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the tyrant punishing, and some of them depart uncrowned, and are separated from their brothers unwillingly, and win the evil victory, having risked not to suffer.

IV. A mother was there, youthful and noble, a lover of her children and a lover of God at the same time, her maternal heart torn contrary to the law of nature. For she did not pity her children as they suffered, but was anxious that they might not suffer; nor did she long for those who had departed so much as she prayed for the remaining ones to be added to them; and her concern was more for these than for those who had passed on. For of the one group the struggle was doubtful, but of the other the end was secure; and some she had already committed to God, but for the others she was concerned that God might receive them. O manly soul in a woman's body! O wondrous and magnanimous advancement! O that sacrifice of Abraham, if I may dare say, and even greater! For he readily offered one, even if his only-begotten, and the one of the promise, and the one to whom the promise applied; and what is greater, he is established not only as the first-fruit and root of the race, but also of such sacrifices; but she consecrated a whole company of children to God, surpassing both mothers and priests, with victims eager for slaughter, rational whole-burnt-offerings, sacrifices hastening onward; she who showed her breasts, and reminded them of her nurturing, and held out her grey hair, and 35.917 offered her old age in place of supplication; not seeking salvation, but urging them on to suffer, and considering delay, not death, the danger; whom nothing bent, nor softened, nor made more timid; not dislocated limbs being displayed, not wheels being brought forward, not runners, not catapults, not the points of iron claws, not swords being sharpened, not cauldrons boiling, not fire being kindled, not a threatening tyrant, not the populace, not a spear-bearer pressing on, not their lineage being seen, not limbs being torn apart, not flesh being carded, not streams of blood flowing, not youth being spent, not the present terrors, not the expected hardships; and that which is most grievous to others in such circumstances, the prolongation of the peril, this was for her the lightest thing of all; for she luxuriated in the spectacle; and indeed, she somehow caused a delay in their sufferings, not only because of the variety of tortures brought forward, all of which they despised as no one despises even one; but also the persecutor's words being of many kinds, insulting, threatening, flattering; for what did he not set in motion to obtain what he hoped for?

V. And indeed, the children's answers to the tyrant, possessing so much wisdom and nobility at the same time, that all the good things of others gathered into one would be small in comparison to their endurance; and their endurance small in comparison to their intelligence in words; and it was possible for the same ones alone, both to suffer so and to philosophize in their answers to the persecutor's threats and the terrors set before them, by none of which were the noble children defeated, nor she who nobly bore them; but she, having placed herself above all things, and having mixed zeal with her love, gives herself as a noble funeral tribute to her children, following after those who had gone before; and how was this? by voluntarily going to her perils; and with what kind of funeral orations? For noble indeed were the children's words to the tyrant, and the noblest of noble things; for how could they not be? with which they drew themselves up for battle, and with which they struck down the tyrant; but nobler 35.920 were those of the mother, both exhorting before, and eulogizing after. What then were the children's words? For it is good to recount these to you, so that you may have a model, just as of their contest, so also of a martyr's words in such times. Different words came from different children, as each was armed by the persecutor's words, or the order of the perils, or the ambition of his soul; but to summarize in a type, they were of this kind: "For us, Antiochus, and for all who stand around, there is one King, God, from whom we have come, and to whom we shall return. And there is one lawgiver, Moses, whom we will not betray, nor insult; no, by the dangers for the man's virtue, and the many

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κολάζων ὁ τύραννος, καὶ ἀπέλθωσί τινες αὐτῶν ἀστεφάνωτοι, καὶ διαζευχθῶσι τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἄκοντες, καὶ τὴν κακὴν νίκην νικήσωσι τὸ μὴ παθεῖν κινδυνεύσαντες.

∆ʹ. Μήτηρ ἐκεῖ νεανικὴ καὶ γενναία, φιλόπαις ὁμοῦ καὶ φιλόθεος, καὶ τὰ μητρῷα σπλάγχνα σπαρασσομένη παρὰ τὸ εἰκὸς τῆς φύσεως. Οὐ γὰρ πάσχοντας ἠλέει τοὺς παῖδας, ἀλλ' ἠγωνία τὸ μὴ παθεῖν· οὐδὲ τοὺς ἀπελθόντας ἐπόθει μᾶλλον, ἢ προστεθῆναι τοὺς ὑπολειφθέντας ηὔχετο· καὶ τούτων ἦν αὐτῇ πλείων ὁ λόγος, ἢ τῶν μεταστάντων. Τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἀμφίβολος ἡ πάλη, τῶν δὲ ἀσφαλὴς ἡ κατάλυσις· καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἤδη Θεῷ παρετίθετο, τοὺς δὲ ὅπως λά βῃ Θεὸς ἐφρόντιζεν. Ὢ ψυχῆς ἀνδρείας ἐν γυναικείῳ τῷ σώματι! ὢ θαυμασίας ἐπιδόσεως καὶ μεγαλοψύ χου! ὢ τῆς Ἀβραμιαίου θυσίας ἐκείνης εἰ μή τι τολμητέον, καὶ μεῖζον! Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἕνα προσάγει προθύμως, εἰ καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ, καὶ τὸν ἐκ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, καὶ εἰς ὃν ἡ ἐπαγγελία· καὶ τὸ μεῖζον, ὅτι μὴ τοῦ γένους μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν τοι ούτων θυμάτων, ἀπαρχὴ καὶ ῥίζα καθίσταται· ἡ δὲ δῆμον ὅλων παίδων καθιέρωσε τῷ Θεῷ, νικήσασα καὶ μητέρας, καὶ ἱερέας, τοῖς θύμασι προθύ μοις εἰς σφαγὴν, ὁλοκαυτώμασι λογικοῖς, ἱερείοις ἐπειγομένοις· ἣ μαστοὺς παρεδείκνυ, καὶ ἀνα τροφῆς ὑπεμίμνησκε, καὶ προέτεινε τὴν πολιὰν, καὶ 35.917 τὸ γῆρας ἀνθ' ἱκετηρίας προὐβάλλετο· οὐ σωτηρίαν ζητοῦσα, τὸ δὲ παθεῖν ἐπείγουσα, καὶ κίνδυνον ἡγουμένη τὴν ἀναβολὴν, οὐ τὸν θάνατον· ἣν οὐ δὲν ἔκαμψεν, οὐδὲ ἐμαλάκισεν, οὐδὲ ἀτολμοτέραν ἐποίησεν· οὐκ ἀρθρέμβολα προτεινόμενα, οὐ τροχοὶ προβαλλόμενοι, οὐ τροχαντῆρες, οὐ καταπέλται, οὐκ ἀκμαὶ σιδηρῶν ὀνύχων, οὐ ξίφη θηγόμε να, οὐ λέβητες ζέοντες, οὐ πῦρ ἐγειρόμενον, οὐ τύραννος ἀπειλῶν, οὐ δῆμος, οὐ δορυφόρος κατεπείγων, οὐ γένος ὁρώμενον, οὐ μέλη διασπώμενα, οὐ σάρκες ξαινόμεναι, οὐχ αἵματος ὀχετοὶ ῥέοντες, οὐ νεότης δαπανωμένη, οὐ τὰ παρόντα δεινὰ, οὐ τὰ προσδοκώμενα χαλεπά· καὶ ὃ τοῖς ἄλλοις βαρύ τατόν ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις, ἡ τοῦ κινδύνου παρέκτασις, τοῦτο ἐκείνῃ τὸ κουφότατον ἦν· ἐνετρύ φα γὰρ τῷ θεάματι· καὶ γάρ πως καὶ τριβὴν ἐνεποίει τοῖς πάθεσιν, οὐ τὸ ποικίλον τῶν προσαγομένων βασάνων μόνον, ὧν πασῶν, ὡς οὐδὲ εἷς μιᾶς, κατεφρόνουν· ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ τοῦ διώκτου λόγοι πολυειδεῖς ὄν τες, ὑβρίζοντος, ἀπειλοῦντος, θωπεύοντος· τί γὰρ οὐ κινοῦντος πρὸς τὸ τυχεῖν ὧν ἤλπιζε;

Εʹ. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ τῶν παίδων αἱ πρὸς τὸν τύραν νον ἀποκρίσεις, τοσοῦτον ἔχουσαι τὸ σοφὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ γενναῖον, ὥστε μικρὰ μὲν εἶναι πρὸς τὴν ἐκεί νων καρτερίαν ἅπαντα τὰ τῶν ἄλλων καλὰ εἰς ἓν συναχθέντα· μικρὰν δὲ τὴν καρτερίαν πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων ἐν λόγοις σύνεσιν· καὶ τῶν αὐτῶν εἶναι μόνων, πάσχειν τε οὕτω καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν ἐν ταῖς ἀποκρίσεσι πρὸς τὰς τοῦ διώκοντος ἀπειλὰς, καὶ τοὺς προτεινομένους φόβους, ὧν οὐδενὸς ἡττῶντο οἱ γενναῖοι παῖδες, καὶ ἡ γενναιοτέρα τεκοῦσα· πάντων δὲ ἑαυτὴν ὑπεράνω θεῖσα, καὶ τῷ φίλτρῳ τὸν θυμὸν μίξασα, καλὸν ἐντάφιον δίδω σι τοῖς παισὶν ἑαυτὴν, ἐπαπελθοῦσα τοῖς προαπελθοῦ σι· καὶ τοῦτο πῶς; ἑκουσίως ἐπὶ τοὺς κινδύνους χω ρήσασα· καὶ μεθ' οἵων τῶν ἐπιταφίων; Καλοὶ μὲν γὰρ καὶ οἱ τῶν παίδων πρὸς τὸν τύραννον λόγοι, καὶ καλῶν κάλλιστοι· πῶς γὰρ οὔ; μεθ' ὧν παρετάξαντο, καὶ οἷς τὸν τύραννον ἔβαλον· καλλίους δὲ 35.920 καὶ οἱ τῆς μητρὸς, καὶ παρακλητικοὶ πρότερον, καὶ ὕστερον ἐπιτάφιοι. Τίνες οὖν οἱ τῶν παίδων λόγοι; Καλὸν γὰρ ἀπομνημονεῦσαι καὶ τούτων ὑμῖν, ἵν' ἔχητε τύπον, ὥσπερ ἀθλήσεως, οὕτω καὶ λόγων μαρ τυρικῶν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις καιροῖς. Ἄλλου μὲν ἄλλοι, καὶ ὡς ἕκαστον οἱ τοῦ διώκοντος λόγοι, ἢ τῶν κινδύ νων ἡ τάξις, ἢ τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ φιλότιμον ὥπλιζεν· ὡς δ' οὖν τύπῳ περιλαβεῖν, ἦσαν τοιοῦτοι· «Ἡμῖν, Ἀντίοχε, καὶ πάντες οἱ περιεστηκότες, εἷς μὲν βασι λεὺς ὁ Θεὸς, παρ' οὗ γεγόναμεν, καὶ πρὸς ὃν ἐπι στρέψομεν. Εἷς δὲ νομοθέτης ὁ Μωϋσῆς, ὃν οὐ προδώ σομεν, οὐδὲ καθυβρίσομεν· οὐ μὰ τοὺς ὑπὲρ ἀρε τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς κινδύνους, καὶ τὰ πολλὰ