2.  These are the reasons which have urged me to speak, and to address myself to this contest.  And at my late appearance, long after his praises have been set forth by so many, who have publicly and privately done him honour, let no one be surprised.  Yea, may I be pardoned by that divine soul, the object of my constant reverence!  And as, when he was amongst us, he constantly corrected me in many points, according to the rights of a friend and the still higher law; for I am not ashamed to say this, for he was a standard of virtue to us all; so now, looking down upon me from above, he will treat me with indulgence.  I ask pardon too of any here who are among his warmest admirers, if indeed anyone can be warmer than another, and we are not all abreast in our zeal for his good fame.  For it is not contempt which has caused me to fall short of what might have been expected of me:  nor have I been so regardless of the claims of virtue or of friendship; nor have I thought that to praise him befitted any other more than me.  No! my first reason was, that I shrunk from this task, for I will say the truth, as priests2    As priests, or, more generally, “as those who approach our temples.”  In the E. there were lavers at the entrance to the churches for the ablutions of intending worshippers. do, who approach their sacred duties before being cleansed both in voice and mind.  In the second place, I remind you, though you know it well, of the task3    Of the task, i.e., of restoring the orthodox faith in Constantinople. in which I was engaged on behalf of the true doctrine, which had been properly forced upon me, and had carried me from home, according, as I suppose, to the will of God, and certainly according to the judgment of our noble champion of the truth, the breath of whose life was pious doctrine alone, such as promotes the salvation of the whole world.  As for my bodily health, I ought not, perhaps, to dare to mention it, when my subject is a man so doughty in his conquest of the body, even before his removal hence, and who maintained that no powers of the soul should suffer hindrance from this our fetter.4    Fetter, i.e., the body.  So much for my defence.  I do not think I need labour it further, in speaking of him to you who know so clearly my affairs.  I must now proceed with my eulogy, commending myself to his God, in order that my commendations may not prove an insult to the man, and that I may not lag far behind all others; even though we all equally fall as far short of his due, as those who look upon the heavens or the rays of the Sun.

Ἃ μὲν οὖν πεποίηκέ μοι τὸν λόγον καὶ δι' ἃ τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦτον ἐνεστησάμην, ταῦτά ἐστιν. Εἰ δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀπήντηκα τοῦ καιροῦ δεύτερος καὶ μετὰ τοσούτους ἐπαινέτας, ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ τὰ ἐκείνου σεμνύναντας, μηδεὶς θαυμαζέτω. Ἀλλὰ συγγινωσκέτω μὲν ἡ θεία ἡ ψυχή, καὶ πάντ' ἐμοὶ σεβασμία καὶ νῦν καὶ πρότερον. Πάντως δὲ ὡς σὺν ἡμῖν ὢν ἐπηνώρθου πολλὰ τῶν ἐμῶν ὅρῳ τε φιλίας καὶ νόμῳ κρείττονι (οὐ γὰρ αἰσχύνομαι τοῦτο λέγειν, ὅτι καὶ πᾶσι νόμος ἦν ἀρετῆς), οὕτω καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς γενόμενος, συγγνώμων ἔσται τοῖς ἡμετέροις. Συγγινωσκέτωσαν δὲ καὶ ὑμῶν ὅσοι θερμότεροι τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐπαινέται, εἴπερ τις ἔστιν ἄλλου θερμότερος, ἀλλὰ μὴ τοῦτο μόνον πάντες ὁμότιμοι, τὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εὐφημίαν. Οὐ γὰρ ὀλιγωρίᾳ τὸ εἰκὸς ἐνελίπομεν: μή ποτε τοσοῦτον ἀμελήσαιμεν ἢ ἀρετῆς ἢ τοῦ φιλικοῦ καθήκοντος: οὐδὲ τῷ νομίζειν ἄλλοις μᾶλλον ἡμῶν προσήκειν τὸν ἔπαινον. Ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν ὤκνουν τὸν λόγον, εἰρήσεται γὰρ τἀληθές, ὥσπερ οἱ τοῖς ἱεροῖς προσιόντες, πρὶν καθαρθῆναι καὶ φωνὴν καὶ διάνοιαν. Ἔπειτα, οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντας μέν, ὑπομνήσω δ' οὖν ὅμως, ὧν μεταξὺ περὶ τὸν ἀληθῆ λόγον ἠσχολήμεθα κινδυνεύοντα, καλῶς βιασθέντες, καὶ κατὰ Θεὸν ἴσως ἔκδημοι γεγονότες, καὶ οὐδὲ ἀπὸ γνώμης ἐκείνῳ τῷ γενναίῳ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀγωνιστῇ καὶ μηδὲν ἕτερον ἀναπνεύσαντι ὅτι μὴ λόγον εὐσεβῆ καὶ κόσμου παντὸς σωτήριον. Τὰ γὰρ τοῦ σώματος ἴσως οὐδὲ θαρρῆσαι χρὴ λέγειν ἀνδρὶ γενναίῳ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ σῶμα πρὶν ἐνθένδε μεταναστῆναι, καὶ μηδὲν ἀξιοῦντι τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς καλῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσμοῦ παραβλάπτεσθαι. Τὰ μὲν δὴ τῆς ἀπολογίας ἐνταῦθα κείσθω: καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ μακροτέρας οἶμαι ταύτης δεήσειν ἡμῖν, πρὸς ἐκεῖνόν γε ποιουμένοις τὸν λόγον καὶ τοὺς εἰδότας σαφῶς τὰ ἡμέτερα. Ἤδη δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἡμῖν ἰτέον τὴν εὐφημίαν, αὐτὸν προστησαμένοις τοῦ λόγου τὸν ἐκείνου Θεόν, μὴ καθυβρίσαι τὸν ἄνδρα τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις, μηδὲ πολὺ δεύτερον τῶν ἄλλων ἐλθεῖν, κἂν ἐκείνου πάντες ἴσον ἀπολειπώμεθα, καθάπερ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἡλιακῆς ἀκτῖνος οἱ πρὸς αὐτὰ βλέποντες.