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In laudem Heronis philosophi

ORATION 25.

To Hero the Philosopher.

1. I shall praise the philosopher, even if I am weary in body; for he is a philosopher; and I shall praise him very reasonably. For he is a philosopher, and I a servant of wisdom; so that my praise is also reasonable, in order that, if nothing else, I may philosophize in this at least, in admiring a philosopher. For one must either philosophize, as is my argument, or honor philosophy, if we are not to fall entirely outside what is good, nor be condemned for irrationality, having become rational beings, and hastening through the word to the Word. And let the man philosophize for us, as one of the others, in being praised, and let him endure the praise. For we shall not praise him to gratify him (for we know the philosopher's lack of ambition, and my speech would add nothing to the facts, except perhaps to diminish their worth by its own weakness), but in order to benefit ourselves. For this philosophy will not 35.1200 despise, since its work and endeavor is to do some good to our life. And the first of benefactions is to praise what is good. For praise is the producer of zeal; and zeal, of virtue; and virtue, of blessedness; and this, the summit of our desires, and that towards which every movement of a serious man tends.

2. Come then, O best and most perfect of philosophers; and I will add, of the martyrs of the truth also. Come, rebuke for me the bastard wisdom, which lies in words, and charms by eloquence, but beyond this is neither able nor willing to be articulated; you who are skilled in virtue, both of contemplation and of action; you who philosophize on our doctrines in a foreign garb; but perhaps not a foreign one, if the wearing of bright robes and brightness are angelic, when they are figured corporally; a symbol, I think, this, of their natural purity. Come to me, philosopher, and wise man (for how long is it to be love of wisdom, if there is no wisdom anywhere?), and dog, not for shamelessness, but for boldness; nor for gluttony, but for living from day to day; nor for barking, but for the guarding of what is good, and the sleeplessness over souls, and the fawning on what is akin to virtue, but barking at what is foreign. Come, stand near me at the sacred rites, and this mystical table, and of me who through these things initiate into deification, to which reason and life bring you, and the purification through suffering. Come, I will crown you with our garlands, and proclaim with a loud voice, not in the midst of Olympia, nor in a small theater of Greece, nor for having competed in the pancratium, or boxing, or the double course, or any of the small contests, and for small prizes, nor in honor of some hero or daimon, honored by misfortune and myth (for such are their august and honored things, having gained time as an aid to their folly, and lawful custom); but in the presence of God, and of angels, and of the whole fulness of the Church; and as one who has conquered the falsehood of heresies, to the honor of the living God, and of him who teaches us to suffer by his own sufferings, 35.1201 and for whom the prize is the kingdom of heaven, and to become God, higher than suffering.

3. But what is the proclamation? If you desire the shorter and more familiar one: This man is a most true champion of the truth, and a defender of the Trinity even to blood, and a pursuer of persecutors by his readiness to suffer, rather than by doing them evil; for nothing so conquers the persecutor as the readiness of the sufferer. But if the more complete and extensive one: This man is the best of the best, and

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In laudem Heronis philosophi

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΚΕʹ.

Εἰς Ἡρῶνα τὸν φιλόσοφον.

Αʹ. Τὸν φιλόσοφον ἐπαινέσομαι, καὶ εἰ κάμνω τῷ σώματι· φιλόσοφον γάρ· ἐπαινέσομαι δὲ καὶ λίαν εἰκότως. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ φιλόσοφος, ἐγὼ δὲ σοφίας θεραπευτής· ὥστε μοι καὶ πρὸς λόγον ὁ ἔπαινος, ἵν', εἰ μή τι ἄλλο, τοῦτό γε φιλοσοφήσω, τὸ θαυμάζειν φιλόσοφον. Ἢ γὰρ φιλοσοφητέον, ὡς ὁ ἐμὸς λόγος, ἢ τιμητέον φιλοσοφίαν, εἴπερ μὴ μέλλοιμεν παντελῶς ἔξω τοῦ καλοῦ πίπτειν, μηδὲ ἀλογίαν κατακριθήσεσθαι λογικοὶ γεγονότες, καὶ διὰ λόγου πρὸς Λόγον σπεύδοντες. Φιλοσοφείτω δὲ ἡμῖν ὡς ἓν τῶν ἄλλων ὁ ἀνὴρ, τὸ ἐπαινεῖσθαι, καὶ καρτερείτω τὴν εὐφημίαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἵνα χαρισώμεθα ἐπαινεσόμεθα (ἴσμεν τοῦ φιλοσόφου τὸ ἀφιλότιμον, καὶ πρός γε οὐδὲν ἂν ὁ λό γος προσθείη τοῖς πράγμασιν, ὅτι μὴ καὶ τῆς ἀξίας ἐλαττώσῃ διὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας τῆς ἑαυτοῦ), ἀλλ' ἵν' ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ὠφελήσωμεν. Τοῦτο γὰρ οὐκ 35.1200 ἔτι περιφρονήσει φιλοσοφία, ᾗ γε τὸ εὖ ποιεῖν τι τὸν ἡμέτερον βίον, ἔργον καὶ σπούδασμα. Πρώτη δὲ τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν, τὸ ἐπαινεῖσθαι τὰ καλά. Ζήλου γὰρ ὁ ἔπαινος πρόξενος· ζῆλος δὲ, ἀρετῆς· ἀρετὴ δὲ, μακαριότητος· ἡ δὲ, τὸ ἄκρον τῶν ἐφετῶν, καὶ πρὸς ὃ τείνει πᾶσα σπουδαίου κίνησις.

Βʹ. ∆εῦρο δὴ οὖν, ὦ φιλοσόφων ἄριστε καὶ τελεώ τατε· προσθήσω δὲ, ὅτι καὶ μαρτύρων τῆς ἀληθείας. ∆εῦρό μοι τῆς νόθου σοφίας ἔλεγχε, τῆς ἐν λόγῳ κειμένης, καὶ δι' εὐγλωττίας γοητευούσης, ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦτο μηδὲν διαρθῆναι, μήτε δυναμένης, μήτε θε λούσης· ὁ περιδέξιος τὴν ἀρετὴν, ὅση τε θεωρίας, καὶ ὅση πράξεως· ὁ τὰ ἡμέτερα φιλοσοφῶν ἐν ἀλλο τρίῳ τῷ σχήματι· τάχα δὲ οὐδὲ ἀλλοτρίῳ, εἴπερ ἀγ γελικὸν, ἡ λαμπροφορία, καὶ ἡ φαιδρότης, ὅταν τυπῶνται σωματικῶς· σύμβολον, οἶμαι, τοῦτο τῆς κατὰ τὴν φύσιν αὐτῶν καθαρότητος. ∆εῦρό μοι, φιλόσοφε, καὶ σοφὲ, (μέχρι γὰρ τίνος τὸ φιλεῖν σο φίαν, εἰ μηδαμοῦ σοφία;) καὶ κύων, οὐ τὴν ἀν αισχυντίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν παῤῥησίαν· οὐδὲ τὸ γαστρί μαργον, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐφήμερον· οὐδὲ τὴν ὑλακὴν, ἀλλὰ τὴν φυλακὴν τοῦ καλοῦ, καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ἄγρυπνον, καὶ τὸ σαίνειν μὲν ὅσον κατ' ἀρετὴν οἰ κεῖον, ὑλακτεῖν δὲ ὅσον ἀλλότριον. ∆εῦρό μοι στῆθι τῶν ἱερῶν πλησίον, καὶ τῆς μυστικῆς ταύτης τραπέζης, κἀμοῦ τοῦ διὰ τούτων μυσταγωγοῦντος τὴν θέωσιν, οἷς σε προσάγει λόγος καὶ βίος, καὶ ἡ διὰ τοῦ παθεῖν κάθαρσις. ∆εῦρό σε ἀναδήσω τοῖς ἡμετέ ροις στεφάνοις, καὶ ἀνακηρύξω λαμπρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ, οὐκ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ μέσῃ, οὐδὲ ἐν θεάτρῳ μικρῷ τῆς Ἑλλάδος, οὐδὲ ἠγωνισμένον παγκράτιον, ἢ πυγμὴν, ἢ δίαυλον, ἤ τι τῶν μικρῶν ἀγωνισμάτων, καὶ ἐπὶ μικροῖς τοῖς ἄθλοις, οὐδὲ εἰς τιμὴν ἡρώων τινὸς ἢ δαιμόνων, συμφορᾷ καὶ μύθῳ τετιμημένων (τοιαῦ τα γὰρ ἐκείνων τὰ σεμνά τε καὶ τίμια, χρόνον προσ λαβόντα τῆς ἀνοίας ἐπίκουρον, καὶ συνήθειαν ἔννομον)· ἀλλ' ἐναντίον Θεοῦ, καὶ ἀγγέλων, καὶ παν τὸς τοῦ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πληρώματος· καὶ νενικηκότα ψεῦδος αἱρέσεων, εἰς τιμὴν Θεοῦ ζῶντος, καὶ τὸ πα 35.1201 θεῖν τοῖς οἰκείοις πάθεσιν ἐκδιδάσκοντος, καὶ ὧν ἆθλον, οὐρανῶν βασιλεία, καὶ Θεὸν γενέσθαι τοῦ πα θεῖν ὑψηλότερον.

Γʹ. Ἀλλὰ τίς ἡ ἀνάῤῥησις; Εἰ μὲν τὴν συντομωτέ ραν ποθεῖτε καὶ γνωριμωτέραν· Οὗτος τῆς ἀληθείας ἀγωνιστὴς ἀψευδέστατος, καὶ τῆς Τριάδος ὑπέρμαχος ἄχρις αἵματος, καὶ τῶν διωκόντων τῷ ποιεῖν κακῶς, τῷ πάσχειν προθύμως διώκτης· οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω νικᾷ τὸν διώκοντα, ὡς προθυμία τοῦ πάσχοντος. Εἰ δὲ τὴν τελεωτέραν καὶ πλατυτέραν· Οὗτος ἄριστος μὲν ἐξ ἀρίστων, καὶ