ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΝΥΣΣΗΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΗΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΥ. Τῷ ἀδελφῷ δούλῳ Θεοῦ Πέτρῳ Γρηγόριος ἐπίσκοπος Νύσσης.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΠΡΩΤΟΝ. Ἐν ᾧ τίς ἐστι μερικὴ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου φυσιολογία, καί τις ἁβροτέρα διήγησις περὶ τῶν προγεγονότων τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου γενέσεως.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Βʹ. Διὰ τί μετὰ τὴν κτίσιν τελευταῖος ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Γʹ. Ὅτι τιμιωτέρα πάσης τῆς φαινομένης κτίσεως ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσις.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Δʹ. Ὅτι διὰ πάντων ἐπισημαίνει τὴν ἀρχικὴν ἐξουσίαν ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευή.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Εʹ. Ὅτι ὁμοίωμα τῆς θείας βασιλείας ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ϛʹ. Ἐξέτασις τῆς τοῦ νοῦ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν συγγενείας, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἐκ παρόδου τὸ τῶν Ἀνομοίων διελέγχεται δόγμα.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ζʹ. Διὰ τί γυμνὸς τῶν ἐκ φύσεως ὅπλων τε καὶ προκαλυμμάτων ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ηʹ. Διὰ τί ὄρθιον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ σχῆμα, καὶ ὅτι διὰ τὸν λόγον αἱ χεῖρες: ἐν ᾧ τις καὶ περὶ διαφορᾶς ψυχῶν φιλοσοφία.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Θʹ. Ὅτι ὀργανικὸν κατεσκευάσθη τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ σχῆμα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ λόγου χρείαν.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ιʹ. Ὅτι διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὁ νοῦς ἐνεργεῖ.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΑʹ. Ὅτι ἀθεώρητος ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσις.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΒʹ. Ἐξέτασις, ἐν τίνι τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν νομιστέον, ἐν ᾧ καὶ περὶ δακρύων καὶ περὶ γέλωτος φυσιολογία, καὶ θεώρημά τι φυσικὸν περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ. ΙΓʹ. Περὶ ὕπνου, καὶ χάσμης, καὶ ὀνείρων, αἰτιολογία.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΔʹ. Ὅτι οὐκ ἐν μέρει τοῦ σώματος ὁ νοῦς. Ἐν ᾧ καὶ διάκρισις τῶν τε σωματικῶν καὶ ψυχικῶν κινημάτων.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΕʹ. Ὅτι κυρίως ψυχὴ, ἡ λογικὴ καὶ ἔστι καὶ λέγεται: αἱ δ' ἄλλαι ὁμωνύμως κατονομάζονται. Ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὸ, διὰ παντὸς τοῦ σώματος διήκειν τὴν το

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙϚʹ. Θεωρία τοῦ θείου ῥητοῦ εἰπόντος, «Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν.» Ἐν ᾧ ἐξετάζεται, τίς ὁ τῆς εἰκόνος λόγος, καὶ

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΖʹ. Τί χρὴ λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ἐπαποροῦντας, εἰ μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἡ παιδοποιΐα, πῶς ἂν ἐγένοντο αἱ ψυχαὶ, εἰ ἀναμάρτητοι διέμειναν οἱ ἐξ ἀρχῆς

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΗʹ. Ὅτι τὰ ἄλογα ἐν ἡμῖν πάθη ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὴν ἄλογον φύσιν συγγενείας τὰς ἀφορμὰς ἔχει.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΘʹ. Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας, πάλιν ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει εἶναι τῶν ἐλπιζομένων ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν, διὰ τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ γεγράφθαι

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Κʹ. Τίς ἡ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ζωὴ, καὶ τί τὸ ἀπηγορευμένον ξύλον.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΑʹ. Ὅτι ἡ ἀνάστασις οὐ τοσοῦτον ἐκ τοῦ κηρύγματος τοῦ Γραφικοῦ, ὅσον ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀνάγκης τῶν πραγμάτων ἀκολούθως ἐλπίζεται.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΒʹ. Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας, εἰ καλόν τι καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἡ ἀνάστασις, τί οὐχὶ ἤδη γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ χρόνων τισὶ περιόδοις ἐλπίζεται.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΓʹ. Ὅτι ὁ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς τοῦ κόσμου συστάσεως ὁμολογῶν, ἀναγκαίως καὶ περὶ τοῦ τέλους συνθήσεται.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΔʹ. Ἀντίῤῥησις πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας, συναΐδιον εἶναι τῷ Θεῷ τὴν ὕλην.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΕʹ. Πῶς ἄν τις καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν προσαχθείη πιστεῦσαι τῇ Γραφῇ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως διδασκούσῃ.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚϚʹ.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΖʹ. Ὅτι δυνατόν ἐστιν, εἰς τὰ τοῦ παντὸς στοιχεῖα τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου σώματος ἀναλυθέντος, πάλιν ἐκ τοῦ κοινοῦ ἑκάστῳ τὸ ἴδιον ἀποσωθῆναι.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΗʹ. Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας προϋφεστάναι τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν σωμάτων, ἢ τὸ ἔμπαλιν πρὸ τῶν ψυχῶν διαπεπλᾶσθαι τὰ σώματα. Ἐν ᾧ τις καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς κατ

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΘʹ. Κατασκευὴ τοῦ μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ψυχῇ τε καὶ σώματι τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ὑπάρξεως εἶναι.

 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Λʹ. Θεωρία τις ἰατρικωτέρα περὶ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν κατασκευῆς δι' ὀλίγων.

IX. That the form of man was framed to serve as an instrument for the use of reason34    This and part of the next chapter, according to the division of the Greek, are included in the ninth chapter of the Latin Version..

1. Now since our Maker has bestowed upon our formation a certain Godlike grace, by implanting in His image the likeness of His own excellences, for this reason He gave, of His bounty, His other good gifts to human nature; but mind and reason we cannot strictly say that He gave, but that He imparted them, adding to the image the proper adornment of His own nature. Now since the mind is a thing intelligible and incorporeal, its grace would have been incommunicable and isolated, if its motion were not manifested by some contrivance. For this cause there was still need of this instrumental organization, that it might, like a plectrum, touch the vocal organs and indicate by the quality of the notes struck, the motion within.

2. And as some skilled musician, who may have been deprived by some affection of his own voice, and yet wish to make his skill known, might make melody with voices of others, and publish his art by the aid of flutes or of the lyre, so also the human mind being a discoverer of all sorts of conceptions, seeing that it is unable, by the mere soul, to reveal to those who hear by bodily senses the motions of its understanding, touches, like some skilful composer, these animated instruments, and makes known its hidden thoughts by means of the sound produced upon them.

3. Now the music of the human instrument is a sort of compound of flute and lyre, sounding together in combination as in a concerted piece of music. For the breath, as it is forced up from the air-receiving vessels through the windpipe, when the speaker’s impulse to utterance attunes the harmony to sound, and as it strikes against the internal protuberances which divide this flute-like passage in a circular arrangement, imitates in a way the sound uttered through a flute, being driven round and round by the membranous projections. But the palate receives the sound from below in its own concavity, and dividing the sound by the two passages that extend to the nostrils, and by the cartilages about the perforated bone, as it were by some scaly protuberance, makes its resonance louder; while the cheek, the tongue, the mechanism of the pharynx by which the chin is relaxed when drawn in, and tightened when extended to a point—all these in many different ways answer to the motion of the plectrum upon the strings, varying very quickly, as occasion requires, the arrangement of the tones; and the opening and closing of the lips has the same effect as players produce when they check the breath of the flute with their fingers according to the measure of the tune.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Θʹ. Ὅτι ὀργανικὸν κατεσκευάσθη τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ σχῆμα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ λόγου χρείαν.

Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν θεοειδῆ τινὰ χάριν τῷ πλάσματι ἡμῶν ὁ ποιήσας δεδώρηται, τῶν ἰδίων ἀγαθῶν ἐνθεὶς τῇ εἰκόνι τὰς ὁμοιότητας: διὰ τοῦτο τὰ μὲν λοιπὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔδωκεν ἐκ φιλοτιμίας τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει. Νοῦ δὲ καὶ φρονήσεως οὐκ ἔστι κυρίως εἰπεῖν ὅτι δέδωκεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι μετέδωκε, τὸν ἴδιον αὐτοῦ τῆς φύσεως κόσμον ἐπιβαλὼν τῇ εἰκόνι. Ἐπεὶ οὖν νοερόν τι χρῆμα καὶ ἀσώματόν ἐστιν ὁ νοῦς, ἀκοινώνητον ἂν ἔσχε τὴν χάριν καὶ ἄμικτον, μὴ διά τινος ἐπινοίας φανερουμένης αὐτοῦ τῆς κινήσεως. Τούτου χάριν τῆς ὀργανικῆς ταύτης προσεδεήθη κατασκευῆς, ἵνα πλήκτρου δίκην τῶν φωνητικῶν μορίων ἁπτόμενος, διὰ τῆς ποιᾶς τῶν φθόγγων τυπώσεως ἑρμηνεύσῃ τὴν ἔνδοθεν κίνησιν. Καὶ ὥσπερ τις μουσικῆς ἔμπειρος ὢν, ἂν ἰδίαν ἐκ πάθους μὴ ἔχοι φωνὴν, βουλόμενος δὲ φανερὰν ποιῆσαι τὴν ἐπιστήμην, ἀλλοτρίαις ἐμμελῳδοίη φωναῖς, δι' αὐλῶν ἢ λύρας δημοσιεύων τὴν τέχνην: οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἀνθρώπινος νοῦς, παντοδαπῶν νοημάτων εὑρετὴς ὢν, τῷ μὴ δύνασθαι διὰ σωματικῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐπαϊούσῃ τῇ ψυχῇ δεικνύειν τὰς τῆς διανοίας ὁρμὰς, καθάπερ τις ἁρμοστὴς ἔντεχνος, τῶν ἐμψύχων τούτων ὀργάνων ἁπτόμενος, διὰ τῆς ἐν τούτοις ἠχῆς φανερὰ ποιεῖ τὰ κεκρυμμένα νοήματα. Σύμμικτος δέ τις ἡ μουσικὴ περὶ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον ὄργανον αὐλοῦ καὶ λύρας, ὥσπερ ἐν συνῳδίᾳ τινὶ κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀλλήλοις συμφθεγγομένων. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ πνεῦμα διὰ τῆς ἀρτηρίας, ἀπὸ τῶν πνευματοδόχων ἀγγείων ἀνωθούμενον, ὅταν ἡ ὁρμὴ τοῦ φθεγγομένου πρὸς φωνὴν τονώσῃ τὸ μέρος, ταῖς ἔνδοθεν προσαρασσόμενον προσβολαῖς, αἳ κυκλοτερῶς τὸν αὐλοειδῆ τοῦτον διειλήφασι πόρον, μιμεῖταί πως τὴν διὰ τοῦ αὐλοῦ γινομένην φωνὴν, ταῖς ὑμενώδεσιν ἐξοχαῖς ἐν κύκλῳ περιδονούμενον. Ὑπερῴα δὲ τὸν κάτωθεν φθόγγον ἐκδέχεται τῷ κατ' αὐτὴν κενώματι, διδύμοις αὐλοῖς τοῖς ἐπὶ τοὺς μυκτῆρας διήκουσι, καὶ οἷον λεπίδων τισὶν ἐξοχαῖς τοῖς περὶ τὸν ἠθμὸν χόνδροις τὴν φωνὴν περισχίζουσα, γεγωνοτέραν τὴν ἠχὴν ἀπεργάζεται. Παρειὰ δὲ, καὶ γλῶσσα, καὶ ἡ περὶ τὸν φάρυγγα διασκευὴ, καθ' ἣν ὁ ἀνθερεὼν ὑποχαλᾶται κοιλαινόμενος, καὶ ὀξυτονῶν ἐπιτείνεται: ταῦτα πάντα τὴν ἐν ταῖς νευραῖς τοῦ πλήκτρου κίνησιν ὑποκρίνεται ποικίλως καὶ πολυτρόπως, ἐπὶ καιροῦ σὺν πολλῷ τῷ τάχει μεθαρμόζοντα πρὸς τὴν χρείαν τοὺς τόνους. Χειλέων δὲ διαστολὴ καὶ ἐπίμυσις ταὐτὸν ποιεῖ τοῖς διὰ τῶν δακτύλων ἐπιλαμβάνουσι τοῦ αὐλοῦ τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ τὴν ἁρμονίαν τοῦ μέλους.