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turning our eyes away, you have turned them toward the lamps and the one lighting the lamps. And of what great laziness is this, to leave us, to pay attention to this man? I too light a fire from the Scriptures, and on our tongue a little lamp of teaching is burning. This light is greater and better than that light; for we do not, like him, light a wick soaked in oil, but we kindle souls watered in piety with the desire of hearing. Paul also once discoursed in a certain upper room. But let no one think I am comparing myself to Paul; for I am not so mad; but that you may learn how much zeal you must show for listening. So Paul was discoursing in an upper room, and evening came on, just as now, and there were lamps in the upper room; then Eutychus fell down from the window, and the fall did not break up the assembly, nor did the death dismiss the audience; but they were so riveted to the hearing of the divine oracles, that the fall was not even noticed; but you, having seen nothing strange or paradoxical, but a man doing the usual things, have turned your gaze thither. And of what pardon would this be worthy? Let no one, therefore, beloved, think this rebuke is burdensome; for we do not accuse you out of hatred, but out of concern. For the wounds of friends are more trustworthy than the voluntary kisses of enemies. Rouse yourselves, therefore, I beseech you, and leaving this fire, pay attention to the light of the divine Scriptures. For I wish to tell you of another kind of rule, not taking its hypothesis from sin, but from nature itself. What then is this? That of parents over children. For such honor is a recompense for birth-pangs. For this reason a certain wise man also says: Serve those who begot you as masters. Then he also adds the reason, saying: For what will you repay them, as they have done for you? And yet what is it that a child cannot repay a father? He says nothing else, then, but this: As they begot you, you will not be able to beget them. Since, therefore, we are at a disadvantage in this, let us have the advantage in another way by the honors paid to them, not only because of the law of nature, but before nature because of the fear of God. For God greatly desires that parents be honored by their children; and those who do this he rewards with great goods and gifts, but those who transgress the law he punishes with great and terrible evils. He who speaks evil, he says, of father or mother, let him die the 54.598 death. But to those who honor them he says thus: Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you; and you shall be long-lived upon the earth. That which is considered the greatest good, a prosperous old age and length of life, this he has set as a prize for those who honor them; and that which seems to be the worst evil, an untimely death, this he has set as a penalty for those who treat them with insolence; drawing the one to goodwill by the promise of honor, and turning the others, even against their will, from insolence by the fear of punishment. For he does not simply command the parricide to die, nor that executioners take him from the court and lead him out through the marketplace, nor to cut off his head outside the city; but the father himself leads him into the midst of the city, and without any proof he is believed; and very rightly so. For one who would choose to spend money and bodies and anything whatsoever for his child would never have become his accuser, unless the excess of insolence were great. He leads him, therefore, into the middle of the city, then calls all the people, and states the accusation; and all who hear, each taking a stone, thus stone the parricide. For the lawgiver does not wish them to be only spectators of the punishment, but also perpetrators, so that each one, looking at his own right hand, with which he himself also threw the stone at the head of the parricide, may have a sufficient reminder for his own correction. Not only this, but also another

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ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀποστήσαντες ἡμῶν, πρὸς τὰς λαμπάδας καὶ τὸν τὰς λαμπάδας ἅπτοντα μετεστήσατε. Καὶ πόσης τοῦτο ῥᾳθυμίας, ἡμᾶς ἀφέντας, τούτῳ προσέχειν; Πῦρ ἀνάπτω κἀγὼ τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν Γραφῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γλώττης τῆς ἡμετέρας λαμπάδιον καίεται τὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας. Τοῦτο μεῖζον καὶ βέλτιον τὸ φῶς ἐκείνου τοῦ φωτός· οὐ γὰρ δὴ θρυαλλίδα διάβροχον ἐλαίῳ, καθάπερ οὗτος, ἐξάπτομεν, ἀλλὰ ψυχὰς ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ ἀρδομένας τῇ τῆς ἀκροάσεως ἀνάπτομεν ἐπιθυμίᾳ. ∆ιελέγετό ποτε καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐν ὑπερῴῳ τινί. Ἀλλὰ μηδεὶς νομιζέτω με Παύλῳ παραβάλλειν ἐμαυτόν· οὐ γὰρ οὕτω μέμηνα· ἀλλ' ἵνα μάθητε πόσην περὶ τὴν ἀκρόασιν σπουδὴν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι χρή. ∆ιελέγετο τοίνυν ὁ Παῦλος ἐν ὑπερῴῳ, καὶ ἑσπέρα κατέλαβε, καθάπερ καὶ νῦν, καὶ λαμπάδες ἦσαν ἐν τῷ ὑπερῴῳ· εἶτα ὁ Εὔτυχος ἀπὸ τῆς θυρίδος κατέπεσε, καὶ οὐ διέλυσε τὸ πτῶμα τὸν σύλλογον, οὐδὲ ἀνέστησε τὸ θέατρον ὁ θάνατος· ἀλλ' οὕτως ἦσαν προσηλωμένοι τῇ τῶν θείων ἀκροάσει λογίων, ὡς μηδὲ αἰσθηθῆναι τοῦ πτώματος· ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐδὲν ξένον ἰδόντες, οὐδὲ παράδοξον, ἀλλ' ἄνθρωπον τὰ συνήθη ποιοῦντα, τὰς ὄψεις ἐκεῖ μετεθήκατε. Καὶ ποίας ἂν εἴη τοῦτο συγγνώμης ἄξιον; Μηδεὶς τοίνυν, ἀγαπητοὶ, φορτικήν τινα τὴν ἐπιτίμησιν νομιζέτω· οὐ γὰρ μισοῦντες, ἀλλὰ κηδόμενοι ἐγκαλοῦμεν. Ἀξιοπιστότερα γὰρ τραύματα φίλων, ἣ ἑκούσια φιλήματα ἐχθρῶν. ∆ιανάστητε τοίνυν, παρακαλῶ, καὶ τοῦτο ἀφέντες τὸ πῦρ, τῷ φωτὶ προσέχετε τῶν θείων Γραφῶν. Ἕτερον γὰρ ὑμῖν ἀρχῆς βούλομαι τρόπον εἰπεῖν, οὐκ ἀπὸ ἁμαρτίας λαμβάνοντα τὴν ὑπόθεσιν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τῆς φύσεως αὐτῆς. Τίς οὖν οὗτός ἐστιν; Ὁ τῶν τεκόντων εἰς ἔκγονα. Ὠδίνων γάρ ἐστιν ἀμοιβὴ ἡ τοιαύτη τιμή. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καί τις σοφὸς λέγει· Ὡς δεσπόταις δούλευσον τοῖς γεννήσασί σε. Εἶτα καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπάγει λέγων· Τί γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀνταποδώσεις, καθὼς αὐτοί σοι; Καίτοι τί ποτέ ἐστιν, ὃ μὴ δύναται παῖς ἀποδοῦναι πατρί; Οὐδὲν οὖν ἄλλο ἢ τοῦτο λέγει· Καθὼς αὐτοί σε ἐγέννησαν, σὺ αὐτοὺς γεννῆσαι οὐ δυνήσῃ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν κατὰ τοῦτο ἠλαττώμεθα, ἑτέρωθεν πλεονεκτήσωμεν ταῖς εἰς αὐτοὺς τιμαῖς, μὴ διὰ τὸν τῆς φύσεως νόμον μόνον, ἀλλὰ πρὸ τῆς φύσεως διὰ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβον. Καὶ γὰρ σφόδρα ὁ Θεὸς βούλεται τοὺς τεκόντας τιμᾶσθαι παρὰ τῶν τεχθέντων· καὶ τοὺς μὲν τοῦτο ποιοῦντας μεγάλοις ἀγαθοῖς καὶ δωρεαῖς ἀμείβεται, τοὺς δὲ παραβαίνοντας τὸν νόμον μεγάλοις καὶ δεινοῖς κολάζει κακοῖς. Ὁ κακολογῶν, φησὶ, πατέρα ἢ μητέρα, θανάτῳ 54.598 τελευτάτω. Τοῖς δὲ τιμῶσιν αὐτοὺς οὕτω πώς φησι· Τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται· καὶ ἔσῃ μακροχρόνιος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ὅπερ μέγιστον ἀγαθὸν εἶναι νομίζεται, γῆρας λιπαρὸν καὶ μῆκος ζωῆς, τοῦτο ἔθηκεν ἔπαθλον τοῖς τιμῶσιν αὐτούς· καὶ ὅπερ ἔσχατον εἶναι δοκεῖ κακὸν, θάνατος ἄωρος, τοῦτο ἔθηκεν ἐπιτίμιον τοῖς ὑβρίζουσιν εἰς αὐτούς· τοὺς μὲν ἐπισπώμενος εἰς εὔνοιαν τῇ τῆς τιμῆς ἐπαγγελίᾳ, τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἄκοντας ἀπάγων τῆς ὕβρεως τῷ τῆς τιμωρίας φόβῳ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἀποθνήσκειν κελεύει τὸν πατραλοίαν, οὐδὲ δημίους αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ δικαστηρίου λαβόντας ἐξάγειν διὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς, οὐδὲ τῆς πόλεως ἔξω τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτέμνειν· ἀλλ' ἄγει μὲν αὐτὸν εἰς μέσην τὴν πόλιν αὐτὸς ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ χωρὶς ἀποδείξεως πάσης πιστεύεται· καὶ μάλα δικαίως. Ὁ γὰρ καὶ χρήματα καὶ σώματα καὶ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἑλόμενος ὑπὲρ τοῦ παιδὸς καταδαπανῆσαι, οὐκ ἄν ποτε κατήγορος αὐτοῦ γέγονεν, εἰ μὴ πολλὴ τῆς ὕβρεως ἦν ἡ ὑπερβολή. Ἄγει τοίνυν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ μέσον τῆς πόλεως, εἶτα καλεῖ τὸν δῆμον ἅπαντα, καὶ λέγει τὴν κατηγορίαν· οἱ δὲ ἀκούοντες πάντες, ἕκαστος λίθον λαβὼν, οὕτω βάλλουσι τὸν πατραλοίαν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ θεατὰς μόνον τῆς τιμωρίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτουργοὺς εἶναι βούλεται ὁ νομοθέτης, ἵνα εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν ἕκαστος ἰδὼν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, δι' ἧς τὸν λίθον καὶ αὐτὸς ἔβαλε κατὰ τῆς τοῦ πατραλοίου κεφαλῆς, ἱκανὸν ὑπόμνημα πρὸς διόρθωσιν ἔχῃ. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερον