Tag: John Chrysostom

Θεόδωρον ἴσως ἀκούεις τὸν ἀπὸ Σικελίας· καὶ γὰρ τῶν σφόδρα ἐπισήμων ἐτύγχανεν ὤν· οὗτος καὶ κάλλει καὶ μεγέθει σώματος καὶ παρρησίᾳ τῇ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα πάντων κρατῶν, καὶ δυνάμενος ὅσα τῶν ἔνδον στρεφομένων οὐδείς, οὐκ ἤνεγκε τὴν εὐπραγίαν πράως ἐκείνην, ἀλλ’ ἐπιβουλεύσας βασιλεῖ καὶ ἁλοὺς αὐτὸς μὲν ἀπετμήθη σφόδρα ἐλεεινῶς, ἡ δὲ τούτου γυνή, καὶ ἀνατροφῆς καὶ γένους καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων οὐδὲν ἔλαττον ἔχουσα τῆς εὐγενείας τῆς σῆς, πάντων ἄφνω γυμνωθεῖσα τῶν αὑτῆς καὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐκπεσοῦσα ταῖς ταμιακαῖς ἐρίθοις ἐγκατελέγετο, καὶ πάσης θεραπαινίδος οἰκτρότερον ζῆν ἠναγκάζετο βίον, τοσοῦτον ἔχουσα τῶν ἄλλων πλέον, ὅσον διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐδακρύετο παρὰ τῶν ὁρώντων ἁπάντων αὐτήν. λέγεται δὲ καὶ Ἀρτεμισία ἀνδρὸς σφόδρα εὐδοκίμου γενομένη γυνή, ἐπειδὴ κἀκεῖνος τυραννίδος ἐπεθύμησεν, οὕτως εἰς ταύτην τὴν πενίαν ἐλθεῖν καὶ τὴν πήρωσιν. τό τε γὰρ μέγεθος τῆς ἀθυμίας, τό τε πλῆθος τῶν δακρύων ἔσβεσεν αὐτῇ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς· καὶ νῦν τῶν χειραγωγησόντων δεῖται καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἑτέρων ἀξόντων θύρας, ἵνα τῆς ἀναγκαίας οὕτως εὐπορεῖν ἔχῃ τροφῆς. καὶ πολλὰς ἂν ἑτέρας εἶχον οἰκίας εἰπεῖν οὕτω κατενεχθείσας, εἰ μὴ τήν τε εὐλάβειαν καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῆς σῆς ἠπιστάμην ψυχῆς, οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων κακῶν τῆς οἰκείας συμφορᾶς παραμυθίαν βουλομένην εὑρεῖν. καὶ τούτων δὲ ὧν ἐμνήσθην δι’ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐμνήσθην νῦν, ἀλλ’ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι τὰ ἀνθρώπινα οὐδέν ἐστι πράγματα, ἀλλ’ ἀληθῶς, ὡς ὁ προφήτης φησί· “πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου.” ὅσῳ γὰρ ἂν ἐπαρθῇ καὶ λάμψῃ, τοσούτῳ μείζονα τὴν πτῶσιν ἐργάζεται, οὐ τὰ τῶν ἀρχομένων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τῶν βασιλευόντων αὐτῶν. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν εὕροι τις οἰκίαν ἰδιωτικὴν τοσούτων ἐμπεπλησμένην συμφορῶν ὅσων τὰ βασίλεια γέμει τῶν κακῶν. καὶ γὰρ ὀρφανίαι ἄωροι καὶ χηρεῖαι καὶ θάνατοι βίαιοι καὶ τῶν ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις παρανομώτεροι πολλῷ καὶ πικρότεροι μάλιστα εἰς ταύτην κατασκήπτουσι τὴν ἀρχήν.
(John Chrysostom, Ad Viduam Iuniorem 4)

You probably know Theodore of Sicily by reputation: for he was one of the most distinguished men; he surpassed all in bodily stature and beauty as well as in the confidence which he enjoyed with the Emperor, and he had more power than any member of the royal household, but he did not bear this prosperity meekly, and having entered into a plot against the Emperor he was taken prisoner and miserably beheaded; and his wife who was not a whit inferior to your noble self in education and birth and all other respects was suddenly stripped of all her possessions, deprived even of her freedom also, and enrolled among the household slaves, and compelled to lead a life more pitiable than any bondmaid, having this advantage only over the rest that owing to the extreme severity of her calamity she moved to tears all who beheld her. And it is said also that Artemisia who was the wife of a man of high reputation, since he also aimed at usurping the throne, was reduced to this same condition of poverty, and also to blindness; for the depth of her despondency, and the abundance of her tears destroyed her sight; and now she has need of persons to lead her by the hand, and to conduct her to the doors of others that she may obtain the necessary supply of food. And I might mention many other families which have been brought down in this way did I not know you to be too pious and prudent in disposition to wish to find consolation for your own calamity out of the misfortunes of others. And the only reason why I mentioned those instances to which I referred just now was that you might learn that human things are nothingness but that truly as the prophet says “all the glory of man is as the flower of grass” [Isaiah 40:5]. For in proportion to men’s elevation and splendour is the ruin wrought for them, not only in the case of those who are under rule, but also of the rulers themselves. For it would be impossible to find any private family which has been immersed in such great calamities as the ills in which the imperial house has been steeped. For untimely loss of parents, and of husbands, and violent forms of death, more outrageous and painful than those which occur in tragedies, especially beset this kind of government. (tr. William Richard Wood Stephens, revised by Kevin Knight)

Μὴ γὰρ ἐπειδὴ πῦρ ἤκουσας, τοιοῦτον εἶναι νομίσῃς ἐκεῖνο τὸ πῦρ· τοῦτο μὲν γάρ, ὅπερ ἂν λάβῃ, κατέκαυσεν καὶ ἀπήλλαξεν, ἐκεῖνο δὲ τοὺς ἅπαξ κατασχεθέντας κάει διὰ παντὸς καὶ οὐδέποτε παύσεται. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἄσβεστον εἴρηται. καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοὺς ἡμαρτηκότας  φθαρσίαν ἐνδύσασθαι δεῖ, οὐ πρὸς τιμὴν ἀλλ’ ὥστε διηνεκὲς ἐφόδιον τῆς τιμωρίας ἔχειν ἐκείνης· τοῦτο δὲ ὅσον ἐστὶ τὸ δεινόν, ὁ μὲν λόγος οὐκ ἂν ἰσχύσειεν παραστῆσαί ποτε,  πὸ δὲ τῆς πείρας τῶν μικρῶν δυνατὸν βραχεῖάν τινα ἔννοιαν τῶν μεγάλων ἐκείνων λαβεῖν. εἰ γάρ ποτε ἐν βαλανείῳ γένοιο σφοδρότερον ἐκκεκαυμένῳ τοῦ δέοντος, τότε μοι τὸ τῆς γεέννης ἐννόησον πῦρ, καὶ εἴ ποτε πάλιν ὑπὸ πυρετοῦ καταφλεχθείης σφοδροῦ πρὸς ἐκείνην τὸν νοῦν τὴν φλόγα μετάστησον καὶ τότε δυνήσῃ διαστεῖλαι καλῶς. εἰ γὰρ βαλανεῖον καὶ πυρετὸς οὕτως ἡμᾶς θλίβει καὶ θορυβεῖ, ὅταν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν τοῦ πυρὸς ἐμπέσωμεν ἐκεῖνον, τὸν ἑλκόμενον πρὸ τοῦ βήματος τοῦ φοβεροῦ, πῶς διακεισόμεθα; ἆρα βρύξομεν τοὺς ὀδόντας ὑπὸ τῶν πόνων καὶ τῶν ἀλγηδόνων τῶν ἀφορήτων ἐκείνων, ὁ δὲ ἐπαμύνων ἔσται οὐδείς, ἀλλ’ οἰμώξομεν μεγάλα σφοδρότερον ἐπιτιθεμένης ἡμῖν τῆς φλογός· ὀψόμεθα δὲ οὐδένα, πλὴν τῶν κολαζομένων σὺν ἡμῖν καὶ τῆς ἐρημίας τῆς πολλῆς. τί ἄν τις εἴποι τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ σκότους δείματα, τὰ ταῖς ἡμετέραις ἐγγινόμενα ψυχαῖς; ὥσπερ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀναλωτικὸν ἐκεῖνο τὸ πῦρ, οὕτως οὐδὲ φωτιστικόν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν σκότος ἦν. τὸν τοίνυν τοιοῦτον ἀπὸ τούτου θόρυβον ἐγγινόμενον ἡμῖν καὶ τὸν τρόμον καὶ τὴν παράλυσιν καὶ τὴν ἔκστασιν τὴν πολλὴν ἐκεῖνος σαφῶς παραστῆσαι μόνος ὁ καιρὸς ἱκανός. πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ποικίλα ἐκεῖ τὰ βασανιστήρια, καὶ νιφάδες πανταχόθεν κολάσεων ἐπάγονται τῇ ψυχῇ.
(John Chrysostom, Ad Theodorum Lapsum 1.10)

For when you hear of fire, do not suppose the fire in that world to be like this: for fire in this world burns up and makes away with anything which it takes hold of; but that fire is continually burning those who have once been seized by it, and never ceases: therefore also is it called unquenchable. For those also who have sinned must put on immortality, not for honour, but to have a constant supply of material for that punishment to work upon; and how terrible this is, speech could never depict, but from the experience of little things it is possible to form some slight notion of these great ones. For if you should ever be in a bath which has been heated more than it ought to be, think then, I pray you, on the fire of hell: or again if you are ever inflamed by some severe fever transfer your thoughts to that flame, and then you will be able clearly to discern the difference. For if a bath and a fever so afflict and distress us, what will our condition be when we have fallen into that river of fire which winds in front of the terrible judgment-seat. Then we shall gnash our teeth under the suffering of our labours and intolerable pains: but there will be no one to succour us: yea we shall groan mightily, as the flame is applied more severely to us, but we shall see no one save those who are being punished with us, and great desolation. And how should any one describe the terrors arising to our souls from the darkness? for just as that fire has no consuming power so neither has it any power of giving light: for otherwise there would not be darkness. The dismay produced in us then by this, and the trembling and the great astonishment can be sufficiently realized in that day only. For in that world many and various kinds of torment and torrents of punishment are poured in upon the soul from every side. (tr. W.R.W. Stephens)