Chapter III.—Against Men Who Embellish Themselves.

To such an extent, then, has luxury advanced, that not only are the female sex deranged about this frivolous pursuit, but men also are infected with the disease.562    [Heathen manners are here depicted as a warning to Christians. We cannot suppose Christians, as yet, to any extent, corrupted in their manners by fashion and frivolity; for to be a Christian excluded one from temptations of this kind.] For not being free of the love of finery, they are not in health; but inclining to voluptuousness, they become effeminate, cutting their hair in an ungentlemanlike and meretricious way, clothed in fine and transparent garments, chewing mastich,563    [Query, De re Nicotiana?] smelling of perfume.564    [Smelling of Nicotine?] What can one say on seeing them? Like one who judges people by their foreheads, he will divine them to be adulterers and effeminate, addicted to both kinds of venery, haters of hair, destitute of hair, detesting the bloom of manliness, and adorning their locks like women. “Living for unholy acts of audacity, these fickle wretches do reckless and nefarious deeds,” says the Sibyl. For their service the towns are full of those who take out hair by pitch-plasters, shave, and pluck out hairs from these womanish creatures. And shops are erected and opened everywhere; and adepts at this meretricious fornication make a deal of money openly by those who plaster themselves, and give their hair to be pulled out in all ways by those who make it their trade, feeling no shame before the onlookers or those who approach, nor before themselves, being men. Such are those addicted to base passions, whose whole body is made smooth by the violent tuggings of pitch-plasters. It is utterly impossible to get beyond such effrontery. If nothing is left undone by them, neither shall anything be left unspoken by me. Diogenes, when he was being sold, chiding like a teacher one of these degenerate creatures, said very manfully, “Come, youngster, buy for yourself a man,” chastising his meretriciousness by an ambiguous speech. But for those who are men to shave and smooth themselves, how ignoble! As for dyeing of hair, and anointing of grey locks, and dyeing them yellow, these are practices of abandoned effeminates; and their feminine combing of themselves is a thing to be let alone. For they think, that like serpents they divest themselves of the old age of their head by painting and renovating themselves. But though they do doctor the hair cleverly, they will not escape wrinkles, nor will they elude death by tricking time. For it is not dreadful, it is not dreadful to appear old, when you are not able to shut your eyes to the fact that you are so.

The more, then, a man hastes to the end, the more truly venerable is he, having God alone as his senior, since He is the eternal aged One, He who is older than all things. Prophecy has called him the “Ancient of days; and the hair of His head was as pure wool,” says the prophet.565    Dan. vii. 9. [A truly eloquent passage.] “And none other,” says the Lord, “can make the hair white or black.”566    Matt. v. 36. How, then, do these godless ones work in rivalry with God, or rather violently oppose Him, when they transmute the hair made white by Him? “The crown of old men is great experience,”567    Ecclus. xxv. 6. says Scripture; and the hoary hair of their countenance is the blossom of large experience. But these dishonour the reverence of age, the head covered with grey hairs. It is not, it is not possible for him to show the head true who has a fraudulent head. “But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man (not the hoary man, but him that is) corrupt according to deceitful lusts; and be renewed (not by dyeings and ornaments), but in the spirit of your mind; and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”568    Eph. iv. 20–24.

But for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, to arrange his hair at the looking-glass, to shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them, how womanly! And, in truth, unless you saw them naked, you would suppose them to be women. For although not allowed to wear gold, yet out of effeminate desire they enwreath their latches and fringes with leaves of gold; or, getting certain spherical figures of the same metal made, they fasten them to their ankles, and hang them from their necks. This is a device of enervated men, who are dragged to the women’s apartments, amphibious and lecherous beasts. For this is a meretricious and impious form of snare. For God wished women to be smooth, and rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane; but has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him, as an attribute of manhood, with shaggy breasts,—a sign this of strength and rule. So also cocks, which fight in defence of the hens, he has decked with combs, as it were helmets; and so high a value does God set on these locks, that He orders them to make their appearance on men simultaneously with discretion, and delighted with a venerable look, has honoured gravity of countenance with grey hairs. But wisdom, and discriminating judgments that are hoary with wisdom, attain maturity with time, and by the vigour of long experience give strength to old age, producing grey hairs, the admirable flower of venerable wisdom, conciliating confidence. This, then, the mark of the man, the beard, by which he is seen to be a man, is older than Eve, and is the token of the superior nature. In this God deemed it right that he should excel, and dispersed hair over man’s whole body. Whatever smoothness and softness was in him He abstracted from his side when He formed the woman Eve, physically receptive, his partner in parentage, his help in household management, while he (for he had parted with all smoothness) remained a man, and shows himself man. And to him has been assigned action, as to her suffering; for what is shaggy is drier and warmer than what is smooth. Wherefore males have both more hair and more heat than females, animals that are entire than the emasculated, perfect than imperfect. It is therefore impious to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness.569    [On the other hand, this was Esau’s symbol; and the sensual “satyrs” (Isa. xiii. 2) are “hairy goats,” in the original. So also the originals of “devils” in Lev. xvii. 7, and 2 Chron. xi. 15. See the learned note of Mr. West, in his edition of Leighton, vol. v. p. 161.] But the embellishment of smoothing (for I am warned by the Word), if it is to attract men, is the act of an effeminate person,—if to attract women, is the act of an adulterer; and both must be driven as far as possible from our society. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered,” says the Lord;570    Matt. x. 30. those on the chin, too, are numbered, and those on the whole body. There must be therefore no plucking out, contrary to God’s appointment, which has counted571    έγκαταριθμένην seems to be here used in a middle, not a passive sense, as καταριθμημένος is sometimes. them in according to His will. “Know ye not yourselves,” says the apostle, “that Christ Jesus is in you?”572    2 Cor. xiii. 5. Whom, had we known as dwelling in us, I know not how we could have dared to dishonour. But the using of pitch to pluck out hair (I shrink from even mentioning the shamelessness connected with this process), and in the act of bending back and bending down, the violence done to nature’s modesty by stepping out and bending backwards in shameful postures, yet the doers not ashamed of themselves, but conducting themselves without shame in the midst of the youth, and in the gymnasium, where the prowess of man is tried; the following of this unnatural practice, is it not the extreme of licentiousness? For those who engage in such practices in public will scarcely behave with modesty to any at home. Their want of shame in public attests their unbridled licentiousness in private.573    [Such were the manners with which the Gospel was forced everywhere to contend. That they were against nature is sufficiently clear from the remains of decency in some heathen. Herodotus (book i. cap. 8) tells us that the Lydians counted it disgraceful even for a man to be seen naked.] For he who in the light of day denies his manhood, will prove himself manifestly a woman by night. “There shall not be,” said the Word by Moses, “a harlot of the daughters of Israel; there shall not be a fornicator of the sons of Israel.”574    Deut. xxiii. 17.

But the pitch does good, it is said. Nay, it defames, say I. No one who entertains right sentiments would wish to appear a fornicator, were he not the victim of that vice, and study to defame the beauty of his form. No one would, I say, voluntarily choose to do this. “For if God foreknew those who are called, according to His purpose, to be conformed to the image of His Son,” for whose sake, according to the blessed apostle, He has appointed “Him to be the first-born among many brethren,”575    Rom. viii. 28, 29. are they not godless who treat with indignity the body which is of like form with the Lord?

The man, who would be beautiful, must adorn that which is the most beautiful thing in man, his mind, which every day he ought to exhibit in greater comeliness; and should pluck out not hairs, but lusts. I pity the boys possessed by the slave-dealers, that are decked for dishonour. But they are not treated with ignominy by themselves, but by command the wretches are adorned for base gain. But how disgusting are those who willingly practice the things to which, if compelled, they would, if they were men, die rather than do?

But life has reached this pitch of licentiousness through the wantonness of wickedness, and lasciviousness is diffused over the cities, having become law. Beside them women stand in the stews, offering their own flesh for hire for lewd pleasure, and boys, taught to deny their sex, act the part of women.

Luxury has deranged all things; it has disgraced man. A luxurious niceness seeks everything, attempts everything, forces everything, coerces nature. Men play the part of women, and women that of men, contrary to nature; women are at once wives and husbands: no passage is closed against libidinousness; and their promiscuous lechery is a public institution, and luxury is domesticated. O miserable spectacle! horrible conduct! Such are the trophies of your social licentiousness which are exhibited: the evidence of these deeds are the prostitutes. Alas for such wickedness! Besides, the wretches know not how many tragedies the uncertainty of intercourse produces. For fathers, unmindful of children of theirs that have been exposed, often without their knowledge, have intercourse with a son that has debauched himself, and daughters that are prostitutes; and licence in lust shows them to be the men that have begotten them. These things your wise laws allow: people may sin legally; and the execrable indulgence in pleasure they call a thing indifferent. They who commit adultery against nature think themselves free from adultery. Avenging justice follows their audacious deeds, and, dragging on themselves inevitable calamity, they purchase death for a small sum of money. The miserable dealers in these wares sail, bringing a cargo of fornication, like wine or oil; and others, far more wretched, traffic in pleasures as they do in bread and sauce, not heeding the words of Moses, “Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore, lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.”576    Lev. xix. 29.

Such was predicted of old, and the result is notorious: the whole earth has now become full of fornication and wickedness. I admire the ancient legislators of the Romans: these detested effeminacy of conduct; and the giving of the body to feminine purposes, contrary to the law of nature, they judged worthy of the extremest penalty, according to the righteousness of the law.

For it is not lawful to pluck out the beard,577    [When the loss of the beard was a token of foppery and often of something worse, shaving would be frivolity; but here he treats of extirpation.] man’s natural and noble ornament.

By and by he is anointed, delighting in the beard “on which descended” the prophetic “ointment”578    Ps. cxxxiii. 2. with which Aaron was honoured.

And it becomes him who is rightly trained, on whom peace has pitched its tent, to preserve peace also with his hair.

What, then, will not women with strong propensities to lust practice, when they look on men perpetrating such enormities? Rather we ought not to call such as these men, but lewd wretches (βατάλοι), and effeminate (γύνιδες), whose voices are feeble, and whose clothes are womanish both in feel and dye. And such creatures are manifestly shown to be what they are from their external appearance, their clothes, shoes, form, walk, cut of their hair, look. “For from his look shall a man be known,” says the Scripture, “from meeting a man the man is known: the dress of a man, the step of his foot, the laugh of his teeth, tell tales of him.”579    Ecclus. xix. 29, 30.

For these, for the most part, plucking out the rest of their hair, only dress that on the head, all but binding their locks with fillets like women. Lions glory in their shaggy hair, but are armed by their hair in the fight; and boars even are made imposing by their mane; the hunters are afraid of them when they see them bristling their hair.

And their wool the loving Father has made abundant for thy use, O man, having taught thee to sheer their fleeces. Of the nations, the Celts and Scythians wear their hair long, but do not deck themselves. The bushy hair of the barbarian has something fearful in it; and its auburn (ξανθόν) colour threatens war, the hue being somewhat akin to blood. Both these barbarian races hate luxury. As clear witnesses will be produced by the German, the Rhine;581    Of which they drink. and by the Scythian, the waggon. Sometimes the Scythian despises even the waggon: its size seems sumptuousness to the barbarian; and leaving its luxurious ease, the Scythian man leads a frugal life. For a house sufficient, and less encumbered than the waggon, he takes his horse, and mounting it, is borne where he wishes. And when faint with hunger, he asks his horse for sustenance; and he offers his veins, and supplies his master with all he possesses—his blood. To the nomad the horse is at once conveyance and sustenance; and the warlike youth of the Arabians (these are other nomads) are mounted on camels. They sit on breeding camels; and these feed and run at the same time, carrying their masters the whilst, and bear the house with them. And if drink fail the barbarians, they milk them; and after that their food is spent, they do not spare even their blood, as is reported of furious wolves. And these, gentler than the barbarians, when injured, bear no remembrance of the wrong, but sweep bravely over the desert, carrying and nourishing their masters at the same time.

Perish, then, the savage beasts whose food is blood! For it is unlawful for men, whose body is nothing but flesh elaborated of blood, to touch blood. For human blood has become a partaker of the Word:582    [He took upon him our nature, flesh and blood. Heb. ii. 14–16.] it is a participant of grace by the Spirit; and if any one injure him, he will not escape unnoticed. Man may, though naked in body, address the Lord. But I approve the simplicity of the barbarians: loving an unencumbered life, the barbarians have abandoned luxury. Such the Lord calls us to be—naked of finery, naked of vanity, wrenched from our sins, bearing only the wood of life, aiming only at salvation.

Πρὸς τοὺς καλλωπιζομένους τῶν ἀνδρῶν. Εἰς τοσοῦτον δὲ ἄρα ἐλήλακεν ἡ χλιδὴ ὡς μὴ τὸ θῆλυ μόνον νοσεῖν περὶ τὴν κενοσπουδίαν ταύτην, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας ζηλοῦν τὴν νόσον. Μὴ γὰρ καθαρεύοντες καλλωπισμοῦ οὐχ ὑγιαίνουσιν, πρὸς δὲ τὸ μαλθακώτερον ἀποκλίναντες γυναικίζονται, κουρὰς μὲν ἀγεννεῖς καὶ πορνικὰς ἀποκειρόμενοι, χλανίσι δὲ δὴ φαναῖσι περιπεπεμμένοι καὶ μαστίχην τρώγοντες, ὄζοντες μύρου. Τί ἄν τις φαίη τούτους ἰδών; Ἀτεχνῶς καθάπερ μετωποσκόπος ἐκ τοῦ σχήματος αὐτοὺς καταμαντεύεται μοιχούς τε καὶ ἀνδρογύνους, ἀμφοτέραν ἀφροδίτην θηρωμένους, μισότριχας, ἄτριχας, τὸ ἄνθος τὸ ἀνδρικὸν μυσαττομένους, τὰς κόμας δέ, ὥσπερ αἱ γυναῖκες, κοσμουμένους. Ἐπ' οὐχ ὁσίοις δὲ τόλμαις ζῶντες οἱ παλίμβολοι ῥέζουσιν ἀτάσθαλα καὶ κακὰ ἔργα, φησὶν ἡ Σίβυλλα. ∆ιὰ τούτους γοῦν πλήρεις αἱ πόλεις πιττούντων, ξυρούντων, παρατιλλόντων τοὺς θηλυδρίας τούτους· ἐργαστήρια δὲ κατεσκεύασται καὶ ἀνέῳκται πάντῃ καὶ τεχνῖται τῆς ἑταιρικῆς ταύτης πορνείας συχνὸν ἐμπολῶσιν ἀργύριον ἐμφανῶς· οἷς σφᾶς καταπιττοῦσι καὶ τὰς τρίχας ἀνασπῶσι πάντα τρόπον παρέχουσιν, οὐδὲν αἰσχυνόμενοι τοὺς ὁρῶντας οὐδὲ τοὺς παριόντας, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἑαυτοὺς ἄνδρας ὄντας· τοιοῦτοι γὰρ οἱ τῶν ἀγεννεστέρων ζηλωταὶ παθῶν, ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα τοῖς βιαίοις τῆς πίττης ὁλκοῖς λελειουργημένοι. Μέλει δὲ οὐδ' ὁπωστιοῦν περαιτέρω τῆς τοιαύτης προβαίνειν ἀναισχυντίας. Εἰ γὰρ μηδὲν ἄπρακτον αὐτοῖς ὑπολείπεται, οὐδὲ ἐμοὶ ἄρρητον. Ἕνα τινὰ τούτων τῶν ἀγεννῶν παιδαγωγικῶς ἐπιπλήττων ὁ ∆ιογένης ὁπηνίκα ἐπιπράσκετο, ἀνδρείως σφόδρα ἧκε εἶπεν, μειράκιον, ἄνδρα ὤνησαι σαυτῷ, ἀμφιβόλῳ λόγῳ τὸ πορνικὸν ἐκείνου σωφρονίζων. Τὸ γὰρ ἄνδρας ὄντας ξύρεσθαι καὶ λεαίνεσθαι πῶς οὐκ ἀγεννές; Βαφὰς δέ τινας τριχῶν καὶ χρίσματα πολιῶν καὶ ξανθίσματα, ἀνδρογύνων ἐξωλῶν ἐπιτηδεύματα, καὶ τοὺς διακτενισμοὺς αὐτῶν τοὺς θηλυ δριώδεις μεθετέον. Ἡγοῦνται γὰρ καθάπερ ὄφις τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀπεκδύσασθαι τὸ γῆρας μεταγράφοντες ἑαυτοὺς καὶ νεοποιοῦντες· εἰ καὶ σοφίσονται τὰς τρίχας, ἀλλ' οὐ τὰς ῥυτίδας διαφεύξονται, ἀλλ' οὐ λήσονται τὸν θάνατον σοφιζόμενοι τὸν χρόνον. Οὐ γὰρ δεινόν, οὐ δεινὸν γέροντα δοκεῖν τὸ εἶναι λαθεῖν μὴ δυνάμενον. Ὅσῳ γοῦν ὁ ἄνθρωπος σπεύδει πρὸς τέλος, τοσούτῳ τιμιώτερος πρὸς ἀλήθειαν, μόνον ἔχων αὑτοῦ πρεσβύτερον τὸν θεόν, ἐπεὶ κἀκεῖνος ἀίδιος γέρων ὁ τῶν ὄντων πρεσβύτερος· παλαιὸν ἡμερῶν κέκληκεν αὐτὸν ἡ προφητεία, καὶ ἡ θρὶξ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ἔριον καθαρόν, ὁ προφήτης λέγει. Οὐδεὶς δὲ ἄλλος, φησὶν ὁ κύριος, δύναται ποιῆσαι τρίχα λευκὴν ἢ μέλαιναν. Πῶς οὖν ἀντιδημιουργοῦσι τῷ θεῷ, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀντικεῖσθαι βιάζονται οἱ ἄθεοι τὴν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πεπολιωμένην παραχαράττοντες τρίχα; Στέφανος δὲ γερόντων πολυπειρία, φησὶν ἡ γραφή, καὶ τοῦ προσώπου αὐτῶν ἡ πολιὰ ἄνθος πολυπειρίας· οἳ δὲ τὸ πρεσβεῖον τῆς ἡλικίας, τὸν πολιέα, καταισχύνουσιν. Οὐκ ἔστιν δέ, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθινὴν ἐνδεικνύναι τὴν ψυχὴν τὸν κίβδηλον ἔχοντα κεφαλήν. Ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, φησίν, ἐμάθετε τὸν Χριστόν, εἴ γε αὐτὸν ἠκούσατε καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐδιδάχθητε, καθώς ἐστιν ἀλήθεια ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἀποθέσθαι ὑμᾶς κατὰ τὴν προτέραν ἀναστροφὴν τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐ τὸν πολιόν, ἀλλὰ τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης· ἀνανεοῦσθαι δέ, μὴ βαφαῖς καὶ καλλωπίσμασιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ νοὸς ὑμῶν καὶ ἐνδύσασθαι τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ὁσιότητι τῆς ἀληθείας. Ἄνδρα δὲ ὄντα κτενίζεσθαι καὶ ἀποκείρεσθαι ξυρῷ πρὸς εὐπρέπειαν καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἔσοπτρον διατιθέμενον τὰς τρίχας ξύρεσθαί τε καὶ ἀποτίλλεσθαι καὶ λεαίνεσθαι τὰς γένυς πῶς οὐ γυναικεῖον; Καὶ εἰ μή τις αὐτοὺς γυμνοὺς ἴδοι, κἂν γυναῖκας ὑπολάβοι. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ χρυσοφορεῖν αὐτοῖς ἐφεῖται, ἀλλ' οὖν γε διὰ τὴν θηλυδριώδη ἐπιθυμίαν ἱμάντας καὶ λώματα χρυσίου περιπτύξαντες πετάλοις ἤ τινα σφαιρικὰ τῆς αὐτῆς ὕλης ποιησάμενοι σχήματα σφυρῶν ἀπαρτῶνται καὶ τραχήλων ἀπαιωροῦσι. Σόφισμα τοῦτο κατεαγότων ἀνθρώπων εἰς τὴν γυναικωνῖτιν κατασυρομένων, ἀμφιβίων καὶ λάγνων θηρίων· πορνικὸς τῆς ἐνέδρας ὁ τρόπος καὶ ἄθεος οὗτος. Ὁ γὰρ θεὸς τὴν μὲν γυναῖκα λείαν ἠθέλησεν εἶναι, αὐτοφυεῖ τῇ κόμῃ μόνῃ ὥσπερ ἵππον τῇ χαίτῃ γαυρουμένην, τὸν δὲ ἄνδρα καθάπερ τοὺς λέοντας γενείοις κοσμήσας καὶ τοῖς λασίοις ἤνδρωσε στήθεσι· δεῖγμα τοῦτο ἀλκῆς καὶ ἀρχῆς. Ταύτῃ καὶ τοὺς ἀλεκτρυόνας τοὺς ὑπερμαχοῦντας τῶν ὀρνίθων καθάπερ κόρυσι τοῖς κόλλεσιν ἐκαλλώπισεν. Καὶ οὕτως περὶ πολλοῦ τὰς τρίχας ταύτας ὁ θεὸς ἡγεῖται ὥστε ἅμα φρονήσει κελεύειν παραγίνεσθαι αὐτὰς τοῖς ἀνδράσι, καὶ δὴ ἀγασθεὶς τῇ σεμνότητι τὸ βλοσυρὸν τοῦ θεάματος γεραρᾷ τετίμηκεν πολιᾷ. Φρόνησις δὲ καὶ ἀκριβεῖς λογισμοὶ πολιοὶ συνέσει συνακμάζουσι τῷ χρόνῳ, καὶ τὸ γῆρας ἐνισχύουσι τῷ τόνῳ τῆς πολυπειρίας, ἄνθος ἀξιέραστον φρονήσεως σεμνῆς εἰς πίστιν εὔλογον προτείνοντες τὴν πολιάν. Τοῦτο οὖν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὸ σύνθημα, τὸ γένειον, δι' οὗ καταφαίνεται ὁ ἀνήρ, πρεσβύτερόν ἐστι τῆς Εὔας καὶ σύμβολον τῆς κρείττονος φύσεως· τούτῳ πρέπειν ἐδικαίωσε τὸ λάσιον ὁ θεός, καὶ διέσπειρεν παρὰ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὰς τρίχας, τὸ δὲ ὅσον λεῖον αὐτοῦ καὶ μαλθακὸν ἀφείλετο τῆς πλευρᾶς εἰς ὑποδοχὴν σπέρματος εὐαφῆ τὴν Εὔαν δημιουργήσας γυναῖκα βοηθὸν οὖσαν γενέσεως καὶ οἰκουρίας. Ὃ δέ–προήκατο γὰρ τὸ λεῖον–ἔμεινέν τε ἀνὴρ καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα δεικνύει· καὶ τὸ δρᾶν αὐτῷ συγκεχώρηται, ὡς ἐκείνῃ τὸ πάσχειν. Ξηρότερα γὰρ φύσει καὶ θερμότερα τὰ δασέα τῶν ψιλῶν ἐστιν. ∆ιὸ καὶ τὰ ἄρρενα τῶν θηλειῶν καὶ τὰ ἔνορχα τῶν ἐκτομιῶν καὶ τὰ τέλεια τῶν ἀτελῶν δασύτερά τέ ἐστι καὶ θερμότερα. Τὸ οὖν τῆς ἀνδρώδους φύσεως σύμβολον, τὸ λάσιον, παρανομεῖν ἀνόσιον· τὸ δὲ καλλώπισμα τῆς λειάνσεως, θερμαίνομαι γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου, εἰ μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας, θηλυδρίου, εἰ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰς γυναῖκας, μοιχοῦ· ἄμφω δὲ ὅτι μάλιστα πορρωτάτω τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐκτοπιστέον πολιτείας. Ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ τρίχες τῆς κεφαλῆς ὑμῶν πᾶσαι ἠριθμημέναι, φησὶν ὁ κύριος· ἠρίθμηνται δὲ καὶ αἱ ἐπὶ τῷ γενείῳ καὶ μὴν καὶ αἱ παρ' ὅλον τὸ σῶμα. Οὐδ' ὁπωστιοῦν ἐκτιλτέον παρὰ τὴν προαίρεσιν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἐγκατηριθμημένην τῷ αὐτοῦ θελήματι· Εἰ μή τι οὐκ ἐπιγιγνώσκετε ἑαυτούς, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος, ὅτι Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ἐν ὑμῖν, ὃν εἰ ἐνοικοῦντα ᾔδειμεν, οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἂν αὐτὸν λωβᾶσθαι τετολμήκειμεν. Τὸ δὲ καὶ πιττοῦσθαι–ὀκνῶ καὶ λέγειν τὴν περὶ τοὔργον ἀσχημοσύνην– ἀπεστραμμένους καὶ κεκυφότας καὶ τῆς φύσεως τὰ ἀπόρρητα εἰς τὸ συμφανὲς ἀπογυμνοῦντας, ἐξορχουμένους καὶ λορδουμένους, ἀπερυθριῶσι σχήμασιν οὐκ ἀπερυθριῶντας αὑτούς, ἐν αὐτῇ νεολαίᾳ καὶ γυμνασίῳ μέσῳ, ἔνθα ἀρετὴ ἀνδρῶν ἐξετάζεται, ἀσχημονοῦντας, τὸ παρὰ φύσιν τοῦτο διώκοντας ἐπιτήδευμα, πῶς οὐχὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀσελγείας ἐστίν; Οἱ γὰρ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ τοιαῦτα διαπραττόμενοι σχολῇ γ' ἂν αἰδεσθεῖεν οἴκοι τινάς. Καταμαρτυρεῖ δὲ αὐτῶν ἡ ἐν τῷ δημοσίῳ ἀναισχυντία τὴν ἐν τῷ ἀφανεῖ ἐπ' ἐξουσίας ἀκολασίαν· ὁ γὰρ ὑπὸ τὰς αὐγὰς τὸν ἄνδρα ἀρνούμενος πρόδηλός ἐστι νύκτωρ ἐλεγχόμενος γυνή. Οὐκ ἔσται δέ, εἶπεν ὁ λόγος διὰ Μωυσέως, ἀπὸ θυγατέρων Ἰσραὴλ πόρνη, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ πορνεύων ἀπὸ υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. Ἀλλ' ὠφελεῖ, φησίν, ἡ πίττα. Ἀλλὰ διαβάλλει, φημί· οὐκ ἂν δὲ ἠθέλησέ τις εὖ φρονῶν πόρνος εἶναι δοκεῖν, μὴ νοσῶν, καὶ διαβάλλειν ἐπιτηδεύειν τὴν καλὴν εἰκόνα οὐκ ἂν ἑκὼν βουληθείη τις. Εἰ γὰρ τοὺς κατὰ πρόθεσιν κλητοὺς προέγνω ὁ θεὸς συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, δι' οὓς κατὰ τὸν μακάριον ἀπόστολον ὥρισεν εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, πῶς οὐκ ἄθεοι οἱ τὸ σύμμορφον τοῦ κυρίου λωβώμενοι σῶμα; Ἀνδρὶ δὲ βουλομένῳ εἶναι καλῷ τὸ κάλλιστον ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ τὴν διάνοιαν κοσμητέον, ἣν καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν εὐπρεπεστέραν ἐπιδεικτέον· παρατιλτέον δὲ οὐ τὰς τρίχας, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας. Ἐγὼ καὶ τῶν ἀνδραποδοκαπήλων τὰ παιδάρια ἐλεῶ εἰς ὕβριν κοσμούμενα, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὑφ' ἑαυτῶν λελώβηται, κελευόμενα δὲ εἰς αἰσχροκέρδειαν τὰ δύστηνα καλλωπίζεται. Οἱ δὲ ἑκόντες ταῦτα αἱρούμενοι δρᾶν, ἃ κελευόμενοι θανάτου ἂν ἐτιμήσαντο, εἰ ἄνδρες ἦσαν, πῶς οὐ κατάπτυστοι; Καὶ νῦν μὲν εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀκολασίας ἐλήλακεν ὁ βίος ἐντρυφώσης ἀδικίας, καὶ τὸ λάγνον πᾶν ἐπικέχυται ταῖς πόλεσι νόμος γενόμενον· ἐπὶ τέγους ἑστᾶσι παρ' αὐτοῖς τὴν σάρκα τὴν ἑαυτῶν εἰς ὕβριν ἡδονῆς πιπράσκουσαι γυναῖκες, καὶ παῖδες ἀρνεῖσθαι τὴν φύσιν δεδιδαγμένοι προσποιοῦνται γυναῖκες. Πάντα μετακεκίνηκεν ἡ τρυφή· κατῄσχυνε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἁβροδίαιτος περιεργία· πάντα ζητεῖ, πάντα ἐπιχειρεῖ, βιάζεται πάντα, συγχεῖ τὴν φύσιν, τὰ γυναικῶν οἱ ἄνδρες πεπόνθασιν καὶ γυναῖκες ἀνδρίζονται παρὰ φύσιν γαμούμεναί τε καὶ γαμοῦσαι γυναῖκας. Πόρος δὲ οὐδεὶς ἄβατος ἀκολασίᾳ· κοινὴ δὲ αὐτοῖς ἀφροδίτη δημεύεται, συνέστιος τρυφή. Ὢ τοῦ ἐλεεινοῦ θεάματος, ὢ τοῦ ἀρρήτου ἐπιτηδεύματος· τρόπαια ταῦτα τῆς πολιτικῆς ὑμῶν ἀκρασίας δείκνυται, τῶν ἔργων ὁ ἔλεγχος αἱ χαμαι τύπαι. Φεῦ τῆς τοσαύτης ἀνομίας. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ συνιᾶσιν οἱ ταλαίπωροι, ὡς τὸ ἄδηλον τῆς συνουσίας πολλὰς ἐργάζεται τραγῳδίας. Παιδὶ πορνεύσαντι καὶ μαχλώσαις θυγατράσιν ἀγνοήσαντες πολλάκις μίγνυνται πατέρες, οὐ μεμνημένοι τῶν ἐκτεθέντων παιδίων, καὶ ἄνδρας δείκνυσι τοὺς γεγεννηκότας ἀκρασίας ἐξουσία. Ταῦτα οἱ σοφοὶ τῶν νόμων ἐπιτρέπουσιν· ἔξεστιν αὐτοῖς ἁμαρτεῖν κατὰ νόμον, καὶ τὸ ἀπόρρητον τῆς ἡδονῆς εὐκολίαν λέγουσιν. Μοιχείας ἀπηλλάχθαι νομίζουσιν οἱ μοιχεύοντες τὴν φύσιν, ἕπεται δὲ αὐτοῖς τῶν τολμημάτων τιμωρὸς ἡ δίκη· καὶ καθ' ἑαυτῶν ἀπαραίτητον ἐπισπώμενοι συμφορὰν ὀλίγου νομίσματος ὠνοῦνται θάνατον. Τούτων ἔμποροι τῶν φορτίων οἱ κακοδαίμονες πλέουσιν, ὡς σῖτον, ὡς οἶνον, πορνείαν ἀγώγιμον φέροντες. Ἄλλοι δὲ ἀθλιώτεροι μακρῷ ὡς ἄρτον, ὡς ὄψον, ἀγοράζουσιν ἡδονάς, οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνο ἐν νῷ λαβόντες τὸ Μωυσέως· Οὐ βεβηλώσεις τὴν θυγατέρα σου ἐκπορνεῦσαι αὐτήν, καὶ οὐκ ἐκπορνεύσει ἡ γῆ, καὶ ἡ γῆ πλησθήσεται ἀνομίας. Ταῦτα προεφητεύετο πάλαι, ἀρίδηλος δὲ ἡ ἔκβασις· πᾶσα ἤδη πεπλήρωται γῆ καὶ πορνείας καὶ ἀνομίας. Ἄγαμαι τοὺς παλαιοὺς Ῥωμαίων νομοθέτας· ἀνδρόγυνον ἐμίσησαν ἐπιτήδευσιν οὗτοι, καὶ τοῦ σώματος τὴν πρὸς τὸ θῆλυ κοινωνίαν παρὰ τὸν τῆς φύσεως νόμον ὀρύγματος κατηξίωσαν κατὰ τὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης νόμον. Οὐ γὰρ θέμις ἐκτῖλαί ποτε τὸ γένειον, τὸ κάλλος τὸ σύμφυτον, τὸ γενναῖον κάλλος πρῶτον ὑπηνήτῃ, οὗπερ χαριεστάτη ἥβη. Προβαίνων δὲ ἤδη ἐπαλείφεται γανούμενος πώγωνι, ἐφ' ὃν κατέβαινε τὸ μύρον τὸ προφητικὸν Ἀαρὼν τιμωμένου. Χρὴ δὲ τὸν ὀρθῶς παιδαγωγούμενον, ἐφ' ὃν ἡ εἰρήνη κατεσκήνωσεν, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἑαυτοῦ τρίχας εἰρήνην ἄγειν. Τί τοίνυν οὐκ ἂν ἐπιτηδεύσειαν αἱ γυναῖκες αἱ εἰς μαχλοσύνην σπεύδουσαι, τοιαῦτα τολμῶσιν ἐνοπτριζόμεναι τοῖς ἀνδράσιν; Μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἄνδρας, βατάλους δὲ καὶ γύννιδας καλεῖν τούτους χρή, ὧν καὶ αἱ φωναὶ τεθρυμμέναι καὶ ἡ ἐσθὴς τεθηλυμμένη ἁφῇ καὶ βαφῇ. ∆ῆλοι δὲ οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἐλεγχόμενοι τὸν τρόπον ἔξωθεν ἀμπεχόνῃ, ὑποδέσει, σχήματι, βαδίσματι, κουρᾷ, βλέμματι· ἀπὸ ὁράσεως γὰρ ἐπιγνωσθήσεται ἀνήρ, ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, καὶ ἀπὸ ἀπαντήσεως ἀνθρώπου ἐπιγνωσθήσεται ἄνθρωπος· στολισμὸς ἀνδρὸς καὶ βῆμα ποδὸς καὶ γέλως ὀδόντων ἀναγγελεῖ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ. Οἱ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα πρὸς τὰς ἄλλας πεπολεμωμένοι τρίχας μόνον τὰς ἐπὶ τῇ κεφαλῇ περιέπουσι μικροῦ δεῖν ἀναδούμενοι κεκρυφάλοις τὰς κόμας ὥσπερ αἱ γυναῖκες. Λέοντες μὲν οὖν αὐχοῦσι τὸ λάσιον αὐτῶν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆς ἀλκῆς ὁπλίζονται τῇ τριχί, κάπροι δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ σεμνύνονται λοφιᾷ, ἀλλὰ φρίσσοντας αὐτοὺς τὴν τρίχα δεδοίκασιν κυνηγοί, εἰροπόκοι δ' ὄιες μαλλοῖς καταβεβρίθασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων ἐπλήθυνεν τὰς τρίχας ὁ φιλάνθρωπος πατὴρ εἰς σήν, ἄνθρωπε, ὑπουργίαν κεῖραι διδάξας τοὺς πόκους. Καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν οἱ Κελτοὶ καὶ οἱ Σκύθαι κομῶσιν, ἀλλὰ οὐ κομμοῦνται· ἔχει τι φοβερὸν τὸ εὔτριχον τοῦ βαρβάρου καὶ τὸ ξανθὸν αὐτοῦ πόλεμον ἀπειλεῖ· συγγενές τι τὸ χρῶμα τῷ αἵματι. Μεμισήκατον ἄμφω τούτω τὼ βαρβάρω τὴν τρυφήν· μάρτυρας ἐπιδείξονται σαφεῖς τὸ ῥηδίον ὁ Γερμανός, ὁ Σκύθης τὴν ἅμαξαν. Ὀλιγωρεῖ δὲ ἔσθ' ὅτε καὶ τῆς ἁμάξης ὁ Σκύθης–πλοῦτος εἶναι δοκεῖ τῷ βαρβάρῳ τὸ μέγεθος αὐτῆς–καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν τρυφὴν εὐτελὴς πολιτεύεται· οἶκον αὐτάρκη καὶ τῆς ἁμάξης εὐζωνότερον, τὸν ἵππον, λαβὼν Σκύθης ἀνὴρ ἀναβὰς φέρεται οἷ βούλεται· κάμνων δὲ ἄρα λιμῷ αἰτεῖ τὸν ἵππον τροφάς, ὃ δὲ ὑπέχει τὰς φλέβας, καὶ ὃ κέκτηται μόνον, τῷ κυρίῳ τὸ αἷμα χορηγεῖ, καὶ τῷ νομάδι ὁ ἵππος ὄχημα γίνεται καὶ τροφή. Ἀραβίων δέ–ἄλλοι οὗτοι νομάδες–ἡ μάχιμος ἡλικία καμηλοβάται εἰσί· κυούσας οὗτοι τὰς καμήλους ἐφέζονται· αἳ δὲ νέμονται ἅμα καὶ θέουσιν ἀναλαμβάνουσαι τοὺς δεσπότας, καὶ τὸν οἶκον ἐπιφέρονται σὺν αὐτοῖς. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ποτὸν ἐπιλίποι τοῖς βαρβάροις, ἀμέλγονται τοῦ γάλακτος, κενουμένης δὲ ἤδη τῆς τροφῆς, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῦ αἵματος φείδονται, ᾗ φασι λυττήσαντας τοὺς λύκους. Αἳ δὲ ἄρα ἡμερώτεραι τῶν βαρβάρων οὐ μνησικακοῦσιν ἀδικούμεναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἔρημον διεκθέουσιν τεθαρρηκότως δεσπότας ὁμοῦ καὶ φέρουσαι καὶ τρέφουσαι. Ὄλοιντο οὖν οἱ θῆρες οἱ φυλακτικοί, οἷς τὸ αἷμα ἡ τροφή· οὐδὲ γὰρ θιγεῖν αἵματος ἀνθρώποις θέμις, οἷς τὸ σῶμα οὐδὲν ἀλλ' ἢ σάρξ ἐστιν αἵματι γεωργουμένη. Μετέσχηκεν τοῦ λόγου τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἀνθρώπινον καὶ τῆς χάριτος κοινωνεῖ τῷ πνεύματι, κἂν ἀδικήσῃ τις αὐτό, οὐ λήσεται. Ἔξεστιν αὐτῷ καὶ γυμνῷ τοῦ σχήματος πρὸς τὸν κύριον λαλεῖν. Ἀποδέχομαι δὲ τῶν βαρβάρων τὴν λιτότητα· εὔζωνον ἀγαπήσαντες πολιτείαν οἱ βάρβαροι κατέλειψαν τὴν τρυφήν. Τοιούτους ὁ κύριος ἡμᾶς καλεῖ γυμνοὺς ἀπειροκαλίας, γυμνοὺς κενοδοξίας, ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπεσπασμένους, μόνον ἐπιφερομένους τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς, μόνον ἐπέχοντας τὴν σωτηρίαν.