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labor so intense, but little and light, and this for the sake of guarding what is found. For things that are found with ease also seem to many to be easily despised. There is no disturbance of waves in the sea of the Scriptures, but this sea is calmer than any harbor; 54.591 there is no need to be carried down to the gloomy gulfs of the abyss, nor to entrust the safety of the body to the rush of irrational waters; but here the light is great, and brighter than the rays themselves, and the calm is great, and all disturbance is out of the way, and the profit of what is found is so great that it is not possible to express in words. Let us not then grow weary, but let us undertake the search. You have heard that God made man in the image of God; and what this "In our image" and "after our likeness" is, we have said: that it is not an identity of substance, but a similarity of rule. And "After our likeness" means to be gentle and meek, and to be assimilated to God in power according to the principle of virtue, as Christ says: "Be like my Father who is in heaven." For just as in this wide and spacious earth some of the animals are more irrational, and others more bestial; so also in the breadth of our soul, some of our thoughts are more irrational and brutish, and others more bestial and savage. It is necessary, therefore, to master and overcome them, and to hand over the rule of them to reason. And how, he says, can one overcome a bestial thought? What are you saying, man? We overcome lions, and we tame their souls, and you doubt whether you will be able to change the bestiality of a thought to gentleness? And yet for the lion, wildness is according to nature, but gentleness is contrary to nature; but for you it is the opposite, affability is according to nature, but bestiality is contrary to nature. He, therefore, who casts out what is according to nature, and implants what is contrary to nature in the soul of the beast, will you not be able to preserve in your own soul what is according to nature? And of how much sloth would this not be a sign? And in the case of the lion's soul, there is another difficulty besides this; for the soul of the beast is devoid of reason. But nevertheless you have often seen lions gentler than sheep being led through the marketplace, and many of those in the workshops have often paid down silver to the one holding it, as a kind of wage for the art and wisdom by which he tamed the beast; but in your soul there is both reason, and fear of God, and much help from many sources. Do not, therefore, give me excuses and pretexts. For it is possible, if you wish, for you to be gentle and meek. Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let them rule over the beasts. 2. Here the Greeks attack us, and say that the saying is false; for we do not rule the beasts; they rule us, and cause us much distress. In the first place, then, this is not true; for even the sight of a human being appearing is enough to make a beast get out of the way; so great is their fear of us. But if somewhere one should rush to its own defense, either compelled by hunger, or because we ourselves often hem them in, and drive them to necessity, this then would not be a sign of perfected rule. For neither, if one of us, seeing robbers approaching, were to arm himself, and proceed to defense, is the matter one of rule, but of great foresight for one's own 54.592 safety; however, I do not make my defense from this, but from another point, which it is also useful for you to hear. We fear the beasts and are afraid, and have fallen from our rule; I do not deny it; I myself also say so; but this does not show the law of God to be false. For in the beginning things were not so, but it feared and trembled, and submitted, as to a master, to man, but since we fell from our boldness and our honor, for this reason we fear them. From where is this clear? God brought the beasts to Adam, to see what he would call them; and not

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πόνος οὕτως ἐπιτεταμένος, ἀλλ' ὀλίγος καὶ κοῦφος, καὶ οὗτος διὰ τὴν τῶν εὑρισκομένων φυλακήν. Τὰ γὰρ μετ' εὐκολίας εὑρισκόμενα καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητα πολλοῖς εἶναι δοκεῖ. Οὐκ ἔστι κυμάτων ταραχὴ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῶν Γραφῶν, ἀλλὰ παντὸς λιμένος εὐδιώτερον τοῦτο τὸ πέλαγος· 54.591 οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνάγκη πρὸς τοὺς ζοφεροὺς τῆς ἀβύσσου κόλπους κατενεχθῆναι, οὐδὲ ὑδάτων ἀλόγων ῥύμῃ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἐπιτρέψαι σωτηρίαν· ἀλλὰ πολὺ μὲν ἐνταῦθα τὸ φῶς, καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀκτίνων φαιδρότερον, πολλὴ δὲ ἡ γαλήνη, πᾶσα δὲ ἐκποδὼν ταραχὴ, καὶ τῶν εὑρισκομένων τοσοῦτον τὸ κέρδος, ὅσον οὐδὲ λόγῳ παραστῆσαι δυνατόν. Μὴ τοίνυν ἀποκάμωμεν, ἀλλ' ἐπιχειρήσωμεν τῇ ζητήσει Ἠκούσατε ὅτι κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ τί ποτέ ἐστι τὸ Κατ' εἰκόνα τοῦτο καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν εἰρήκαμεν· ὅτι οὐκ οὐσίας ἀπαραλλαξία, ἀλλ' ἀρχῆς ὁμοιότης· τὸ δὲ, Καθ' ὁμοίωσιν, τὸ ἥμερον εἶναι καὶ πρᾶον, καὶ εἰς δύναμιν ἐξομοιοῦσθαι τῷ Θεῷ κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς λόγον, ὥς φησιν ὁ Χριστός· Γίνεσθε ὅμοιοι τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν τῇ γῇ τῇ πλατείᾳ καὶ εὐρυχώρῳ ταύτῃ τῶν ζώων τὰ μέν εἰσιν ἀλογώτερα, τὰ δὲ θηριωδέστερα· οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ πλάτει τῆς ἡμετέρας ψυχῆς, τῶν λογισμῶν οἱ μὲν εἰσὶν ἀλογώτεροι καὶ κτηνώδεις, οἱ δὲ θηριωδέστεροι καὶ ἀγριώτεροι. ∆εῖ τοίνυν αὐτῶν κρατεῖν καὶ περιγίνεσθαι, καὶ τῷ λογισμῷ τὴν τούτων ἀρχὴν παραδιδόναι. Καὶ πῶς ἄν τις περιγένοιτο λογισμοῦ θηριώδους, φησί; Τί λέγεις, ἄνθρωπε; Τῶν λεόντων περιγινόμεθα, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν ἡμεροῦμεν, καὶ ἀμφιβάλλεις εἰ λογισμοῦ θηριωδίαν πρὸς ἡμερότητα δυνήσῃ μεταβαλεῖν; Καίτοι τῷ λέοντι μὲν κατὰ φύσιν τὸ ἄγριον, παρὰ φύσιν δὲ τὸ ἥμερον· σοὶ δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον, κατὰ φύσιν μὲν τὸ προσηνὲς, παρὰ φύσιν δὲ ἡ θηριωδία. Ὁ τοίνυν τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ἐκβάλλων, καὶ τὸ παρὰ φύσιν ἐντιθεὶς τῇ τοῦ θηρίου ψυχῇ, ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῇ τὸ κατὰ φύσιν οὐ δυνήσῃ διατηρῆσαι; καὶ πόσης οὐκ ἂν εἴη τοῦτο ῥᾳθυμίας; Καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τῆς τῶν λεόντων ψυχῆς καὶ ἑτέρα δυσκολία μετὰ ταύτης ἐστί· λογισμῶν γάρ ἐστιν ἔρημος ἡ τοῦ θηρίου ψυχή. Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἑωράκατε πολλάκις λέοντας προβάτων ἡμερωτέρους διὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀγομένους, καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἐργαστηρίοις ἀργύριον πολλάκις κατέβαλον τῷ κατέχοντι, μισθόν τινα τῆς τέχνης καὶ τῆς σοφίας, δι' ἧς τὸ θηρίον ἡμέρωσεν· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς σῆς ψυχῆς καὶ λογισμός ἐστι, καὶ Θεοῦ φόβος, καὶ πολλὴ πολλαχόθεν ἡ βοήθεια. Μὴ τοίνυν σκήψεις μοι λέγε καὶ προφάσεις. ∆υνατὸν γὰρ, ἐὰν θέλῃς, ἥμερόν σε εἶναι καὶ πρᾶον. Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν, καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν θηρίων. βʹ. Ἐνταῦθα Ἕλληνες ἡμῖν ἐπιφύονται, καί φασι τὸ λόγιον ψεύδεσθαι· οὐ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἄρχομεν τῶν θηρίων· αὐτὰ ἡμῶν ἄρχει, καὶ πολλὴν ἡμῖν ἐμβάλλει τὴν ἀγωνίαν. Μάλιστα μὲν οὖν τοῦτο οὐκ ἀληθές· ἀρκεῖ γὰρ καὶ ὄψις ἀνθρωπίνη φανεῖσα ἐκποδὼν ποιῆσαι θηρίον· τοσοῦτος αὐτοῖς ἐστι παρ' ἡμῖν ὁ φόβος. Εἰ δέ που πρὸς ἄμυναν ὁρμήσειεν, ἢ λιμοῦ καταναγκάζοντος, ἢ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν στενοχωρούντων πολλάκις, καὶ πρὸς ἀνάγκην ἐκβαλλομένων αὐτὰ, τοῦτο οὖν οὐκ ἂν εἴη ἀρχῆς ἀπηρτισμένης. Οὐδὲ γὰρ, εἴ τις ἡμῶν λῃστὰς ἐπιόντας ὁρῶν ὁπλίζοιτο, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄμυναν χωροίη, ἀρχῆς τὸ πρᾶγμά ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς οἰ 54.592 κείας σωτηρίας πολλὴ πρόνοια· πλὴν οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν ποιοῦμαι τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ἀλλ' ἑτέρωθεν, ὅθεν καὶ ὑμῖν χρήσιμον ἀκοῦσαι. Φοβούμεθα τὰ θηρία καὶ δεδοίκαμεν, καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκπεπτώκαμεν· οὐκ ἀντιλέγω· φημὶ καὶ αὐτός· ἀλλ' οὐ τοῦτο ψευδῆ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμον δείκνυσι. Παρὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐχ οὕτω τὰ πράγματα διέκειτο, ἀλλ' ἐδεδοίκει καὶ ἔτρεμε, καὶ ὑπέκυπτεν, ὡς δεσπότῃ, τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῆς παῤῥησίας ἐξεπέσομεν καὶ τῆς τιμῆς, διὰ τοῦτο δεδοίκαμεν αὐτά. Πόθεν τοῦτο δῆλον; Ἤγαγεν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ θηρία πρὸς τὸν Ἀδὰμ, ἰδεῖν τί καλέσει αὐτά· καὶ οὐκ