ἔχομεν. Εἰς μνημόσυνον γὰρ αἰώνιον ἔσται δίκαιος, καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς, ἕως ἐστὶν ἡ γῆ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ παρὰ τῷ δικαίῳ κριτῇ· ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.<br><br>'This is the stadium of that crowned victor! This day witnessed that wonderful spectacle which time has not obscured, habit has not erased, and the passing of posterity has not defeated. Just as we always marvel, when we look at the sun, so do we also keep that man’s memory always fresh. For 'the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance' (Ps. 112.6), both among those in earth, as long as earth exists, and in heaven, and with the just Judge, to Whom be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.'<br><br>Text: PG 31, 489-508. Summary and translation: E. Rizos (using Allen 2003).