Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrams

paternal; but nevertheless to all Cappadocians your great name has been left, and pillars much better than solid ones, in which you have been inscribed, this memorial to you from Gregory, whom you loved. 8.148 Placed in the bosom of Abraham, receive, Bassus, your child Carterius, truly in spirit; but I, even if the tomb should cover me with my father, will never stand apart from your union. 8.149 I, the holy earth, hide the body of Philtatius, a youth, a great adornment of a great people. 8.150 Eusebius, Basilissa, the renowned, lie here, the Christ-bearing offspring of the good Xolon, and the sacred body of holy Nonna. Whoever you are who passes by these tombs, remember the great souls. 8.151 Your mind was always toward heaven, nor did you set a footstep, not even a little one, on the lowly earth; for that reason you came so quickly from the earth. And Eulalius tends your dust, your brother, Helladius. 8.152 I, this place of prize-winners, hold Helladius, the young man, but great in Christ and of mature mind; it is no shame, for he endured a pain like theirs, quenching the toil of the envious adversary. 8.153 You breathed but a short time on earth by the body's necessity, but you have a greater portion of life on high, Helladius, great glory of Christ; and if you were released from your bonds so quickly, this is the prize of your labors. 8.154 You also, dear body of Georgius, lie here, you who sent many pure sacrifices to Christ; and with her brother in body and mind, the great Basilissa has a common tomb as she had a common life. 8.155 I, this great land of Arianzus, hold Eupraxios, high priest of this sacred land, friend and contemporary and fellow traveler of Gregory; for that reason he also obtained a neighboring tomb. 8.156 Naucratius was once loosing a fishing-net from a deep rock in the roaring eddies of the river; and he did not loose it, but was caught himself. How did the net draw in the fisherman instead of fish? Tell, O Word, that Naucratius, the rule of a pure life, as I suppose, found both grace and his fate from the waters. 8.157 Naucratius died in the whirl of an envious river, entangled in the bonds of a deep net, so that you may learn, mortal, the games of this life, from where this colt, running to the heights, was taken up. 8.158 Naucratius, released from the bonds of the woven net, was released from the bonds of this life by fishing. 8.159 I was born of noble blood, I stood in the courts of a king, I raised a vainglorious brow. Having scattered everything, when Christ called me, I set my foot on the many paths of life with the stirrings of desire, until I found the steady path, wasting my body with many pains for Christ; and now, I, Maxentius, flew up lightly from here. 8.160 My heart trembles, Maxentius, as it writes your name, you who came upon the harsh road of life, immortal, steep, and joyless; of you, most excellent one, not even a Christian approaches your tomb without trembling. 8.161 Emmelia is dead. Who said it? She who gave the light of life to so many and such children, sons and daughters, married and unmarried; blessed with children and with many children was she alone of mortals. Three of hers were glorious priests, another the wife of a priest, and those near her like an army of the pious. 8.162 Amazement seized me seeing so great and such offspring of Emmelia, the whole blessedness of a great womb; but when I considered her herself, a possession of Christ, Emmelia of pious blood, I said this: "It is no great thing; the root is so great. This is for you the sacred prize of piety, O most excellent one, the honor of your children, for whom you had one desire." 8.163 I, dust, hold a radiant virgin, if you have heard of one Macrina, the firstborn of the great Emmelia; she escaped the eyes of all men, but now she is on the tongue of all and has a glory greater than all. 8.164 And you, Theosebia, child of renowned Emmelia, wife of the great Gregory, truly you went under the sacred earth here, a bulwark of pious women; and you were released from life in your prime. 8.165 The great priest Gregory placed his nephew Gregory here, laying him beside the pure Martyrs, a flourishing, fresh-faced youth; but the former hopes of his old age's support are not even dust. 8.166 If struggles are pleasing to dancers, then let luxury be pleasing to prize-winners; for these are opposites. But if struggles are not for dancers, nor luxury for athletes, how do you bring gifts to the Martyrs—silver, wine, food, belchings? Is he then just, who fills his pouches, even if he is most unjust? 8.167 Martyrs,

πατρώιος· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔμπης πᾶσιν Καππαδόκεσσι μέγ' οὔνομα σεῖο λέλειπται καὶ στῆλαι παγίων μέγ' ἀμείνονες, αἷς ἐνιγράφθης, Γρηγορίου τόδε σοι μνημήιον, ὃν φιλέεσκες. 8.148 Ὡς Ἀβραὰμ κόλποισι τεθεὶς ὑποδέχνυσο, Βάσσε, σὸν τέκος ἀτρεκέως πνεύματι Καρτέριον· αὐτὰρ ἐγών, εἰ καί με τάφος σὺν πατρὶ καλύπτοι, οὔποτ' ἀφ' ὑμετέρης στήσομ' ὁμοζυγίης. 8.149 Ἠίθεον μεγάλοιο μέγαν κοσμήτορα λαοῦ χθὼν ἱερὴ κεύθω Φιλτατίοιο δέμας. 8.150 Εὐσέβιον, Βασίλισσα μεγακλέες ἐνθάδε κεῖνται, Ξώλων ἠγαθέων θρέμματα χριστοφόρων, καὶ Νόννης ζαθέης ἱερὸν δέμας. ὅστις ἀμείβεις τούσδε τάφους, ψυχῶν μνώεο τῶν μεγάλων. 8.151 Αἰεί σοι νόος ἦεν ἐς οὐρανὸν οὐδ' ἐπὶ γαίης ἤρειδες χθαμαλῆς ἴχνιον οὐδ' ὀλίγον· τοὔνεκεν ὡς τάχος ἦλθες ἀπὸ χθονός· Εὐλάλιος δὲ σὴν κόνιν ἀμφιέπει σὸς κάσις, Ἑλλάδιε. 8.152 Τὸν νεαρόν, Χριστῷ δὲ μέγαν πολιόν τε νόημα χῶρος ὅδ' ἀθλοφόρων Ἑλλάδιον κατέχω· οὐ νέμεσις· κείνοις γὰρ ὁμοίιον ἄλγος ἀνέτλη σβεννὺς ἀντιπάλου τοῦ φθονεροῖο μόθον. 8.153 Μικρὸν μὲν πνείεσκες ἐπὶ χθονὶ σαρκὸς ἀνάγκῃ, πλείονα δὲ ζωῆς ὑψόθι μοῖραν ἔχεις, Ἑλλάδιε, Χριστοῖο μέγα κλέος· εἰ δὲ τάχιστα δεσμῶν ἐξελύθης, τοῦτο γέρας καμάτων. 8.154 Καὶ σύ, Γεωργίοιο φίλον δέμας, ἐνθάδε κεῖσαι, ὃς πολλὰς Χριστῷ πέμψας ἁγνὰς θυσίας· σὺν δὲ κασιγνήτη σῶμα, φρένας, ἡ Βασίλισσα, ξυνὸν ἔχει μεγάλη καὶ τάφον ὡς βίοτον. 8.155 Χώρης τῆσδ' ἱερῆς Εὐπράξιον ἀρχιερῆα ἥδ' Ἀριανζαίη χθὼν μεγάλη κατέχω, Γρηγορίοιο φίλον καὶ ἥλικα καὶ συνοδίτην· τοὔνεκα καὶ τύμβου γείτονος ἠντίασεν. 8.156 Ἰχθυβόλον ποτ' ἔλυε λίνον βυθίης ἀπὸ πέτρης Ναυκράτιος δίναις ἐν ποταμοῦ βρυχίαις· καὶ τὸ μὲν οὐκ ἀνέλυσεν, ὁ δ' ἔσχετο. πῶς ἁλιῆα εἴρυσεν ἀνθ' ἁλίης δίκτυον; εἰπέ, Λόγε, Ναυκράτιον, καθαροῖο βίου νόμον, ὥσπερ ἐίσκω, καὶ χάριν ἐλθέμεναι καὶ μόρον ἐξ ὑδάτων. 8.157 Ναυκράτιος στροφάλιγγι θάνε φθονεροῦ ποταμοῖο, δεσμοῖσιν βυθίης ἄρκυος ἐνσχόμενος, ὥς κε μάθῃς σύ, θνητέ, τὰ παίγνια τοῦδε βίοιο, ἔνθεν ἀνηέρθη πῶλος ὅδ' ἄκρα θέων. 8.158 Ναυκράτιος πλεκτοῖο λίνου δεσμοῖσιν ἐλυσθεὶς δεσμῶν τοῦδε βίου ἐξ ἁλίης ἐλύθη. 8.159 Αἵματος εὐγενέος γενόμην, βασιλῆος ἐν αὐλαῖς ἔστην, ὀφρὺν ἄειρα κενόφρονα. πάντα κεδάσσας, Χριστὸς ἐπεί με κάλεσσε, βίου πολλαῖσιν ἀταρποῖς ἴχνος ἔρεισα πόθοιο τινάγμασιν, ἄχρις ἀνεῦρον τὴν σταθερὴν Χριστῷ τήξας δέμας ἄλγεσι πολλοῖς· καὶ νῦν κοῦφος ἄνω Μαξέντιος ἔνθεν ἀνέπτην. 8.160 Πάλλετ' ἐμοὶ κραδίη, Μαξέντιε, σεῖο γράφουσα οὔνομα, ὃς στυφελὴν ἦλθες ὁδὸν βιότου, ἄμβροτον, αἰπήεσσαν, ἀτερπέα· σεῖο, φέριστε, ἄτρομος οὐδὲ τάφῳ χριστιανὸς πελάει. 8.161 Ἐμμέλιον τέθνηκε. τίς ἔφρασεν; ἥ γε τοσούτων καὶ τοίων τεκέων δῶκε φάος βιότῳ, υἱέας ἠδὲ θύγατρας ὁμόζυγας ἀζυγέας τε, εὔπαις καὶ πολύπαις ἥδε μόνη μερόπων. τρεῖς μὲν τῆσδ' ἱερῆες ἀγακλέες, ἡ δ' ἱερῆος σύζυγος, οἱ δὲ πέλας ὡς στρατὸς εὐαγέων. 8.162 Θάμβος ἔχεν μ' ὁρόωντα τόσον γόνον Ἐμμελίοιο καὶ τοῖον, μεγάλης νηδύος ὄλβον ὅλον· ὡς δ' αὐτὴν φρασάμην Χριστοῦ κτέαρ, εὐσεβὲς αἷμα, Ἐμμέλιον, τόδ' ἔφην· «Οὐ μέγα· ῥίζα τόση. τοῦτό σοι εὐσεβίης ἱερὸν γέρας, ὦ παναρίστη, τιμὴ σῶν τεκέων, οἷς πόθον εἶχες ἕνα.» 8.163 Παρθένον αἰγλήεσσαν ἔχω κόνις, εἴ τιν' ἀκούεις Μακρίναν, Ἐμμελίου πρωτότοκον μεγάλης· ἣ πάντων ἀνδρῶν λάθεν ὄμματα, νῦν δ' ἐνὶ πάντων γλώσσῃ καὶ πάντων φέρτερον εὖχος ἔχει. 8.164 Καὶ σύ, Θεοσσέβιον, κλεινῆς τέκος Ἐμμελίοιο, Γρηγορίου μεγάλου σύζυγε, ἀτρεκέως ἐνθάδε τὴν ἱερὴν ὑπέδυς χθόνα, ἕρμα γυναικῶν εὐσεβέων· βιότου δ' ὥριος ἐξελύθης. 8.165 Γρηγόριον μήτρως, ἱερεὺς μέγας, ἐνθάδ' ἔθηκε Γρηγόριος καθαροῖς Μάρτυσι παρθέμενος, ἠίθεον θαλέθοντα νεόχνοον· αἱ δὲ πάροιθεν τῆς γηροτροφίης ἐλπίδες οὐδὲ κόνις. 8.166 Εἰ φίλον ὀρχησταῖς ἀθλήματα, καὶ φίλον ἔστω θρύψις ἀεθλοφόροις· ταῦτα γὰρ ἀντίθετα. εἰ δ' οὐκ ὀρχησταῖς ἀθλήματα οὐδὲ ἀθληταῖς ἡ θρύψις, πῶς σὺ Μάρτυσι δῶρα φέρεις ἄργυρον, οἶνον, βρῶσιν, ἐρεύγματα; ἦ ῥα δίκαιος, ὃς πληροῖ θυλάκους, κἂν ἀδικώτατος ᾖ; 8.167 Μάρτυρες,