Gregory of Nazianzus, In Praise of Sister Gorgonia

In laudem sororis Gorgoniae

ORATION 8.

A Funeral Oration for his Sister Gorgonia.

A'. In praising my sister, I shall be admiring what is my own; not indeed that because it is my own, it is for this reason false; but because it is true, for this reason it is praiseworthy; and true, not only because it is just, but also because it is known. And speaking to please is not permitted, even if we should wish it; but the listener stands in the middle, like a skilled judge of both the speech and the truth, neither praising what is beyond merit, and demanding what is according to merit, if he is indeed just. So I do not fear this fear, that we might outrun the truth 35.792; but the opposite, that we might fall short of the 35.792 truth, and by coming far short of her merit, diminish her glory with our encomiums; since it is difficult to make either deed or word equal to her virtues. Therefore, let nothing foreign be praised at all, which is not just; nor let what is one's own be dishonored, if it is honorable; so that for the one, being a stranger may not be an advantage, and for the other, the relationship may not result in a loss. For in both ways the principle of justice would be harmed, both when those are praised and these are passed over in silence; but using truth as our standard and rule, and looking only to this, and considering nothing else of those things which the many and the superficial consider, thus we shall both praise and be silent on matters worthy of praise or of silence.

B'. And it is most absurd of all, if we should consider it not pious to deprive our own of anything, or to revile, or to accuse, or to wrong them in any other way, small or great, but even the very worst of all things, lawlessness against one's own kin; but if we deprive them of speech, which above all is owed to the good, and by which we might establish for them an immortal memory, shall we then think we are doing something just, and shall we have more regard for the wicked who accuse us of favoritism than for the good who demand what is according to merit? And ignorance and lack of witnesses do not prevent praising outsiders (although it would have been much more just), but will friendship and the envy of the multitude prevent us from praising those who are known, and especially of these, those who have departed from here, and for whom flattery is untimely, having left behind, along with everything else, those who praise or blame?

C'. Since, then, we have made a sufficient defense concerning these matters, and have shown the discourse to be a necessity for ourselves, come, let us now proceed to the encomiums, spurning elegance and refinement in diction (since she who is praised was also unadorned, and this very plainness was a beauty to her), but fulfilling the holy duty that is owed, like any other most necessary debt, and at the same time instructing the many to zeal and imitation of the same virtue, since this is what we strive for in every word and deed, to perfect those who have been entrusted to us. Let another, then, praise the homeland of the departed and her family, respecting the conventions of encomia; and in any case he will not lack for many and fine words, if he should wish to adorn her also with external things, just as a noble and 35.793 beautiful form with gold, and jewels, and the adornments of art and handiwork; which, by comparison, expose an ugly form, but for a beautiful one are no addition of beauty, being inferior to it. But I, having made use of the convention in these matters only so far as to make mention of our common parents (for it is not even pious to pass over the parents and teachers of so great a good), will turn my discourse to her as quickly as possible, and will not disappoint the longing of those who are seeking to hear of her deeds.

In laudem sororis Gorgoniae

ΛΟΓΟΣ Ηʹ.

Εἰς τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἑαυτοῦ Γοργονίαν ἐπιτάφιος.

Αʹ. Ἀδελφὴν ἐπαινῶν, τὰ οἰκεῖα θαυμάσομαι· οὐ μὴν ὅτι οἰκεῖα, διὰ τοῦτο ψευδῶς· ἀλλ' ὅτι ἀληθῆ, διὰ τοῦτο ἐπαινετῶς· ἀληθῆ δὲ, οὐχ ὅτι δίκαια μόνον, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ γινωσκόμενα. Καὶ τὸ πρὸς χάριν οὐ συγχωρεῖται, κἂν ἐθελήσωμεν· ἀλλὰ μέσος ἵσταται, οἷόν τις βραβευτὴς ἔντεχνος, τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ὁ ἀκροατὴς, οὔτε τὸ παρ' ἀξίαν ἐπαινῶν, καὶ τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν ἀπαιτῶν, ὅ γε δίκαιος. Ὥστε οὐ τοῦτον ἐγὼ φοβοῦμαι τὸν φόβον, μήτι τὴν ἀλή 35.792 θειαν ὑπερδράμωμεν· ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον, μήτι τῆς 35.792 ἀληθείας ἐλλείπωμεν, καὶ παρὰ πολὺ τῆς ἀξίας ἐλθόντες, ἐλαττώσωμεν τὴν δόξαν τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις· ἐπειδὴ χαλεπὸν καὶ πρᾶξιν ἐξισῶσαι καὶ λόγον τοῖς ἐκείνης καλοῖς· μήτε οὖν τι ἀλλότριον ἐπαινείσθω πᾶν, ὃ μὴ δίκαιον· μήτε ἀτιμαζέσθω τὸ οἰκεῖον, εἰ τίμιον· ἵνα μὴ τῷ μὲν κέρδος ἡ ἀλλοτριό της ᾖ, τῷ δὲ εἰς ζημίαν περιστῇ τὸ τῆς οἰκειότητος. Ἀμφοτέρως γὰρ ἂν ὁ τοῦ δικαίου βλάπτοιτο λόγος, κἀκείνων ἐπαινουμένων, καὶ τούτων σιωπωμένων· ὅρῳ δὲ καὶ κανόνι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ χρώμενοι, καὶ πρὸς ταύτην βλέποντες μόνον, ἄλλο δὲ οὐδὲν σκοποῦντες, ὧν οἱ πολλοί τε καὶ εὔωνοι, οὕτω καὶ ἐπαινεσό μεθα καὶ σιωπησόμεθα τὰ ἐπαίνων ἢ σιωπῆς ἄξια.

Βʹ. Πάντων δ' ἀτοπώτατον, εἰ ἀποστερεῖν μέν τι τοὺς ἰδίους, ἢ λοιδορεῖσθαι, ἢ κατηγορεῖν, ἢ ἄλλο τι ἀδικεῖν ἢ μικρὸν ἣ μεῖζον, οὐκ εὐαγὲς εἶναι θήσομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων κάκιστον τὴν κατὰ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων παρανομίαν· λόγου δὲ ἀποστεροῦντες, ὃ πάντων μάλιστα τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἐστιν ὀφειλόμε νον, καὶ ᾧ τὴν μνήμην ἂν αὐτοῖς ἀθάνατον καταστήσαιμεν, ἔπειτα δίκαιόν τι ποιεῖν οἰησόμεθα, καὶ πλείω λόγον ἕξομεν τῶν πονηρῶν τὸ πρὸς χάριν αἰτιωμέ νων ἢ τῶν ἐπιεικῶν ἀπαιτούντων τὸ πρὸς ἀξίαν. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἔξωθεν ἐπαινεῖν οὐ κωλύει τὸ ἄγνωστον καὶ ἀμάρτυρον (καίτοι γε πολλῷ δικαιότερον ἦν), τοὺς γινωσκομένους δὲ ἡ φιλία κωλύσει, καὶ ὁ παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν φθόνος, καὶ τούτων μάλιστα τοὺς ἐνθένδε ἀπηλλαγμένους, καὶ οἷς ἄωρον τὸ χαρίζεσθαι, καταλιποῦσι μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τοὺς ἐπαι νοῦντας ἢ ψέγοντας.

Γʹ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἱκανῶς ὑπὲρ τούτων ἀπολελογήμεθα, καὶ ἀναγκαῖον ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἀπεδείξαμεν ὄντα τὸν λό γον, φέρε, προσβῶμεν ἤδη τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις, τὸ μὲν περὶ τὴν λέξιν γλαφυρὸν καὶ κομψὸν διαπτύσαντες (ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἀκαλλώπιστος ἡ ἐπαινουμένη, καὶ τοῦτο κάλλος αὐτῇ τὸ ἄκοσμον), τὴν δὲ ὀφειλομέ νην ὁσίαν ὡς ἄλλο τι χρέος τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων ἀπο πληροῦντες, καὶ ἅμα τοὺς πολλοὺς εἰς ζῆλον καὶ μίμησιν τῆς αὐτῆς ἀρετῆς ἐκπαιδεύοντες, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο ἡμῖν ἐν παντὶ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ σπουδάζεται καταρτίζειν οὓς ἐπιστεύθημεν. Ἄλλος μὲν οὖν πα τρίδα τῆς ἀπελθούσης ἐπαινείτω καὶ γένος, νόμους ἐγκωμίων αἰδούμενος· πάντως δὲ οὐκ ἀπορήσει πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν λόγων, εἰ βούλοιτο ταύτην κο σμεῖν καὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν, ὥσπερ μορφὴν τιμίαν τε καὶ 35.793 καλὴν χρυσῷ, καὶ λίθοις, καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τέχνης καὶ χειρὸς ὡραΐσμασιν· ἃ τὴν μὲν αἰσχρὰν ἐλέγχει τῇ παραθέσει, τῇ καλῇ δὲ οὐ προσθήκη κάλλους ἐστὶν ἡττώμενα. Ἐγὼ δὲ τοσοῦτον τῷ περὶ ταῦτα προσ χρησάμενος νόμῳ, ὅσον τῶν κοινῶν γονέων ἐπιμνη σθῆναι (καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ ὅσιον παραδραμεῖν ἀγαθοῦ το σούτου γεννήτοράς τε καὶ διδασκάλους), ἐπ' αὐτὴν ὡς τάχιστα τρέψω τὸν λόγον, καὶ οὐ ζημιώσω τῶν τὰ ἐκείνης ἐπιζητούντων τὸν πόθον.