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Fragmentum ex oratione contra astronomos

Of Saint Gregory the Theologian, from the oration against astronomers.

Just as fish living in the waters are brought to life by the juices and waters that are washed together in the womb, yet after birth, every living creature enjoys the life of the air not by exhalation, but by inhalation and respiration; and the body is the bond of the soul, and the blood is the bond of the body, or rather, the inherent warmth of the blood, and when this grows cold, the separation of the soul from the body occurs, as the blood congeals. Hence the recently dead and same-day dead bodies of men, when dissected, perhaps still have bile within, likewise also phlegm and humor, but no blood at all; for, as I have already said, the separation of the soul from the body happens through the lack of the hot element. And for this reason most infants are also born at night, as the womb grows cold and expels the infant on account of the nocturnal chill; in the same way, indeed, most bodies also die at night, as the warmth of the blood is driven out and ... by the cold of the night. And this is the account of the separation of souls.

But it is necessary for you also to understand the particular separation of the elements of the body, so that you may also hold the account of the resurrection in certainty. For when the soul is separated from the body, the four elements from which they came together ... in them and are carried away, the hot part of the blood into the fire as to its own deposit, the moist part into the water, and the cold part into the air; finally, in the earth, that is, in the tomb, remains the dry part, 36.676 that is, the dust that was taken from it by God from the beginning. At the time of the resurrection, therefore, as from certain deposits of the aforesaid parts of the world, each element gives back to the dust its own, and again the body is composed from the four, and the soul runs to it, and thus man is formed again. But you will wish, as one who loves discourse on all things, to set this out in detail also: I mean, of the soul's operations through the body—memory, I say, and reason, desire and anger, laughter and breath—where are these, and through which parts are they activated? For memories, indeed, and their distinctions are activated by the soul through the brain; wherefore often some who have received a critical blow to the head did not die from it, but became senseless and witless; for this reason the parts behind the head are called the cerebellum. But the soul activates the rational faculty through the heart. The respiratory faculty through the lung; the spirited faculty through the blood; whence it is often possible to see in those who are angry, at the hour of their anger, their appearance flushed and fiery. The soul activates the appetitive faculty through the liver; whence, when the liver grows cold, indigestion immediately follows, and a man has no appetite for food. For understand that all gluttonous animals have a perfect liver; such as are pigs and sparrows. You will know again that the soul activates the smiling faculty through the spleen; they are reluctant to laugh; and those who are often overcome by much 36.677 laughter, they say they are 'spleened'. And you will surely wish to understand also about the spermatic parts, through what kind of members and from where they proceed, which are the kidneys; whence also those skilled in such matters are accustomed to say that those who are excessively unrestrained in sexual intercourse are bent over by pain in the kidneys.

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Fragmentum ex oratione contra astronomos

Τοῦ ἁγίου Γρηγορίου τοῦ Θεολόγου, ἐκ τοῦ πρὸς ἀστρονόμους λόγου.

Ὥσπερ οἱ ἰχθύες οἱ ἐν τοῖς ὕδασι ζῶντες διὰ τῶν ἐν μήτρᾳ συνεπικλυζομένων χυμῶν καὶ ὑδάτων εἰς ζωογονίαν ψυχαγωγοῦνται, μετὰ μέντοι τὸν τόκον οὐ κατ' ἐκπνοὴν, ἀλλὰ κατ' εἰσπνοὴν καὶ ἀναπνοὴν τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀέρος πᾶν ἔμψυχον ἀπολαύει ζῶον· καὶ δεσμὸς μὲν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐστι τὸ σῶμα, δεσμὸς δὲ τοῦ σώματός ἐστι τὸ αἷμα, μᾶλλον δὲ ἡ τοῦ αἵματος ἐνυπόστατος θέρμη, ἧς ἀποψυχωμένης, ὁ τῆς ψυχῆς χωρισμὸς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος γίνεται, ἀποπηγνυμένου τοῦ αἵματος. Ὅθεν τὰ αὐθωρὰ καὶ αὐθήμερα τῶν ἀνθρώπων νεκρὰ σώματα ἀνατεμνόμενα, χολὴν μὲν ἴσως ἔτι ἔχουσιν ἔνδον, ὡσαύτως καὶ φλέγμα καὶ χυμὸν, αἷμα δὲ οὐδαμῶς· κατ' ἔλλειψιν γὰρ, ὡς ἤδη εἶπον, τοῦ θερμοῦ στοιχείου ὁ τῆς ψυχῆς χωρισμὸς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος γίνεται. Καὶ τούτου χάριν τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν βρεφῶν νυκτὶ καὶ τίκτονται, ἀποψυχωμένης τῆς μήτρας καὶ ἐξωδούσης διὰ τῆς νυκτε ρινῆς ψύξεως τὸ βρέφος· τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν σωμάτων νυκτὶ τελευτῶσιν, ὡς ἀν τιδιωκομένης τῆς θέρμης τοῦ αἵματος καὶ δη... ούσης ὑπὸ ψύχους τῆς νυκτός. Καὶ οὗτος μὲν ὁ λό γος τοῦ χωρισμοῦ τῶν ψυχῶν.

Ἀναγκαῖον δέ σε καὶ τὸν ἴδιον τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ σώματος χωρισμὸν ἐπί στασθαι, ἵνα καὶ τὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐν βεβαίῳ κατ έχῃς λόγον. Ἀποχωριζομένης γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα ἐξ ὧν συνῆλθον ... μων ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀποφέρονται, ἐν μὲν τῷ πυρὶ τὸ θερμὸν τοῦ αἵματος ὡς εἰς ἰδίαν παρακαταθήκην, ἐν δὲ τῷ ὕδατι τὸ ὑγρὸν, ἐν δὲ τῷ ἀέρι τὸ ψυχρόν· λοιπὸν ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἤτοι τῷ τάφῳ, ἀπομένει τὸ ξηρὸν, 36.676 ἤτοι ὁ χοῦς ὁ ληφθεὶς παρ' αὐτῆς ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς. Τῷ οὖν καιρῷ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ὡς ἐκ παρα θηκῶν τινων τῶν εἰρημένων τοῦ κόσμου μερῶν, ἀποδίδωσιν ἕκαστον στοιχεῖον πρὸς τὸν χοῦν τὸ ἴδιον, καὶ πάλιν συνίσταται τὸ σῶμα ἐκ τεσσάρων, καὶ προστρέχει αὐτῷ ἡ ψυχὴ, καὶ οὕτως πάλιν ἀναμορφοῦται ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Θελήσεις δὲ ὡς πάντα φιλολο γοῦντα καὶ τοῦτο ἐν εἴδει ποιήσασθαι· φημὶ δὴ τῶν διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἐνεργειῶν τῆς ψυχῆς μνήμης τέ φημι καὶ λόγου, ἐπιθυμίας καὶ θυμοῦ, γέλωτός τε καὶ πνοῆς, ποῦ ταῦτα, καὶ διὰ ποίων ἐνεργοῦνται μορίων. Αἱ μέντοι γὰρ μνῆμαι καὶ αἱ τούτων διακρίσεις διὰ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου ὑπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐνερ γοῦνται· διόπερ πολλάκις κατὰ κεφαλῆς τινες καιρίαν πληγὴν λαβόντες, οὐκ ἀπέθανον μὲν παρ' αὐτὰ, ἔκφρονες δὲ καὶ ἀνούστατοι γέγοναν· διὰ τοῦτο με τάφρενα τὰ ὄπισθεν τῆς κεφαλῆς λέγονται. Τὸ δὲ λογιστικὸν διὰ τῆς καρδίας ἐνεργεῖ ἡ ψυχή. Τὸ δὲ ἀναπνευστικὸν διὰ τοῦ πνεύμονος· τὸ δὲ θυμικὸν διὰ τοῦ αἵματος· ὅθεν ἔστιν ἰδέσθαι πολλάκις ἐν τοῖς θυμουμένοις κατὰ τὴν ὥραν τοῦ θυμοῦ, ὕφαιμον καὶ πυρακτούμενον τὸ εἶδος αὐτῶν. Τὸ δὲ ἐπιθυμητικὸν ἡ ψυχὴ διὰ τοῦ ἥπατος ἐνεργεῖ· ὅθεν τοῦ ἥπατος ψυχομένου, δυσπευσίας εὐθέως παρακο λουθούσης, ἀνορεκτεῖ ὁ ἄνθρωπος περὶ τὰς βρώσεις. Ἐπίστησον γὰρ ὡς πάντα τὰ λίχνα ζῶα τέλειον ἥπατος ἔχουσιν· οἷον γίνονται χοῖροι καὶ στρουθίονες. Γνώσῃ δὲ πάλιν τὸ μειδιαστικὸν διὰ τοῦ σπληνὸς ἐνεργεῖν τὴν ψυχὴν δυσεπιθύμως πρὸς τοὺς γέλωτας ἔχουσι· καὶ οἱ πολλάκις ὑπὸ πλειόνων γε 36.677 λώντων κατασυρόμενοι, σπληνίζεσθαί φασι. Θελήσεις δὲ πάντως καὶ περὶ σπερμογόνων νοεῖν δι' οἵων καὶ πόθεν πρόεισι μορίων, οἵτινές εἰσιν οἱ νεφροί· ὅθεν καὶ οἱ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα δεινοὶ φιλοῦσιν εἰπεῖν τοὺς λίαν περὶ τὰς συνουσίας ἀφειδῶς ἔχοντας κατα κάμπτεσθαι τῇ ὀδύνῃ τῶν νεφρῶν.