Panegyric orations
To run against you from an opposing lot, he endured but the pentathlon was accomplished for you and the pancratium was completed with no one having c
The votes, i imagine the divine judgment and i refer to the incorruptible tribunal. when i test you in elections, i admire your intelligence and your
From afar it shines on those landing and extends a hand to those from the sea, escorting them to rome most painlessly. what in addition to these does
Using it and bending and curving it towards the drooping jaw, i remember the indian's eyebrow at this, how he held it more than a cubit above his head
And to a rival. let others, then, measure you against and compare you with whomever they wish, but i, though i seem to make a strange and dissimilar c
In prose, not in meters and poems or perhaps many are present, but they have no account of the matter, as if it were of no account to them. and time
The hegemony of his father, with kingdoms overthrown and not a few changes having occurred in both, those who, having exchanged their fortune for the
He took counsel of opposing nations, but by making everything purchasable with gold and royal splendors, from this he gained the goodwill of all, and
Opened, and flung wide the very gates of the soul, and associated with wicked and corrupt lives. for he did not at once know the whole line of the fam
To work deeds of injustice for he was angry with those who did wrong and would punish them. but when he began to be sick and his body was wasting awa
Not a magnificent spirit, not a musical and graceful speech, nothing else of the sort that knows how to beautify the soul and the nature of the body.
Drives a sphere, and the other the superterrestrial one, so that the one might wind its own zone in a single cycle, and the other in twelve cycles, an
Defining the virtues by its power, and practicing the higher geometry. for this, as proclus also says, has occupied the middle ground between the indi
The power of the kingdom came to him, besides these the life of david among the flocks, the pursuit, those many dangers into which he fell but was not
He locks up the monarchy into a tyranny, having exchanged one evil for another. justice is not quiet, it kindles the coals, it sends the arrow, the wi
I call it his girdle-and he draws away no small cavalry and infantry force from old rome, he adds to these also the best army of the east, and no smal
An angel wrought a more manifest victory. i have something more to say than those wonders there the cross was in types and images, a bronze serpent s
You, o king the more abundantly you pour out benefits upon us, the more you increase by being filled. from this, no one has been left out of such wea
With the eyes, then poured out and dissolved, but better and higher than all that is visible. but, o emperor—for i repeat the title to you and call it
You fill the western beacon, neither grudging us your rays nor altering the color of your disk, but the more time increases the distances, the more be
The rising of the sun, the land upon which it immediately rises, so that, if any of our people wished, having gone there he could, not with geometrica
I am an unskillful chronicler of your deeds and erring in my timing, and i do not have a nature that strikes out in both directions at once. for you a
To wish. for you both comprehend the present and conjecture the future and discover the unseen, discerning character from eyebrows and eyelids, so tha
To speak? -unseemly even in his appearance, made of tin or dipped in bile and altogether counterfeit gold, but since he was in the midst of dangers, t
With stones lying along each side, so that the conjoined may seem continuous and the well-fitted of one nature. behold for me the heights and beauties
But here is a distinct hand divided into five rosy branches. but this is a most unerring testimony of that godlike soul. but do you wish to see some t
Transcending substance and holding the principles of the forms folded together and least of all divided from the one. and you, being such, do you not
The fountains of good deeds flowed, as if from a sheer rock, having received the impetus for their flowing these proclaimed you by reputation even be
A guide, so also there an arbiter of the administrations, that i may suit you for both, both speaking your deeds and doing the words of your administr
P]ortions are deprived of praise, but no one of all men has been suited to all words of praise. but to you so much is granted [against] all in all thi
To bring to the highest point of keenness, or your soul which was not [shattered by] trials, but also most nobly endured through the magnitude of the
And they were torn away, and their manner altered their nature [....], and they have remained, and after the separation, being both nourished and fatt
But the love of art and the care concerning the divine sanctuaries, what demostheneses or the best of the writers could describe and praise? how beau
Having surpassed in his heroic deeds him and the kings up to you, but in his plans he is recorded as being less than his accomplishments, winning in [
Less, you have given the first place to reason over passion, and you have established the one like some foundation upon the acropolis, but the other y
Having considered what is seen, but when i also behold the tomb of the queen, and i behold it often whenever i wish to console some hardship of fortun
To comprehend in a speech. for to whom could the unattainable be attainable, even if he were rich in the homeric power for speeches, or the herodotan
Admiring and in return is eager to make an image and someone already having constructed a stele for you inscribed the gentle one. therefore solomon
Much praise and measured against all of time. how then could i summarize the whole in a few words? i will speak, therefore, a little of your virtues,
Everyone rejoices and exults with the one who has taken up your encomiums and because i did not weave the words of praise sooner, he is rather vexed
Gracefulness, the maturity of your thought, the symmetry of your greatness, the quick-wittedness, the stability of your mind, the unmarried life, the
At once for us the lord and most skilled in command and pleasing to all, o most excellent foresight, o wise consideration, o most noble counsel, o div
Of virtues? you, beyond any kings who ever were, honored justice and preferred philanthropy, and having attained the height of prudence, you appeared
Accomplishments? o the arrows from heaven against the barbarians, o the unseen bowshots, o the angelic powers in the air, o the divine armies against
The greatest part of character. for as many as have become of a civic disposition, if they have descended to this willingly, they seemed both prudent
Of civil administration and of divine hearing. if therefore, being engaged in one, he also holds to the other, let this for now be a secret to many. b
Of wise men going to ammon's shrine or being within the delphic tripod suddenly transferred their apparent wisdom to the more divine and greater, how
We have taken starting points, and yet more absurd, if we render praises to the good and noble men who have died, for what they have said concerning w
And not many months after the sowing, but immediately reaping the harvest and so that i might say what is from the gospel, the two were running toget
If we should set about to build him up, this marvelous man, both in nature and in diligence, has received much contribution toward his eloquence from
For having embraced one of these, they might neglect the rest, or putting ears before mind, they have an unintelligible tongue, or having drawn up spr
Pleases the petty and the overly artful. therefore, of these enumerated wise men, the one now honored in this discourse wishes to imitate gregory, and
I knew not only what the greeks knew, nor what the chaldeans or egyptians knew, but i had also condemned them, though not all of them, nor has my refu
With magnanimity, he who was both namesake and like-minded with the great constantine, and who alone nobly contended against all, and taking his name-
Regulates the state of the church, no less than moses who constructed the tabernacle below according to the pattern shown to him for whether melodies
Concerning which things, before his high-priesthood, at a time when he did not even have many resources of money, he constructed brilliantly and accom
And to impart to others. and perhaps he did not endure the waves of the sea, but in his toils on land he might in some way be compared to paul. and co
One of two things happening, either god descending into the mind, or the mind ascending to god. but what is the place of god's rest, or by which of al
Of a voice, nor were you instructed by any of the higher powers, to lay aside the symbols of the priesthood, and to transfer yourself to another life,
Nothing unpleasant would happen to those handling these things but for you, who happen to be a philosopher, what harm will come from these affairs? j
Of words but you, o king, will both speak publicly among the armies and bring an impulse with your speech and will rouse them together for the deed.
May you be crowned on the head with glorious trophies. may you be adorned with deeds of valor against the barbarians, and be escorted by many victorie
May you rend the sea and stop the river and vanquish amalek. may a cloud, giving shade over your head, take away your burning heat, and a pillar of li
of civil administration and of divine hearing. If therefore, being engaged in one, he also holds to the other, let this for now be a secret to many. But what I have grasped, is that handling each in turn, he seems to those who see him to know only this; for with the ambidexterity of his nature he is confident in both, and having fitted his reason as a mean between these extremes, with this he touches both and knows how to administer precisely both divine and human affairs. A happy life follows this, and his life is in accordance with his character. But sometimes it is also against his character. For snatching himself away from the community, he has been made sought after by the successions of rulers. And to whomever he might draw near, this one is by far happier than the others; for according to the temperament of the air, to those he approaches, he imparts well-being to them. And sometimes when changing the course of events, he does not seem to innovate; for he does not make sudden changes, but just as in the visual transitions of colors, the shift to the extremes is through the means. And not making a circle, he is not moved while moving; for what is slightly less is difficult to grasp, and the subtlety of the alteration and change dulls the perception. He neither trusts in stable affairs nor is he shaken and thrown about by troubled ones, but for the former he presides over the fixed part of their harmony, and concerning the change of the latter he has considered it better. He is more humane than the laws, yet more than they he dries up the springs of wickedness. He makes the matter more severe and renders the threat heavier than the punishment. And if he but raises his eyebrow at someone, that man is found breathless, and the example does not draw the many to imitation. He is not ungracious in his mind, but he keeps this a secret from the people, and he adapts to those he meets not through buffoonery and cleverness, but by the gentleness of his words and the truth of what he professes. He is rich in inward reason, if any other of those admired for this, but he does not immediately make the spring a river, but in small channels reveals the richness of the stream; for he knows that excess leads to satiety and through this, to contempt. Hence, like thirsty birds, we fly down to his streams. And whatever we might draw, it is very little, but most drinkable. And he makes the tone of his voice not piercing nor full-toned, but such as even an incorporeal nature might adopt. For he is mind alone set beside a small body; for nature expended it all for the greatness of his soul. Therefore, that which he is more, this lives and leads up to that the remaining part as well; whence his body does not oppose his soul, but follows it quietly, being ensouled or deified; and in him alone, I think, the composite is simplicity. I know then that in undertaking to characterize the man I have brought my hearers into a very great contest, as I shall be speaking of something loftier or more divine; but I have said none of the things that the many suspected. But let no one be amazed. For one who characterizes or praises does not at the same time both characterize something better and is remolded, nor does he change his soul towards that, but he wishes to say more than is customary, but he does not forget what is within himself and his nature. Therefore he makes his speeches not according to what he wishes, but according to his nature. 16 To the protosynkellos who requested that the miracles of Gregory the Wonderworker be recorded Do not be amazed, my guide of the Muses, if I should utter something brilliant and clear and, as is not my custom, compose the encomium for the Wonderworker. for if the many of Greece
πολιτικῆς διοικήσεως καὶ θείας ἀκροάσεως. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐν θατέρῳ τυγχάνων καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ ἔχεται, ἀπόρρητον τοῦτο τέως ἔστω πολλοῖς.
ὃ δὲ κατείληφα, ἑκάτερον παρὰ μέρος μεταχειριζόμενος, ὡς τοῦτο μόνον εἰδὼς τοῖς ὁρῶσι δοκεῖ· τῷ γὰρ ἀμφιδεξίῳ τῆς φύσεως ἑκάτερα
θαρρεῖ, τούτοις δὲ τοῖς ἄκροις μέσον τὸν λόγον ἁρμόσας τούτῳ ἀμφοτέρων ἅπτεται καὶ διᾴττειν ἀκριβῶς οἶδε τά τε θεῖα τά τε
ἀνθρώπινα πράγματα. Ἕπεται δὲ τούτῳ καὶ βίος εὐδαίμων, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ κατὰ τὸν τρόπον ἐστίν. ἔστι δ' οὗ καὶ παρὰ τὸν τρόπον. ἀφαρπάζων
γὰρ ἑαυτὸν τοῦ κοινοῦ περιάρπακτος ταῖς διαδοχαῖς τῶν ἡγεμόνων καθέστηκε. καὶ ᾧ δ' ἂν προσεγγίσειεν, οὗτος παρὰ πολὺ τῶν ἄλλων
εὐδαιμονέστερος· κατὰ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος κρᾶσιν, οἷς πλησιάζει, τῆς εὐζωΐας αὐτοῖς μεταδίδωσι. μεταβάλλων ἔστι δ' οὗ τὰς τῶν
πραγμάτων φορὰς καινοτομεῖν οὐ δοκεῖ· οὐ γὰρ ἀθρόας τὰς μεταθέσεις ποιεῖται, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς τῶν χρωμάτων ὁρατικαῖς μεταλλαγαῖς
διὰ τῶν μέσων ἐστὶν ἡ εἰς τὰ ἄκρα μετάστασις. καὶ μὴ κύκλον ποιῶν οὐ κινεῖται κινούμενος· τὸ γὰρ παρὰ μικρὸν ἔλαττόν ἐστιν
εἰς κατάληψιν καὶ ἀμβλύνει τὴν αἴσθησιν τὸ λανθάνον τῆς μεταποιήσεώς τε καὶ μεταθέσεως. Οὔτε καθεστῶσι θαρρεῖ τοῖς πράγμασιν
οὔτε ταραττομένοις δονεῖται καὶ περιστρέφεται, ἀλλ' ἐκείνοις μὲν τὸ πεπηγὸς πρυτανεύει τῆς ἁρμονίας, περὶ δὲ τῆς μεταβολῆς
τούτων ἔσκεπται κάλλιον. φιλανθρωπότερος μὲν τῶν νόμων ἐστί, πλέον δὲ ἤπερ ἐκεῖνοι τὰς τῶν πονηριῶν ἀποξηραίνει πηγάς. τὰ
τοῦ πράγματος ἐπὶ μᾶλλον ποιεῖ καὶ τὴν ἀπειλὴν βαρυτέραν τῆς τιμωρίας ἐργάζεται. κἂν ἐπισείσῃ τινὶ τὴν ὀφρύν, ἄπνους ἐκεῖνος
εὑρίσκεται, καὶ τὸ παράδειγμα οὐκ ἐφέλκεται τοὺς πολλοὺς πρὸς τὸ μίμημα. Οὐκ ἄχαρις μὲν τὴν γνώμην ἐστίν, ἀπόρρητον δὲ τῷ
δήμῳ τοῦτο ποιεῖται, ἁρμόζεται δὲ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν οὐκ ἐκ βωμολοχίας καὶ ἀστειότητος, ἀλλὰ τῷ προσηνεῖ τῶν λόγων καὶ τῇ
ἀληθείᾳ ὧν ἐπαγγέλλεται. πλουτεῖ τὸν ἐνδιάθετον λόγον, εἴπερ τις ἄλλος τῶν ἐπὶ τούτῳ θαυμαζομένων, οὐκ εὐθὺς δὲ ποταμὸν ποιεῖ
τὴν πηγήν, ἀλλ' ὀχετοῖς ὀλίγοις τὸ πλούσιον παραδεικνύει τοῦ νάματος· οἶδε γὰρ ὅτι τὸ προσκορὲς πλήσμιον καὶ διὰ ταῦτα καταφρονούμενον.
ἔνθεν καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ τῶν ὀρνίθων ὑγροὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ἐκείνου ἀπορροὰς καθιπτάμεθα. καὶ ὁ δ' ἂν ἀρυσαίμεθα, βραχύτατον μέν ἐστι, ποτιμώτατον
δέ. Ποιεῖται δὲ καὶ τὸν τῆς φωνῆς τόνον οὐ τορὸν οὐδὲ πάμφωνον, ἀλλ' οἷον ἂν ἁρμόσηται καὶ φύσις ἀσώματος. νοῦς γάρ ἐστι μόνος
σώματι βραχεῖ παρακείμενος· ἐξεδαπάνησε γὰρ αὐτὸ πᾶν ἡ φύσις πρὸς τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς μέγεθος. διὰ ταῦτα, ὃ μᾶλλόν ἐστι, τοῦτο ζῇ
καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνο ἀνάγει καὶ τὸ λειπόμενον· ὅθεν οὐδ' ἀντιπίπτει τὸ σῶμα τῇ ἐκείνου ψυχῇ, ἀλλ' ἕπεται ἠρεμοῦν, ψυχοῦν ἢ θεούμενον·
καὶ μόνῳ οἶμαι τούτῳ τὸ σύνθετον ἁπλότης ἐστίν. Οἶδα μὲν οὖν ὡς ἐπιβαλόμενος χαρακτηρίζειν τὸν ἄνδρα εἰς ἀγῶνα μέγιστον τοὺς
ἀκροατὰς περιέστησα, ὡς ὑψηλότερον ἐρῶν ἢ θειότερον· ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲν ὧν ὑπώπτευσαν οἱ πολλοὶ εἴρηκα. θαυμαζέτω δὲ μηδείς. ὁ γὰρ
χαρακτηρίζων ἢ ἐγκωμιάζων οὐχ ἅμα τέ τι κρεῖττον χαρακτηρίζει καὶ μεταπέπλασται οὐδὲ πρὸς ἐκεῖνο μεταλλάττεται τὴν ψυχήν,
ἀλλὰ βούλεται μὲν πλέον τοῦ συνήθους ἐρεῖν, ὃ δὲ ἐντός τέ ἐστιν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῆς φύσεως οὐκ ἐπιλανθάνεται. διὰ τοῦτο οὐ πρὸς
ὃ βούλεται, ἀλλὰ καθ' ὃ πέφυκε τοὺς λόγους ποιεῖται. 16 Πρὸς τὸν πρωτοσύγκελλον ἀξιώσαντα ἱστορεῖσθαι τὰ θαύματα τοῦ θαυματουργοῦ
Γρηγορίου Μὴ θαυμάσῃς, ὁ ἐμὸς μουσηγέτης, εἰ λαμπρόν τι καὶ τορὸν φθέγξομαι καί, οἷον οὐκ εἴωθα, τῷ θαυματουργῷ συντιθεὶς
τὸ ἐγκώμιον. εἰ γὰρ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν τῆς Ἑλλάδος
