Ep. LXIII.  To Amphilochius the Elder.

(In a.d. 374 Amphilochius was made Bishop of Iconium; and his father, a man of the same name, was deeply aggrieved at being thus deprived of his son, to whom he had looked to support him in his old age.)

Are you grieving?  I, of course, am full of joy!  Are you weeping?  I, as you see, am keeping festival and glorying in the present state of things!  Are you grieved because your son is taken from you and promoted to honour on account of his virtue, and do you think it a terrible misfortune that he is no longer with you to tend your old age, and, as his custom is, to bestow on you all due care and service?  But it is no grief to me that my father has left me for the last journey, from which he will return to me no more, and I shall never see him again!  Then I for my part do not blame you, nor do I ask you for due condolence, knowing as I do that private troubles allow no leisure for those of strangers; for no man is so friendly and so philosophical as to be above his own suffering and to comfort another when needing comfort himself.  But you on the contrary heap blow on blow, when you blame me, as I hear you do, and think that your son and my brother is neglected by us, or even betrayed by us, which is a still heavier charge; or that we do not recognize the loss which all his friends and relatives have suffered, and I more than all, because I had placed in him my hopes of life, and looked upon him as the only bulwark, the only good counsellor, and the only sharer of my piety.  And yet, on what grounds do you form this opinion?  If on the first, be assured that I came over to you on purpose, and because I was troubled by the rumour, and I was ready to share your deliberations while it was still time for consultation about the matter; and you imparted anything to me rather than this, whether because you were in the same distress, or with some other purpose, I know not what.  But if the last, I was prevented from meeting you again by my grief, and the honour I owed my father, and his funeral, over which I could not give anything precedence, and that when my sorrow was fresh, and it would not only have been wrong but also quite improper to be unseasonably philosophical, and above human nature.  Moreover, I thought that I was previously engaged by the circumstances, especially as his had come to such a conclusion as seemed good to Him who governs all our affairs.  So much concerning this matter.  Now I beg you to put aside your grief, which is most unreasonable I am sure; and if you have any further grievance, bring it forward that you may not grieve both me in part and yourself, and put yourself in a position unworthy of your nobility, blaming me instead of others, though I have done you no wrong, but, if I must say the truth, have been equally tyrannized over by our common friend, although you used to think me your only benefactor.

[63] ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΩΙ

Ἀλγεῖς; Ἐγὼ δὲ τρυφῶ δηλονότι. Δακρύεις; Ἐγὼ δέ, ὡς ὁρᾷς, πανηγυρίζω καὶ τοῖς παροῦσι καλλωπίζομαι. Ἢ σὲ μὲν υἱὸς λυπεῖ δι' ἀρετὴν ἁρπαζόμενος καὶ τιμώμενος, καὶ δεινὸν εἰ μὴ παρέσται σοι καὶ γηροκομήσει καὶ τὰ εἰκότα θεραπεύσει κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες; Ἐμὲ δὲ οὐκ ἀνιᾷ πατὴρ τὴν τελευταίαν ἐκδημίαν ἀφ' ἡμῶν ἐκδημήσας, ἐξ ἧς οὐκέτι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀναλύσει οὐδὲ παρ' ἡμῶν ὀφθήσεται; Εἶτα ἡμεῖς μὲν οὐδὲν ἐγκαλοῦμεν οὐδὲ τὴν ὀφειλομένην ἀπαιτοῦμεν παραμυθίαν, εἰδότες ὅτι τὰ ἴδια κακὰ καιρὸν οὐ δίδωσι τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις σχολάζειν: οὐδὲ γὰρ οὕτω τίς ἐστι φιλικὸς καὶ φιλόσοφος ὥστε ὑπεράνω τῶν παθῶν εἶναι καὶ παρακαλεῖν ἄλλον, αὐτὸς δεόμενος παρακλήσεως. Σὺ δὲ τῇ πληγῇ πληγὴν ἐπιβάλλεις αἰτιώμενος ἡμᾶς, ὡς πυνθάνομαι, καὶ νομίζων ἀμελεῖσθαι τὸν σὸν υἱόν, ἡμέτερον δὲ ἀδελφόν, ἢ προδεδόσθαι παρ' ἡμῶν, ὃ βαρύτερον, ἀλλὰ μὴ τῆς ζημίας ἡμᾶς ἐπαισθάνεσθαι ἣν ἐζημίωνται πάντες μὲν καὶ φίλοι καὶ συγγενεῖς, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ πάντων μᾶλλον_ὁ καὶ τὰς ἐλπίδας τῆς ζωῆς ἐν ἐκείνῳ θέμενος καὶ μόνον μὲν ἔρεισμα, μόνον δὲ σύμβουλον ἀγαθόν, μόνον δὲ κοινωνὸν εὐσεβείας ὑπολαμβάνων. Καὶ τίσι τοῦτο εἰκάζεις; Εἰ μὲν τοῖς πρώτοις, ἐνθυμήθητι ὅτι καὶ διέβην μέχρις ὑμῶν ἐξεπίτηδες, τῇ φήμῃ τεταραγμένος, καὶ κοινωνῆσαι γνώμης ὑμῖν πρόθυμος ἐγενόμην, ἡνίκα καὶ καιρὸς ἦν ἔτι περὶ τούτων βουλεύεσθαι: καὶ πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ ταύτης ἡμῖν ἐκοινωνήσατε, εἴτε ὑπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς ἀπορίας, εἴτ' οὐκ οἶδ' ὅ τι βουληθέντες. Εἰ δὲ τοῖς τελευταίοις, μάλιστα μὲν οὐκ εἴα τὸ πάθος πάλιν ὑμῖν ἐντυχεῖν καὶ ἡ τῷ πατρὶ χρεωστουμένη τιμὴ καὶ ὁσία, ἧς οὐδὲν ἐδυνάμην ποιήσασθαι προτιμότερον, καὶ ταῦτα ὑπογυίου τοῦ πάθους ὄντος, ἡνίκα οὐκ ἀσεβὲς ἦν μόνον ἀλλ' οὐδ' ὅλως εὐπρεπὲς ἔξω τοῦ καιροῦ φιλοσοφεῖν καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον: ἔπειτα καὶ προκατειλῆφθαι ὑπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐνομίσαμεν, πέρας ἤδη τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν ἐχόντων ὁποῖον ἐδόκει τῷ ἄγοντι τὰ ἡμέτερα. Ταῦτα μὲν δὴ τοιαῦτα. Νῦν δὲ καὶ τὴν λύπην ἄνες ἡμῖν πάντων οὖσαν ἀλογωτάτην, ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω: καὶ εἴ τί σοι πλέον δοκεῖ, παράστησον, ἵνα μὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ μέρει καὶ σεαυτὸν λυπῇς καὶ πρᾶγμα πάσχῃς σφόδρα τῆς σῆς εὐγενείας ἀνάξιον ἀντ' ἄλλων ἡμᾶς αἰτιώμενος τοὺς οὐδὲν ἀδικοῦντας, ἀλλ' εἰ δεῖ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, τὰ ἴσα τυραννηθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν κοινῶν φίλων καὶ οὓς μόνους εὐεργέτας ἐνόμιζες.