E00338: Five poems in Greek, ascribed to Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390), rebuke excessive feasting and drinking, and the offering of gold, silver and food during festivals at the shrines of martyrs. Probably written in Cappadocia (central Asia Minor); recorded in the 10th c. Greek Anthology.
Creators: name: Admin, CSLA
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2015
Subjects: History

description: Greek Anthology, Book 8 (Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrams ), 166-169, 175<br><br>166.<br>Εἰ φίλον ὀρχησταῖς ἀθλήματα, καὶ φίλον ἔστω<br>θρύψις ἀεθλοφόροις· ταῦτα γὰρ ἀντίθετα.<br>εἰ δ’ οὐκ ὀρχησταῖς ἀθλήματα οὐδὲ ἀθληταῖς<br>ἡ θρύψις, πῶς σὺ Μάρτυσι δῶρα φέρεις<br>ἄργυρον, οἶνον, βρῶσιν, ἐρεύγματα; ἦ ῥα δίκαιος<br>ὃς πληροῖ θυλάκους, κἂν ἀδικώτατος ᾖ;<br><br>‘If the feats of martyrdom are dear to dancers, then let luxury be dear to the victorious martyrs. But these two things are contrasting. Now if these pains are not for dancers nor luxury for martyrs, how is it that you offer the martyrs, silver, wine, food, belching? Can the man who fills his guts be righteous, even if he be most unjust?’<br><br><br>167. <br>Μάρτυρες, εἴπατε ἄμμιν ἀληθῶς, εἰ φίλον ὑμῖν<br>αἱ σύνοδοι; τί μὲν οὖν ἥδιον; ἀντὶ τίνος;<br>τῆς ἀρετῆς· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἀμείνους ὧδε γένοιντ᾿ ἄν,<br>εἰ τιμῷτ᾿ ἀρετή. τοῦτο μὲν εὖ λέγετε.<br>ἡ δὲ μέθη, τό τε γαστρὸς ὑπάρχειν τοὺς θεραπευτὰς<br>ἄλλοις· ἀθλοφόρων ἔκλυσις ἀλλοτρία.<br><br>'Tell us, martyrs, truly: are gatherings pleasing to you?<br>- What could be dearer?<br>- But for what purpose?<br>- For the sake of virtue. For, if virtue was honoured here, many would become better.<br>- You are right in this. But drunkenness and enslavement to the belly is for others. Intemperance is alien to the victors.’<br><br><br>168. <br>Μὴ ψεύδεσθ’, ὅτι γαστρὸς ἐπαινέται εἰσὶν ἀθληταί·<br>λαιμῶν οἵδε νόμοι, ὠγαθοί, ὑμετέρων·<br>Μάρτυσι δ’ εἰς τιμὴν ἓν ἐπίσταμαι· ὕβριν ἐλαύνειν<br>ψυχῆς καὶ δαπανᾶν δάκρυσι τὴν πιμελήν.<br><br>'Do not lie that the victors endorse the belly. These are laws of your own glutton gullets, good people. I know only one way of honouring the martyrs: drive away sin from your soul, and consume your fatness by your tears.'<br><br><br>169. <br>Μαρτύρομ᾿, ἀθλοφόροι καὶ μάρτυρες· ὕβριν ἔθηκαν<br>τιμὰς ὑμετέρας οἱ φιλογαστορίδαι.<br>οὐ ζητεῖτε τράπεζαν ἐΰπνοον, οὐδὲ μαγείρους·<br>οἱ δ᾿ ἐρυγὰς παρέχουσ᾿ ἀντ᾿ ἀρετῆς τὸ γέρας.<br><br>'Be my witnesses, victors and martyrs: the belly-lovers have turned your veneration into sin. You seek no sweet-smelling table, nor cooks. But they offer you belching rather than the treasure of righteousness.'<br><br><br>175. <br>Δαίμοσιν εἰλαπίναζον, ὅσοις τὸ πάροιθε μεμήλει<br>δαίμοσιν ἦρα φέρειν, οὐ καθαρὰς θαλίας·<br>τούτου Χριστιανοὶ λύσιν εὕρομεν, ἀθλοφόροισι<br>στησάμεθ᾿ ἡμετέροις πνευματικὰς συνόδους.<br>νῦν δέ τι τάρβος ἔχει με· ἀκούσατε οἱ φιλόκωμοι·<br>πρὸς τοὺς δαιμονικοὺς αὐτομολεῖτε τύπους.<br><br>'Those who once wished to worship demons celebrated impure banquets in honour of the demons. We Christians abolished this, and instituted spiritual gatherings for our victorious martyrs. But now I am in some dread. Listen to me, revellers: you desert us for the rites of the devils.'<br><br><br>Text and translation: Paton 1919; translation modified.