Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrams

A wall at the foothills and upright; then from there a tomb was sloping back from its flanks as they gathered to one point, a mound upon a mound. But what of these things? Nothing to the gold-lovers, who shook me all over. 8.186 Let the dead have dead things and memorials; but he who raises a splendid tomb for the dust, may he suffer such things; for this man would not have plundered my tomb, unless he had hoped to get gold from the dead. 8.187 Who of whom? The stele will not say; for it was destroyed before the tomb. What time? This is a mark of ancient workmanship. But who plundered you? Say; this is murder. -"The sinful hands of a neighbor." -To take what? -"Gold." -May he have darkness. 8.188 Whoever you are that pass by my monument, know that I suffered these things unjustly at the hands of the new heir; for I did not have gold and silver, but was thought to, gleaming with such great beauty of my flanks. 8.189 Stand near and weep, seeing this tomb of a dead man, if he ever was, now again the tomb of a destructive man. I am a monument, that no other mortal should raise a tomb. What is the use, if it is to be destroyed by gold-loving hands? 8.190 Life and the keys of unsmiling death and the depths of dark oblivion and the dead, how did someone dare to lay hands upon my tomb? How did he dare? Not even piety cares for the dead. 8.191 I, the tomb, am wounded with unseemly blows, I am wounded, like some man in grievous battle. These things are dear to mortals, but how lawless the cause. I am scraped bare of gold, having only the corpse. 8.192 By the God of strangers I beseech you, whoever passes my tomb, to say: "May you suffer such things, you who did this." - "I do not know what dead man the tomb holds; but I will say, pouring out tears: May you suffer such things, you who did this." 8.193 Leaving everything, both the corners of the earth and the ends of the sea, you came, longing to have the gold of my corpse. I have a dead body and the wrath of the one who is lost; if anyone comes, these things, if he wants to plunder, we will give gladly. 8.194 If I alone gave gold to you alone, would you not have guarded that which you had taken, or would you have been too wicked? But if you dig up a tomb, a sacred trust, and this for gold, tell me, of what are you worthy? 8.195 Bury the living. For why do you dig up the dead? They are worthy of tombs, who have let you live thus, the insolent and gold-loving man who preys on the departed. 8.196 And will you, wretched one, with your hands either receive the mystic food boldly or call upon God, with the hands with which you dug through my tomb? Truly the just have no advantage, if you should escape punishment. 8.197 Justice says: "What trust is there, when you have destroyed, dear Earth, the corpse I gave to your flanks for the one who perished?" - "The earth did not shake me; a wicked man destroyed me, and for the sake of love of gain; him I hold." 8.198 Before, these things were inviolable: God, the corpse. But God is gracious; but as for the corpse, the tomb-wrecker will see. 8.199 Surely the Furies will spin you about; but I will weep for the dead, I will weep for the pollution of the hand. 8.200 Cease, tomb-builders, yes cease to hide the dead in the depths of the earth; yield to the tomb-wreckers. These too are the contrivances of the dead, to heap up such monuments, so that they may find a gold-loving hand. 8.201 Who moved you, insatiable one, to exchange so great an evil for so small a gain, one not even present? 8.202 Steles and tombs, a long farewell, monuments of the dead; no longer will I proclaim the dead with memorials, since a neighbor has destroyed my famous tomb. Dear earth, you receive my dead for me. 8.203 Steles and flat rocks in the mountains, works of Giants, tombs and imperishable memory of the dead, may an earthquake shake all things to help my dead, upon whom a destructive iron-bearing hand came. 8.204 When you broke open the renowned tomb on the mountain, savage Titan, how did you look upon the dead, and when you saw them, how were your hands on their bones? Perhaps they would have held you there, if it were right for these to have one tomb. 8.205 Monuments and ashes and bones and you attendant spirits, who inhabit this hill of the one who perished, punish this sinner, who has plundered you. How great a tear for you from the neighbors. 8.206 Tombs and peaks and mountains and passers-by, weep for my tomb, weep for the tomb-wrecker; and let Echo, the last messenger from the rocks, resound in answer from these neighbors: "Weep for the tomb-wrecker." 8.207 Kill, plunder, evil men of evil gain; no one will restrain the love of money, if you dared these things, evil-doer,

Τοῖχος ἐνὶ προπόδεσσι καὶ ὄρθιος· ἔνθεν ἔπειτα ὕπτιος ἐκ λαγόνων εἰς ἓν ἀγειρομένων τύμβος ἔην, καθύπερθε λόφου λόφος. ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα; οὐδὲν χρυσοφίλαις, οἵ μ' ἐτίναξαν ὅλον. 8.186 Νεκρῶν νεκρὰ πέλοι καὶ μνήματα· ὃς δ' ἀνεγείρει τύμβον ἀριπρεπέα τῇ κόνι, τοῖα πάθοι· οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὗτος ἀνὴρ τὸν ἐμὸν τάφον ἐξαλάπαξεν, εἰ μὴ χρυσὸν ἔχειν ἤλπετο ἐκ νεκύων. 8.187 Τίς τίνος; οὐκ ἐρέει στήλη· πρὸ γὰρ ὤλετο τύμβου. τίς χρόνος; ἀρχαίης σῆμα τόδ' ἐργασίης. τίς δέ σ' ἐνήρατο; εἰπέ· φόνος τόδε. -«Χεῖρες ἀλιτραὶ γείτονος.» -Ὡς τί λάβῃ; -«Χρυσόν.» - Ἔχοι σκοτίην. 8.188 Ὅστις ἐμὸν παρὰ σῆμα φέρεις πόδα, ἴσθι με ταῦτα τοῦ νεοκληρονόμου χερσὶ παθόντ' ἀδίκως· οὐ γὰρ ἔχον χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον, ἀλλ' ἐδοκήθην, κάλλεϊ μαρμαίρων τοσσατίῳ λαγόνων. 8.189 Στῆθι πέλας καὶ κλαῦσον ἰδὼν τόδε σῆμα θανόντος, εἴ ποτ' ἔην, νῦν αὖτε τάφον δηλήμονος ἀνδρός. σῆμα πέλω, μὴ τύμβον ἐγείρειε βροτὸς ἄλλος. τί πλέον, εἰ παλάμαισι φιλοχρύσοισιν ὀλεῖται; 8.190 Αἰὼν καὶ κληῖδες ἀμειδήτου θανάτοιο καὶ λήθης σκοτίης βένθεα καὶ νέκυες, πῶς ἔτλη τύμβον τις ἐμὸν ἔπι χεῖρας ἐνεγκεῖν; πῶς ἔτλη; φθιμένων κήδεται οὐδ' ὁσίη. 8.191 Τέτρωμαι πληγῇσιν ἀεικελίῃσιν ὁ τύμβος, τέτρωμ', ὥς τις ἀνὴρ ἐν δαῒ λευγαλέῃ. ταῦτα φίλα θνητοῖσι, τὸ δ' αἴτιον ὡς ἀθέμιστον. τὸν νέκυν οἶον ἔχων χρυσὸν ἀποξέομαι. 8.192 Πρός σε Θεοῦ ξενίου λιτάζομαι, ὅστις ἀμείβεις τύμβον ἐμόν, φράζειν· «Τοῖα πάθοις, ὁ δράσας.» - «Οὐκ οἶδ', ὅντινα τύμβος ἔχει νέκυν· ἀλλ' ἐρέω γε δάκρυ' ἐπισπένδων· Τοῖα πάθοις, ὁ δράσας.» 8.193 Πάντα λιπών, γαίης τε μυχοὺς καὶ πείρατα πόντου, ἦλθες ἔχειν ποθέων χρυσὸν ἐμοῦ νέκυος. νεκρὸν ἔχω καὶ μῆνιν ὀλωλότος· ἤν τις ἐπέλθῃ, ταῦτ', εἰ ληίζει, δώσομεν ἀσπασίως. 8.194 Εἴ σοι χρυσὸν ἔδωκα μόνῳ μόνος, οὐκ ἐφύλασσες τοῦθ', ὅπερ εἰλήφεις, ἢ κακὸς ἦσθ' ἂν ἄγαν; εἰ δὲ τάφον σκάπτεις, τὴν αἰδέσιμον παραθήκην, καὶ τόδ' ἐπὶ χρυσῷ, ἄξιος, εἰπέ, τίνος; 8.195 Τοὺς ζῶντας κατόρυσσε. τί γὰρ νεκροὺς κατορύσσεις; Ἄξιοί εἰσι τάφων, οἵ σε ζῆν εἴασαν οὕτω τὸν τῶν οἰχομένων ὑβριστὴν καὶ φιλόχρυσον. 8.196 Καὶ σύ, τάλαν, παλάμῃσι τεαῖς ἢ μύστιν ἐδωδὴν δέξῃ θαρσαλέως ἢ Θεὸν ἀγκαλέσεις, χείρεσιν αἷς διόρυξας ἐμὸν τάφον; ἦ ῥα δίκαιοι οὐδὲν ἔχουσι πλέον, εἰ σὺ τάλαντα φύγοις. 8.197 Φησὶ ∆ίκη· «Τίς πίστις, ὅτ' ὤλεσας, ὃν λαγόνεσσι σῇσιν ἔδωκα νέκυν, γαῖα φίλη, φθιμένῳ;» - «Οὐ γαίη μ' ἐτίναξεν· ἀτάσθαλος ὤλεσεν ἀνήρ, καὶ φιλοκερδείης εἵνεκα· τοῦτον ἔχω.» 8.198 Πρόσθε τάδ' ἦεν ἄσυλα· Θεός, νέκυς. ἀλλὰ Θεὸς μὲν ἵλαος· εἰ δὲ νέκυς, ὄψεθ' ὁ τυμβολέτης. 8.199 Ἦ ῥά σε δινήσουσιν Ἐρινύες· αὐτὰρ ἔγωγε κλαύσομ' ἀποφθιμένους, κλαύσομ' ἄγος παλάμης. 8.200 Λήξατε, τυμβοχόοι, ναὶ λήξατε βένθεσι γαίης κεύθειν τοὺς φθιμένους· εἴξατε τυμβολέταις. νεκρῶν καὶ τάδε γ' ἐστὶ σοφίσματα, ὡς φιλόχρυσον εὕρωσιν παλάμην, σήματα τοῖα χέειν. 8.201 Τίς σ' ἀνέηκεν, ἄπληστε, τόσον κακὸν ἀντὶ τόσοιο κέρδεος ἀλλάξαι, μηδὲ παρεσταότος; 8.202 Στῆλαι καὶ τύμβοι, μέγα χαίρετε, σήματα νεκρῶν· οὐκέτι κηρύξω μνήμασι τοὺς φθιμένους, ἡνίκα τὸν περίφαντον ἐμὸν τάφον ὤλεσε γείτων. γαῖα φίλη, σὺ δέ μοι δέχνυσο τοὺς φθιμένους. 8.203 Στῆλαι καὶ πλακόεντες ἐν οὔρεσιν, ἔργα Γιγάντων, τύμβοι καὶ φθιμένων ἄφθιτε μνημοσύνη, σεισμὸς πάντα βράσειεν ἐμοῖς νεκύεσσιν ἀρήγων, οἷς ἔπι χεὶρ ὀλοὴ ἦλθε σιδηροφόρος. 8.204 Ἡνίκα τὸν περίβωτον ἐπ' οὔρεος, ἄγριε Τιτάν, τύμβον ἀνερρήξω, πῶς ἔσιδες νέκυας, ὡς δ' εἶδες, πῶς χεῖρες ἐπ' ὀστέα; ἦ τάχα κέν σε τῇ σχέθον, εἰ θέμις ἦν τοῖσδ' ἕνα τύμβον ἔχειν. 8.205 Σήματα καὶ σποδιὴ καὶ ὀστέα οἵ τε πάρεδροι δαίμονες, οἳ φθιμένου ναίετε τόνδε λόφον, τόνδ' ἀλιτρὸν τίννυσθε, ὃς ὑμέας ἐξαλάπαξεν. τῶν δὲ περικτιόνων δάκρυον ὕμμιν ὅσον. 8.206 Τύμβοι καὶ σκοπιαὶ καὶ οὔρεα καὶ παροδῖται, κλαύσατε τύμβον ἐμόν, κλαύσατε τυμβολέτην· ἠχὼ δ' ἐκ σκοπέλων πυματηγόρος ἀντιαχείτω τῶνδε περικτιόνων· «Κλαύσατε τυμβολέτην.» 8.207 Κτείνετε, ληίζεσθε, κακοὶ κακοκερδέες ἄνδρες· οὔτις ἐπισχήσει τὴν φιλοχρημοσύνην, εἰ τάδ' ἔτλης, κακοεργέ,