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Funeral oration in praise of his brother Caesarius

OF GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN, A FUNERAL ORATION ON HIS OWN BROTHER CAESARIUS

1.1 Perhaps you think, O friends and brothers and fathers, a sweet thing and name, that I eagerly undertake this discourse to pour forth laments and dirges for the departed one, or to draw out long and elegant speeches, in which the many delight; 1.2 and some of you are prepared to mourn and lament with me, so that in my suffering you may weep for your own losses, all who have experienced such a thing, and may soothe your grief in the midst of friendly sorrows, while others are here as if to feast their hearing, and to be made more pleased; 1.3 for we ought to make a show even of our misfortune, such as our affairs once were, when in other things we were sufficiently well-off in substance, and ambitious in matters of oratory, before we looked up to the true and highest Word, and having given all things to God from whom are all things, received God in place of all things.

1.4 By no means, do not suppose this of us, if you wish to suppose anything favorable. For we shall neither lament the departed one more than is proper, since we do not approve of such things in others, nor shall we praise him beyond measure; and yet a speech is a dear and most fitting gift, if any other, for an eloquent man, and praise, for one who especially loved my speeches; 1.5 and not only a gift, but also a debt, the most just of all debts; but only so much as to fulfill the law concerning these things, both weeping and admiring (for this is not outside our philosophy; For the memory of the just is with praises; and: Over the dead, it says, shed tears, and as one suffering grievously begin lamentation; keeping us equally from insensibility and from excess); 1.6 then after this, we shall both show the weakness of human nature, and remind you of the dignity of the soul, and we shall offer the consolation owed to those who grieve, and we shall transfer our grief from the flesh and temporal things to those which are spiritual and eternal.

2.1 Caesarius' parents, so that I may begin from the point most fitting for us, are those whom you all know, and whose virtue, both seeing and hearing of it, you emulate and admire, and you tell it to those who do not know, if there are any such people, each one dwelling on a different part; since it is not possible for the same person to know everything, nor is it the work of a single tongue, even if one were very industrious and ambitious; 2.2 for whom, though there are many great things to praise, unless I seem excessive to someone for admiring my own family, one thing is the greatest of all, and like some other mark of distinction, their piety; I speak of these venerable and grey-haired ones, who are no less reverend for their virtue than for their old age; whose bodies have grown weary with time, but their souls are youthful for God.

3.1 The father, nobly grafted from the wild olive into the good olive tree, and having partaken so much of its richness that he was entrusted to graft others also and was charged with the care of souls, highly presiding in a high position over this people, a second Aaron or Moses, deemed worthy to draw near to God and to convey the divine voice to the others standing far off, gentle, slow to anger, calm in appearance, fervent in spirit, great in what was seen, richer in what was hidden. 3.2 Why should I repaint for you what is already known? For not even if we were to draw out a long speech, could we say anything worthy, and as much as each one both knows and demands from the speech; and it is better to leave it to your own thoughts than for speech to curtail much of the wonder.

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Funebris in laudem Caesarii fratris oratio

ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΛΟΓΟΥ ΕΙΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΙΟΝ ΤΟΝ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ Α∆ΕΛΦΟΝ ΕΠΙΤΑΦΙΟΣ

1.1 Οἴεσθέ με ἴσως, ὦ φίλοι καὶ ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες, τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ πρᾶγμα

καὶ ὄνομα, θρήνους ἐπιβαλοῦντα τῷ ἀπελθόντι καὶ ὀδυρμούς, ὑποδέχεσθαι προθύμως τὸν λόγον, ἢ μακροὺς ἀποτενοῦντα καὶ κομψοὺς λόγους, οἷς οἱ πολλοὶ χαίρουσι· 1.2 καὶ οἱ μὲν ὡς συμπενθήσοντες καὶ συνθρηνήσοντες παρεσκεύασθε, ἵν' ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ πάθει τὰ οἰκεῖα δακρύσητε, ὅσοις τι τοιοῦτόν ἐστι, καὶ σοφίσησθε τὸ ἀλγοῦν ἐν φιλικοῖς πάθεσιν, οἱ δὲ ὡς τὴν ἀκοὴν ἑστιάσον τες, καὶ ἡδίους ἐσόμενοι· 1.3 χρῆναι γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐπίδειξιν ποιήσασθαι καὶ τὴν συμφοράν, οἷά ποτε ἦν τὰ ἡμέτερα, ἡνίκα τἄλλα ἦμεν ἱκανῶς περιττοὶ καὶ τῆς ὕλης, καὶ τὰ περὶ λόγους φιλότιμοι, πρὶν ἀναβλέψαι πρὸς τὸν ἀληθῆ λόγον καὶ ἀνωτάτω, καὶ πάντα δόντες Θεῷ παρ' οὗ τὰ πάντα, Θεὸν ἀντὶ πάν των λαβεῖν.

1.4 Μηδαμῶς, μὴ τοῦτο περὶ ἡμῶν ὑπολάβητε, εἴ τι ὑπολαμβάνειν βούλεσθε δεξιόν. Οὔτε γὰρ θρηνήσομεν τὸν ἀπελθόντα πλέον ἢ καλῶς ἔχει, οἵ γε μηδὲ τῶν ἄλλων τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀποδεχόμεθα, οὔτε ἐπαινεσόμεθα πέρα τοῦ μέτρου· καίτοι γε δῶρον φίλον καὶ οἰκειότατον, εἴπερ τι ἄλλο, τῷ λογίῳ λόγος, καὶ τῷ διαφερόντως ἀγαπήσαντι τοὺς ἐμοὺς λόγους ἡ εὐφημία· 1.5 καὶ οὐ δῶρον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρέος ἁπάντων χρεῶν δικαιότατον· ἀλλ' ὅσον ἀφοσιώσασθαι τὸν περὶ ταῦτα νόμον, καὶ δακρύσαντες καὶ θαυμάσαντες (οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο ἔξω τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς φιλοσο φίας· Μνήμη τε γὰρ δικαίων μετ' ἐγκωμίων· καί· Ἐπὶ νεκρῷ, φησί, κατάγαγε δάκρυα, καὶ ὡς δεινὰ πάσχων ἔναρξαι θρήνου· ἴσον ἀναλγησίας χωρίζων ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀμετρίας)· 1.6 τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ἤδη, τῆς τε ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως τὴν ἀσθέ νειαν ἐπιδείξομεν, καὶ τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀξιώματος ὑπομνή σομεν, καὶ τὴν ὀφειλομένην τοῖς ἀλγοῦσι παράκλησιν ἐπι θήσομεν, καὶ μεταθήσομεν τὴν λύπην ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν προσκαίρων ἐπὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ καὶ ἀΐδια.

2.1 Καισαρίῳ πατέρες μέν, ἵν' ἐντεῦθεν ἄρξωμαι ὅθεν ἡμῖν πρεπωδέστατον, οὓς πάντες γινώσκετε, καὶ ὧν τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ ὁρῶντες καὶ ἀκούοντες ζηλοῦτέ τε καὶ θαυμάζετε, καὶ διηγεῖσθε τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν, εἴπερ τινές εἰσιν ἀνθρώπων, ἄλλος ἄλλο τι μέρος ἀπολαβόντες· ἐπεὶ μὴ πάντα τὸν αὐτὸν οἷόν τε, μηδὲ μιᾶς γλώσσης τὸ ἔργον, κἂν σφόδρα τις ᾖ τῶν φιλοπονωτάτων καὶ φιλοτίμων· 2.2 οἷς πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ὑπαρχόντων εἰς εὐφημίαν, εἰ μή τῳ περιττὸς εἶναι δοκῶ τὰ οἰκεῖα θαυμάζων, ἓν μέγιστον ἁπάντων, καὶ ὥσπερ ἄλλο τι ἐπίσημόν ἐστιν, ἡ εὐσέβεια· τοὺς σεμνοὺς τούσδε λέγω καὶ πολιούς, καὶ οὐχ ἧττον δι' ἀρετὴν αἰδεσίμους ἢ διὰ γῆρας· ὧν τὰ μὲν σώματα χρόνῳ κέκμηκεν, αἱ ψυχαὶ δὲ Θεῷ νεάζουσι.

3.1 Πατὴρ μὲν ἐκ τῆς ἀγριελαίου καλῶς ἐγκεντρισθεὶς εἰς τὴν καλλιέλαιον, καὶ τοσοῦτον κοινωνήσας τῆς πιότητος, ὥστε καὶ ἄλλους ἐγκεντρίζειν πιστευθῆναι καὶ θεραπείαν ἐγχειρισθῆναι ψυχῶν, ὑψηλὸς ὑψηλῶς τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦδε προ καθεζόμενος, Ἀαρών τις δεύτερος ἢ Μωϋσῆς, Θεῷ πλησιάζειν ἠξιωμένος καὶ θείαν φωνὴν χορηγεῖν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἱσταμένοις πόρρωθεν, πρᾶος, ἀόργητος, γαληνὸς τὸ εἶδος, θερμὸς τὸ πνεῦμα, πολὺς τὸ φαινόμενον, πλουσιώτερος τὸ κρυπτόμενον. 3.2 Τί ἂν ὑμῖν ἀναζωγραφοίην τὸ γινωσκό μενον; Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰ μακρὸν ἀποτείνοιμεν λόγον, εἴποιμεν ἄν τι τοσοῦτον ὅσον ἄξιον, καὶ ὅσον ἕκαστος συνεπίσταταί τε καὶ ἀπαιτεῖ τὸν λόγον· καὶ βέλτιον ταῖς ὑπονοίαις συγχωρεῖν ἢ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ πολὺ περικόπτειν τοῦ θαύματος.