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for all his toil, with which he toils under the sun? {Of Dionysius.} For who, having become rich from earthly labors, being two cubits tall, became three cubits? Or being blind, regained his sight? Therefore labors must be sent above the sun; for there the toils of virtues pass through. 1.4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth stands forever. {σξηολια αυξτορις νομινε ξαρεντ} But not unto the ages. 1.5 The sun rises and draws toward its place. {Of Nyssa.} He shows that this great element runs everywhere and proceeds according to its own authority. For even if it changed its course, yet it draws toward its place. And he says this, wishing to reproach the human race, because it transgressed the law of God, which it received from the beginning. For this reason also a generation goes and a generation comes, and like leaves one sprouts and another falls and withers. But we would not have suffered this, if we had kept the law of God. 1.4bis But the earth stands forever. {Of Nyssa.} You therefore, holding to virtue, imitate the earth standing forever, you yourself having a short time for struggle. 1.8 All words are wearisome; a man will not be able to speak. {σξηολια αυξτορις νομινε ξαρεντ} Therefore the word strikes also those listening neglectfully. And the eye will not be filled with seeing, and the ear will not be filled from hearing. {Of Nilus.} For just as the perception of colors and shapes does not constrain the power of sight, nor do sounds of voices and words oppress hearing—for the insatiable is naturally present in both senses—so also vanity, once it has conquered the measure of need as an unattainable limit of creation, has fanned the flame of the desire's eagerness. 1.11 What is that which has been? The very thing that will be. And what is that which has been done? The very thing that will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. Who will speak and say: and behold, this is new, it has already been in the ages that have been before us. There is no remembrance of the first things, and indeed for the last things that will be, there will be no remembrance of them with those who will be in the end. {Of Nyssa.} As we object from what he said that, if all is vanity, nothing has come to be; for the vain is entirely non-existent. What then is that which will be, which remains in being? To which he replies saying: if you understand that which will be, you learn how it has already been. For consider what you will be like when purified and having recovered the divine characteristics, and you will know what was made according to the image and likeness of God. For this reason present things are called vanity, because that is not in the present things. Then having spoken of soul and body, he added, that, saying, by the [but] hands of God the body was made, which the resurrection itself will show in due time. Therefore he added consequently: there is nothing new under the sun so that someone pointing to this says: this is new and has truly existed. Then he contends, saying: it has already been in the ages before us. But if forgetfulness of what has happened has prevailed, it is not surprising; for even present things will be seized by forgetfulness. For this is what he means by there is no remembrance of the first things, and what follows; for the things that happen again in the last times will wipe out the memory of the evils that happened to men after the first good fortune. 1.1213 I, Ecclesiastes, became king, king of Israel in Jerusalem. And I gave my heart to seek and to search out in wisdom concerning all things that have come to be under the sun; because God has given an evil distraction to the sons of men to be distracted by it. {Of Didymus.} For I was not content with human dignities, nor did I incline to idleness and luxury, but I was searching not in the wisdom which the Greeks have, but in divine wisdom. And what was I searching for? Concerning all things that have come to be under the heaven. And what did I find after searching? That it is an evil distraction, and the rest. {Of Nyssa.} A distraction which he has established after the transgression, saying: in the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread. For this is laborious. And where there is distraction, there also is the choice of an evil spirit, since of distractions

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παντὶ μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ, ᾧ μοχθεῖ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον; {∆ιονυσίου.} Τίς γάρ, ἐκ τῆς τῶν γηΐνων ἐργασίας πλουτήσας, δίπηχυς ὑπάρχων τρίπηχυς ἐγένετο; Ἢ τυφλὸς ὢν ἀνέβλεψε; Οὐκοῦν ὑπὲρ τὸν ἥλιον τοὺς πόνους πεμπτέον· ἐκεῖ γὰρ οἱ μόχθοι τῶν ἀρετῶν διαβαίνουσιν. 1.4 Γενεὰ πορεύεται καὶ γενεὰ ἔρχεται, ἡ δὲ γῆ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἕστηκεν. {σξηολια αυξτορις νομινε ξαρεντ} Ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. 1.5 Ἀνατέλλει ὁ ἥλιος καὶ εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ ἕλκει. {Τοῦ Νύσσης.} ∆είκνυσιν ὅτι τὸ μέγα τοῦτο στοιχεῖον πανταχοῦ διατρέχει καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πορεύεται. Εἰ γὰρ ἂν καὶ τὸν δρόμον ἐνήλλαττεν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ ἕλκει. Τοῦτο δέ φησι ὀνειδίσαι βουλόμενος τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος, ὅπως παρέβη τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ νόμον, ὃν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐδέξατο. ∆ιὸ καὶ γενεὰ πορεύεται καὶ γενεὰ ἔρχεται, καὶ φύλλων δίκην τὸ μὲν φύει τὸ δὲ πίπτει καὶ μαραίνεται. Οὐκ ἂν δὲ τοῦτο πεπόνθαμεν, εἰ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ νόμον ἐφυλάξαμεν. 1.4βις Ἡ δὲ γῆ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἕστηκεν. {Τοῦ Νύσσης.} Σὺ οὖν κρατῶν ἀρετῆς μιμοῦ τὴν γῆν ἱσταμένην εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ὀλίγον αὐτὸς ἔχων τὸν τῆς ἀθλήσεως χρόνον. 1.8 Πάντες οἱ λόγοι ἔγκοποι· οὐ δυνήσεται ἀνὴρ τοῦ λαλεῖν. {σξηολια αυξτορις νομινε ξαρεντ} Πλήττει οὖν ὁ λόγος καὶ τοὺς ἠμελημένως ἀκροωμένους. Καὶ οὐκ ἐμπλησθήσεται ὀφθαλμὸς τοῦ ὁρᾶν, καὶ οὐ πληρωθήσεται οὖς ἀπὸ ἀκροάσεωσ. {Νείλου.} Ὡς γὰρ χρωμάτων καὶ σχημάτων ἀντίληψις οὐ στενοχωρεῖ τῆς ὁράσεως τὴν δύναμιν, οὐδὲ ἀκοὴν φωνῶν καὶ λόγων θλίβουσιν ἦχοιἀμφοτέραις γὰρ ταῖς αἰσθήσεσι φυσικῶς πάρεστι τὸ ἀπλήρωτονοὕτως καὶ ἡ ματαιότης, ἅπαξ νικήσασα τῆς χρείας τὸ σύμμετρον ὡς ἀνέφικτον ὅρον κτίσεως, ἐξερρίπισε τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τὸ πρόθυμον. 1.11 Τί τὸ γεγονός; Αὐτὸ τὸ γενησόμενον· καὶ τί τὸ πεποιημένον; Αὐτὸ τὸ ποιηθησόμενον· καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πᾶν πρόσφατον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον. Ὃς λαλήσει καὶ ἐρεῖ· καὶ ἴδε τοῦτο καινόν ἐστιν, ἤδη γέγονε τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς γενομένοις ἀπὸ ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν. Οὐκ ἔστι μνήμη τοῖς πρώτοις, καί γε τοῖς ἐσχάτοις γενησομένοις οὐκ ἔσται αὐτοῖς μνήμη μετὰ τῶν γενησομένων εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην. {Τοῦ Νύσσης.} Ὡς ἡμῶν ἐξ ὧν εἶπεν ἀντιτιθέντων ὅτι, εἰ πάντα ματαιότης, οὐδὲν γέγονε· τὸ γὰρ μάταιον πάντῃ ἀνύπαρκτον. Τί οὖν τὸ γενησόμενον, ὃ ἐν τῷ εἶναι μένει; Πρὸς ὃ ἀπαντῶν φησι· εἰ τὸ γενησόμενον νοήσεις, μανθά νεις ὡς γέγονεν ἤδη. Σκόπει γὰρ οἷος ἔσῃ καθαρθεὶς καὶ τοὺς θείους χαρακτῆρας ἀπολαβών, καὶ γνώσῃ τὸ γενόμενον κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ καὶ ὁμοίωσιν. ∆ιὸ τὰ παρόντα ματαιότης ὠνόμασται, διότι ἐκεῖνο ἐν τοῖς παροῦσιν οὐκ ἔστιν. Εἶτα περὶ ψυχῆς εἰπὼν καὶ σώματος ἐπενήνοχεν, ἐκεῖνο, λέγων, ταῖς [δὲ] χερσὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ σῶμα πεποίηται, ὃ δείξει τοῖς καθήκουσι χρόνοις αὐτὸ ἡ ἀνάστασις. Ἀκολούθως οὖν ἐπήγαγεν· οὐκ ἔστι πᾶν πρόσφατον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ὥστε τοῦτο δεικνῦντά τινα λέγειν· τοῦτο καινόν ἐστι καὶ τῷ ὄντι ὑφέστηκεν. Εἶτα ἐπαγωνίζεται λέγων· ἤδη γέγονεν ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν. Εἰ δὲ λήθη τῶν γεγενημένων ἐκράτησεν, οὐ θαυμαστόν· καὶ τὰ νῦν γὰρ ὄντα λήθῃ συλληφθήσεται. Τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ τὸ οὐκ ἔστιν τοῖς πρώτοις μνήμη, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· τῶν γὰρ μετὰ τὴν πρώτην εὐκληρίαν γεγονότων ἀνθρώποις κακῶν ἐξαλείψει τὴν μνήμην τὰ πάλιν ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις ἐπιγινόμενα. 1.1213 Ἐγὼ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς βασιλεὺς ἐγενόμην, βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ. Καὶ ἔδωκα τὴν καρδίαν μου τοῦ ἐκζητῆσαι καὶ τοῦ κατασκέψασθαι ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ περὶ πάντων τῶν γενομένων ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον· ὅτι περισπασμὸν πονηρὸν ἔδωκεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ περισπᾶσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ. {∆ιδύμου.} Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἠρκέσθην τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις ἀξιώμασιν, οὐδὲ πρὸς ῥαθυμίαν ἀπέκλινα καὶ τρυφήν, ἀλλὰ κατεσκοπούμην οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ οἵαν ἔχουσιν Ἕλληνες, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ θείᾳ σοφίᾳ. Τί δὲ κατεσκοπούμην; Περὶ πάντων τῶν γενομένων ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν· καὶ τί κατασκεψάμενος εὗρον; Ὅτι περισπασμὸν πονηρόν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. {Τοῦ Νύσσης.} Περισπασμὸν ὃν μετὰ τὴν παρακοὴν τέθεικε λέγων· ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου σου φάγῃ τὸν ἄρτον σου. Ἐπίπονον γὰρ τοῦτο. Ἔνθα δὲ περισπασμός, ἐκεῖ καὶ πονηροῦ προαίρεσις πνεύματος, ἐπειδὴ περισπασμῶν