Table Of ContentGREGORY
OF NAZTANZTJS
Rltetora nd Philosopher
RosemaryR adford Ruether
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
r 969
Oxford Uniaersit2 Prcss, E$t House, London W. r
GLASGOW MW YOK TORONTO WBOURNE WELLNGTON
qpE Tow s&rgBURy tBsAN NNRoBT LUs& pDr! NA'A
BOEAY CAL(mA MSru reCHI WOE DA&A
XUAU LUMPUR SINCPOW HONC KONG TOKYO
TO
@ oxrono uNrvERsrry enrss 1969 DBNIS MEEHAN, O.S.B.
A LIFE.TIME SCIIOLAR OF
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS
l^/HO MADE TIIIS STUDY
POSSIBLE
LIBRARY
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
rB
I. TIIE CONFLICT OF CULTURES IN GREGORY'S LIFE
Educationa nd Traaels r8
Return to Cappadocia: TIu Problem of Decision between
Modes of Lxfe zB
Dispute uith Basil 34
Constantinoplc:T lu Blossomingo f the Christian Orator 42
Closing fears in Na<ianzus 48
II. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS AS RHETOR JJ
Vocabularya nd Slntax
5t
Figures of Language 59
Figures of Thought 7o
Imagery B6
The Itfluenceo f SophLrticT heorieso n Epideictica ndE pisto-
lary Gmre r05
III. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS AND THE PITILOSOPHIC
LIFE t29
Gregor2s' Cosmologa nd Anthropologt r30
Tlu PhilosophicaLl fe and theA ctiaeL ife r36
Asceticisma nd.C ontemplation r46
IV. CONSCIOUS ATTITUDES TOWARDS RHETORIC AND
PHILOSOPEY IN TIIE WRITINGS OF GREGORY
OF NAZIANZUS r56
Gregory'sA ttitudn towardsL itnature and Rhetoric r56
Christianitl and GreekP hilosophy r67
Corulusi.on r74
vl|l CONTENTS
AppENDIxr . Referenceasn d Allusioru to ClassicaLl itera-
turei n Gregoryo f Nazianzus'L ettersa nd Orations r76
AppENDrx tr. Chronolog of the Writings of Gregor2o f INTRODUCTION
Nazianzus T7B
BIBLIocRApttv. Modern Works on Gregoryo f Nazianzus rBr 1-1 n n c o n y o F NA z r A Nz u s, the leastw ell known of the three
t - Cappadocian Fathers, particularly in books written in
INDEX I83 \J English, is especially interesting as an exemplar of the
fourth-century conflict between Christianity and classical cul-
ture. This study of Gregory as rhetor and philosopher discusses
the roots of this conflict in the ancient rivalry between rhetoric
and philosophy, and describes it in its transmuted form in
Gregory's writings, where it is treated both biographically and
systema_tically;b iographically as a tension in Gregory,s per-
sonal life, and systematically as two modalities of thought *hich
form his mind and underlie his writings.
The clash between rhetoric and philosophy found its classical
locusi n Plato's criticism of the fifth-century sophists, and the
terms of this original dispute continue to determine the relation
of rhetoric and philosophy even when the conflict becomes
transformed in the fourth-century Fathers into a broader
Kullyrkanpf. As Werner Jaeger has shown, the fifth-century
sophists were educators rather than speculative philosophers.t
Their bold pedagogical claim was that they coild tea€h poti-
tlj yerc, lh.yt they could impart the art of political leadership.
Their politike tuchni,a s Protagoras calls it in plato's dialogue-,2
was based on a new rationalization of prose style and rtg.r*.rr-
tation Although they did not originate either of these arts,r
they did make formative contributions to the development of
rhetoric with its analysiso f tropes, figures ofspeech and thought,
organr.zation,a nd topoi,a s well as to logic with its systematiza-
tion of the types and methods of disputation.
' Paideia (Nerv Yor\ rg4g) i. eB6, egr.
2 Prt, gt5 c, grg A.
- r Gorgias' name .was particularly associated with the development of prose
r-hVthm and rhetorical figures; see C. A. Robertson, Tlu Gorgiani Fipures in'Earh
(jreek Prcu (Baltimore, r9o3). According to Aristotle, scientific rheto'ric *rs fiJt
developed by the Sicilians Trsias and Corax (Cicerq Brut. 46), but Gorgias,
rhetoric was most {iryctly dependent on his teacLer, Empedocles of egrige";;:
pe H, I. Marrou, A Hisbry of fuhrcation in Antiquit2 (New york, 1956; 5iarid notes.
r_r otagoras'name was linked with eristic, which he developed from Eleatic dialectic
(Marrou
5r).
INTRODUCTION s
In additionto t hese;]l]ffi:;r".fn*,t, thes ophisatsls o such,w ast he common designationf or the pre-Socratict hinkers.I
claimed to offer a liberal education, and to produce leaders of Plato developed the polemical use of the word, and, in his
men able to speak and act in all situations. This claim was Againstt he SophistsI,s ocrates turns this pejorative usage against
'sophist'
typified by Hippias of Elis, who declared his mastery not only Plato himself,u sing for the dialecticians,i .e. Socratics,
'philosophy'
of all knowledge,b ut eveno f all arts and crafts.tT hus, from the rvhile is reserved for the rhetorical culture of
outset,s ophisticw ished to be more than a set of techniquesf or Isocrates's chool.z
successfull itigation. It aspired to be a universal paideia em- For Isocratest he orator is the successoor f the poet and the
bracing the whole man.z rhapsode as the prophet of plhfike aretd.I socratesr ejects Plato's
It was Plato who issued the fundamental challenge to these epistemologicala ntithesis of rhetoric and dialectic. Absolute
new educators of Greece, and his dialogues, especially Gorgias knowledge of the type Plato claimed as the goal of dialectic is
and Protagorasr, emain the essentials ource for the philosophic beyond the capacitieso f mortal men. In pursuing such know-
'disputers'
refutation of the pedagogicalc laims ofrhetoric. Plato's polemic ledge the pursuea phantom and their resultsa re use-
against sophistici s closelyl inked to his metaphysicald ualism less to the community.: gpittion is the highest knowledge
of being and appearance.T his ontological dualism gives rise to available to men, and rhetorical training is practical and valu-
the epistemologicald ualism of knowledge (epistemea)n d opinion able in the polis precisely becausei t is basedo n doxa.R hetorical
(doxa).T rue knowledge is obtained through dialectic, and re- knowledgei s empirical in nature. It is derived from the study of
quires a rigorous askesiso f mental and moral purification, lead- history and politics as they actually operate, and thereby the
ing finally to an intuitive grasp of the Ideas which transcends teacher of pllifike aretEd raws the practical insights which are
discursive reason.3 Sophistic, on the other hand, is a vulgar genuinelyu sefult o the guidanceo f human conduct. Not baseless
'right
trading on the opinions of the mob. The sophistic teachersl ack opinion but opinion', empirically deduced and verified;
any basisf or their teaching in the true perception of knowledge, this is Isocrates'a nswert o Plato's attack on the epistemological
but they gather up the notions of the massesa nd from these basiso f rhetorical culture.+
fashion a pseudo-art of power and political advantage. They Actually Isocratesr ather than Plato becamet he educator of
have no techndb, ut only a 'knack' of argumentation. Sophistry the ancient world, although Plato was to exact an account-
'it
and rhetoric are analogoust o pastry-making and cosmetics,f or ing at the end. In Marrou's words, was from Isocratest hat,
they are counterfeits of the true arts of the soul, statesmanship "as from a Trojan horse",s there emerged all those teachers
and justice, as pastry-making and cosmeticsa re the counterfeits and men of culture, noble idealists,s imple moralists,l overs of
of the bodily arts of medicine and gymnastic.4 fine phrasesa, ll thosef luent, voluble speakerst,o whom classical
Isocrates undertook the defence of rhetorical paideia against
t The words 'rhetor' and'sophist' have a complicated history. By the fifth cen-
thesec riticisms. In his teaching rhetoric assumesth e proportions tury B.c. 'sophist' tended to become restricted to the travelling teacher, while
of a universal culture, comprising all the arts of civilization.s 'rhetor' had the broad sense of 'statesman'. In Hellenistic times the two words
The word 'sophist' originally meant simply'wise man', and, as acquired the limited senseo fschool teachers. The Second Sophistic orators revived
the broader meaning of'sophist' as a thinker imparting an encyclopedic education
I Plato, HipPias Minor g69trc. 2 Marrou, op. cit.54-7. and claimed to be the descendants of the old sophists. Yet by Libanius' time the two
3 In the SeaenthL etter Plato particularly discussest he deficiencies ofall discursive words had become very restricted, and often meant no more than two professorial
language in expressing truth, since all language belongs to the world ofappearance levels within the schools, the'sophist' being a master rhetorician, and the 'rhetor'
and partakes of the distorting defects of the image. True knowledge requires his assistant who taught. technni; seeJ . W. H. Walden, Tlu Uniaersitieso f Aneient
katharsis or purification, by which the soul becomes akin to truth, without which Greece(N ew York, rgro) 75 and n. r, z7r and n. r.
truth cannot implant itselfin the soul. Then, after a long process ofdialectical dis- 2 See also Antid. z7o. At this time 'philosophy' still meant 'culture' in general,
course between teacher and pupil, the mind is suddenly illuminated by the spark making Isocrates' claim to teach'philosophy' more explicable; see F. Blass, Dl'e
of intuitive understanding (g+g l.-Z43. s). Attische Beredsamlee(itL eipzig, r8gz) rB.
+ Gorgias 462 s. 3 Hel. 5; also Soph. t7. + Jaeger, Paidtia iii. 46-7o,
s See particularly his'hymn to Logos'as the creatrix of culture in Nitocles 5-9. s Cic. Da Or. ii, 94,
INTRODUCTION 5
+ INTRODUCTION
antiquity owed both the qualities and defects of its main of commonplaces,a nd model introductions and conclusions.r
cultural tradition'.r Isocrates not only formulated rhetoric's He also studied and did imitations of model speechesa nd
ideals, he also set what was to prove its foremost theme, the stylists of the past, as well as the orations of the rhetor himself.
glorification of Hellenism.2W hen he called for the unification Finally the student gave his own declamations, and so en-
of Greecef or the conquesto f the barbarians,h e was settingb oth amoured were the ancients of this exerciset hat grown men con-
a political and a cultural programme. The political programme' tinued to declaim before audiences into old age, and crolvds
realized by Alexander, was to be absorbed into the greater of the educated public attended upon the open orations of
achievement of Rome, while the cultural programme provided renowned rhetors.2
the common culture upon which Rome was able to build a It was here in the school system that we have the tap-root
world empire. of classicism;t hat is, the transmissiono f a canon of authors
The vehicle by which Hellenic culture becamet he universal from Homer to the Attic writers of the fourth century, whose
medium of a far-flung empire was rhetoric. With the dis- works were seena s the incarnation of the Hellenic heritage. This
appearance of the free city state, much of the opportunity for standardization of the classica uthors, whose works were taught
political oratory was lost, and rhetoric retired to the classroom, to generation after generation of students, is the key to that
where its task became that of transmitting a literary tradition. uniformity of cultural and intellectual formation of all peoples
It was at this time that the educationals ystemt ook shapet hat brought within the orbit of Hellenistic culture. Onlyin the con-
was to be standard for the rest of the classicalw orld, adopted text of this school systemc an we understand how men of Sardes,
almost unchanged by the Roman conquerors.rT his systemo f Gaza, Gaul, Egypt, and Africa could write and think in much
educationc onsistedo f the primary school,w hich taught reading the samew ay and all share with the same cultural heritage.
and writing, and the secondary school, which concentrated on During the last century of the Roman Republic, rhetoric once
reading, recitation, and explicationd e texteo fthe classica uthors. more enjoyed a direct role in law and politics, and in Cicero's
The grammaleczass sumeds ome of the preparatory work for the De Oratore,O rator, and Brutust he Isocratean ideal of the philo-
study of rhetoric, and rve have several examples of progtmnas- sophic orator is revived and translated into Roman terms. But
matawhich give us a vivid picture of the literary stock-in-trade rhetoric once more became the province of the schoolmastet
of the schoolboy of antiquity.+ with the fading of republican institutions. This loss of direct
The school of the rhetor was the crown of this literary educa- contact with the forum is often seenb y historians of rhetoric as
tion. Here the student practisedd eclamationi n written or oral the causeo f the sterility and pedantry of imperial oratory.s The
form. He studied the technaoir rhetorical handbooks.sc ollections
Cicero's De lruentiotw treats only the first topic of the teehnE,t he gathering and or-
r Marrou, op. cit. 79. ganization of ideas and arguments. Quintilian's htstitutio Oratoria is a highly
23 SMeaerrJoaue,g eor,p .' Pcoitli.t ic1a5l o-C76u ltaunred ea6n5d- gtzh,e Panhellenic ldeal', Paidzia iii. 7t-83. elabro Graotergd iastz cahnnd€ etnhlea rgoethde ri netoa raly pshoilopshoispthsy c oomftphoes eidd esaul cohr abtooor.ksof commonplacesl
a Hermogenes' Progtmnasmatafromt he second century a.o. and Aphthonius' work see G. Kennedy, Tlu Art of Persuasionin Greeu (Princeton, 1963) 54 ff. The hand-
fRrohmet ortehse G rfaoeuerit,h a ncde. nat utrrayn sela.ntio,,n foor f eAxpahmthpolnei,u sB otbhy wRoaryk sN aadreea fuo uanpdp eianr sH i.n RSapbeeer,,h bboilioak,i so f atht ee Rxaommpalne Vofa l'eqruiuosta bMlea xqimuoutse s'(ffoirrs t tcheen tourrayt otr..o ')F, or Faa'D cciteao lalecc Dtiiocnta oMf emmoodreal-
Monographs rg ( I g5z), 264 ff The standard exercises were: a fable, a tale, a chreia,a introductions for deliberative speeches see A. Rupprecht, demosthenische
proverb, a refutation, a confirmation, a commonplace, an encomium, an invective, Prooemiumsammlung', Phihlogus 8z (rgz7), 365 ff.
a comparison, a characterization, an ecphrasis, a thesis, and a proposal for a law, 2 The letters of the younger Pliny are full of such pursuits and give us a picture
arranged in increasing order of difficulty with rules and topics for the development of the gentleman of the second century e.o. who continued to study the poets and
of each exercise. Aphthoriius' work is the more useful, as he furnishes illustrative orators and do literary exercises and imitations Iong after his formal schooldays
examples. This ryrstem ofexercises originated about the second century B,c.; see were over; see, for o<ample, Ep. 7, g. In Ep.7' I7 Pliny defends his passion for
Barwick, Hermes6 9 (rge8), zB3. public recitation ofhis own speechesa s a means ofperfecting his style'
s Typical of such haridbooks are Anaximenes' Rhztofua a.d Alexandrum (fowrth 3 This is Tacitus' argument in Dialogus, repeated in numerous modern writers,
century e.c.) and the Latin treatise, Rhztorica ad Hermni.um (first century r.c.). e.g. D. L. Clatk, Ehetorir in Greco-RomanE ducation (New York, t957) z5B-9.
INTRODUCTION 7
6 INTRODUCTION
rhetorical schoolsa ppear to provide an enormously long and in- schoolsa nd teachers.I t now becameo ne of the emperor'sc hief
tensivet raining with limited utility. We would mistakei ts pur- concernst o overseeth e national educationa nd the maintenance
pose, therefore, if we did not realize that its essentialf unction of the cultural traditions as an essential pillar of imperial
was that of a leisurec ulture, rather than a vocational training. strength and coherence.T o that end the Flavian and Antonine
It wasi n this cultural role that rhetoric enjoyeda renaissancein emperors issued a serieso f edicts establishing public chairs of
the seconda nd fourth centurieso f the Empire. This movement, sophistic and grammar in all cities and towns of any size.r
Rhetoric thus continued its ancient task of teaching poliilke
known as Second Sophistic, is marked more by the position
which the sophisto ccupiedi n societyt han by any new stylistic aretE.Ift he orator wasn o longer the statesmanh, e still celebrated
developments.rT he history of SecondS ophisticf alls into two the statesman,a nd in its very cultural role rhetoric possessead
prime political significance. In his provocative book, Christianifit
periods: first, from the mid first to the early third centuries with
such representatives as Dio Chrysostom, Nicostratus, Polemo, and CtassicaCl ulture,C . N. Cochrane traces the search for an in-
HerodesA tticus, the Philostrati, and Aelius Aristides; and the tegrating ideal of societyw hich would hold the Bmpire together
as a coherent civilization, a searchw hich led to the Constan-
second,f rom about 33o to 3go A.D.,w ith Libanius, Themistius,
tinian compromise with Christianity and finally to Theodosius'
Eunapius,P rohaeresiusa, nd Himerius, asw ell ast heir Christian
full capitulation.z But, remarkably enough, Cochrane pays
offspring, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of
almost no attention to sophistic.Y et sophisticm ay well be seen
Nyssa, and John Chrysostom.
as the only other alternative to Christianity as a unifying
The Greek cities of Asia Minor had a continuous tradition of
Weltanschauunfgo r the tottering Empire. It was as such that
rhetorical schoolsg oing back to the early Hellenistic period.
sophisticw as the object of such imperial solicitude.W ith Con-
Theses choolsw ere, in large part, the sourceo f the revival. The
stantine the Empire turned to the Church for added strength,
cultivation of eloquencew as also favoured by the general pros-
but tried not to chooseb etween the two cultures. Yet the two
perity of the sec ond century and the survival of Greek city-state
were unable to live side by side, for each was a complete creed
institutions, which gave the orator some opportunity for public
which demanded the devotion of the whole man. Thus, under
activity. However, the sophists were essentially professorso f 'Hellenes'r
literary style, and imperial sophistic did not revive the full the Emperor Julian, the staged their counter-
reformation. When orthodoxy triumphed under Theodosius,
Isocrateani deal of rhetoric as a universalc ulture so much asp ut
imperial patronage was quickly withdrawn from the schools,
forth a strictly rhetorical education as sufficient for all occasions
and the adherents of the old ways soon found themselvesa pro-
and careers.zT he key to this revival was imperial patronage of
scribeds ect.
r The stylistic ancestry of Second Sophistic, whether'Attic'or'Asian', has been When Gregory of Nazianzusw asa student in Athens, sophis-
much debated. Rohde, Dar grtechi.scluR oman, ch.3, and again in 'Die Asianische try wasi n its last florescenc.e H is return to Cappadociac oincided
Rhetorik und dieZweite Sophistik''D, ioRnhy, sMiotsts .4t (I886), r7o ff., saw it as a continu- with Julian's effort to turn back the clock, while Gregory's
ation of Asianism, while Kaibel, von Halicarnassus und die Sophistik',
'Attic' episcopacyi n Constantinople was climaxed by Theodosius'
Hermes 2o (rBB5), 497 ff., argued for its character. A. Boulanger, Aelius
Aristide et la sophistiqw dans la proairue d'Asiz au IIe sidcle dcrntre ireswms up theargu- triumphant establishment of orthodoxy as the official creed of
ments on this subject, and shows that, far from representing a single style, the the Empire. Thus Gregory's life paralleled the decisive transi-
mantle of Second Sophistic covered an assemblage of all the styles since the time of
'atticize' tional period between the Roman and the Byzantine empires.
Gorgias and Thrasymachus. All in the sense that they write a strict
literary language provided by a canon ofauthors, but among these there are many
'asian' Sophistik' had argued that Second Sophistic did revive the Isocratean ideal of
tendencies to choose between. All imperial sophists exhibit or mannerist the philosophic orator. r Walden, UniaersitiesB g {I.
etrxapitrse sassio wne all;n da lel nahraen vciert utohseoirs loafnlagnugaugaeg we ithw hpoo eatriec awdodridcste, de xtoce asrstiivfiec iuasl e mofo dtreosp eosf 23 SUened eers piemcpiaelrliya lc hsso.p 5h iasntidc 'BH.ellene' became a technical term for the students of
athnids2 afSirgetuiecr leeEs ., raeRnpodlihe rddhe y'tstoh maKsra tiicbthleeal t iwtne hnoRd, hteioni n faihslicls l uo'svD eMior unisnyestouio msm e(vatorbeno. vllea,l icna.r nars)s. usR ouhndde diine rZh.eSt5o 7rirc ainn dt h6e1 3sc.hools, so closely was llellenism linked with rhetoricl see Philostr.
8 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 9
For a brief period during his lifetime Christians and Classicists a @tal paideia, neither could define itself as a specialty, but
stood on equal terms, each arguing their own case.I eachc laimed the besto f the other asm erely a branch of its own
In this confrontation the rivals restated in a new form and discipline. In the RepublicP lato had subsumedt he traditional
context the old dispute between rhetoric and philosophy., The Hellenic education in a purified form as propaedeiafo r philo-
relationship between these ancient foes constituted a continual sophy, and, in Plato's old age,A ristotle taught rhetoric in the
dialectical tension throughout classical culture. This dialectic Aiademy.' For the Stoicsr hetoric was an integral part of logic,
was one of constant mutual assimilation and yet constant dia- the first of the three branches of philosophy.z The Cynics alone
stasis.R hetoric could shrink into a narrow set of stylistic tricks, spurned rhetoric altogether, for even Epicureanism, which was
and it could open into a broad humanism of general culture and normally uninterestedi n rhetoric, made its contribution in the
political virtue. Philosophy could be understood as the teaching work of Philodemus. The Peripatetics, following Aristotle,
of a set of doctrines of the traditional philosophic schools; it always had considerable interest in rhetoric and literary criti-
could move into close assimilation with rhetorical humanism cism,3 while the eclectic Academy of Cicero's time made
until, in figures like Dio Chrysostoma nd Themistius, it is difficult rhetoric and rules ofstyle and disputation an integral part ofits
to draw the line between philosopher and sophist,o r it could teaching.+
separate out into a radical ascetic moralism and mysticism The rhetoricians,i n turn, borrowed philosophict hemes,p ar-
which defined itself sharply against the whole humanistic tradi- ticularly in the fields of ethics and psychology, and included
tion representedb y rhetoric. It was this latter strain in the philo- them as a part of inuentioa, nd the thetika,o r discourseo n philo-
sophic tradition that led into the version of the biosp hilosophikos sophict hemes,b ecamea regular part of the orator's repertoire.s
which fourth-century Christians had come to identify with In a celebratedd ebatew ith the rhetor Hermagoras,P osidonius
Christianity. tried to hold the line against this encroachment, and insisted
The story of this processo f mutual assimilation and conflict that rhetorsc ould debateo nly specificc ases( hypotheses)w, hile
between rhetoric and philosophy is one that embraces the generali deas (theses)w ere the domain of the philosopher.6B ut
whole of ancient civilization, and only a brief elucidation can rhetoric was not to be so limited, and the thesisb ecameo ne of
be attempted here. Rhetoric and philosophy after Plato and the standard exerciseso f the progmnasmata.AT certain amount of
fsocratesc ontinued as two rival school traditions each disputing philosophy came to be considered a part of the enkukliopsa ideia
with the other (and among themselves)f or the mastery of thi and was included in the syllabuseso f the ephdbeial.Vt foreover,
educationals ystem.3S ince each type of education saw itself as sophisticc ulture was such an all-pervading ethos that the teach-
r Themistius is an example of this brief moment of equality. He enjoyed the ing of philosophy in the philosophic schoolst ook colour from it.
favours of the Christian emperors, Constantius II, Jovian, Valens, and even
Theodosius, and in t}le court at Constantinople used his position to plead con- r For the tradition of Aristotle's teaching of rhetoric in the Academy, see
tinually for toleration for the old religion and ways. In his orations we find the cul- Jaeger, Paideia iii. r47 and 3zo, n. ro8.
minative defence of the old culture. Philosophy and rhetoric are merged into an 2 The other two being physics and ethics.
ideal of general culture, and this, imparted through the traditional Hellenic : For Peripatetic contributions to rhetoric and literary criticism in the Helleni-
education, Themistius argued, would be thebest paideia for uplifting and unifying stic period, see G. Kennedy, Tlu Art of Persuasionin Greece2 7g-go.
the Empire. See Glanville Downey, 'Education and Public Problems', T.A.P.A. BG - aDeOr.iii.Bo;Kennedy(op.cit.3zr-3o)hasanexcellentsectiononthedispute
(r955), z9r-3o7. between philosophers and rhetoricians in the generation prior to Cicero as the
2 Jaeger has summarized this dispute as the fundamental conflict between the source of the arguments about rhetoric and philosophy and the ideal orator in De
anthropocentric and the theocentric view ofman, and, as such, Christianity and Oratore.In this period it was actually the philosophic schools that taught rhetoric
humanism restate the old conflict between the Protagorean view that'man is the as_a n eloquence springing from a broad culture, while the rhetoricians tended to
measure' and the Platonic view that 'God is the measure' (I*g. 716 c) l seeH uman- take a narrow technical view of their art.
ism and Thzologt (Marquette, 1943) 38 tr s See Walden, Uniansities 72 n., 223 n.
s For the most complete account of this pedagogical rivalry, see 'Sophistik, 6 For the argument about theses between philosophers and rhetors, see H. von
Rhetorik, Philosophie, in ihrem Kampf um dieJugendbildung'in the Introduction Arnim, Dio oon Prusa gg4.
to If. von Arnim's Lebenu nd Werkef us Dio ron Prusa (Berlin, rBgB) l-r r4. 7 Above, p. 4, n. 4. 8 Marrou, Edu.cationi n Antiquity r oB, 2 r r .
INTRODUCTION II
iln" pr,ito,oon.*.o, o::;Tffif., n* traditioans t he
as well.' Hellenic thought had assumedt hat life in the polis was
rhetors did their canon of authors, and he even declaimed to the
the essential arena of human fulfilment. A philosophy of con-
public as did the rhetors.r
version and detachment of the individual from the community,
Despite these tendencies of asimilation, philosophy con-
therefore, struck at the heart of the old understanding of aret7.
tinued to imply a break with the standard aesthetic education
The antithesis between philosophic salvation and political ac-
and a conversion to another way of life. It is significant that the
tion was already expressedi n Plato, although he struggled all
conversion to philosophy was often seen as a conversion from
his life to find a synthesisb etween the two. Yet, even for Plato,
rhetoric. One need only mention the case of Marcus Aurelius,
the reconciliation of philosophy and political action fled into
whosec onversiont o philosophy was simultaneouslya conversion
the ideal community of the philosopher'sim agination, and in the
from rhetoric, much to the chagrin of his teacher, Fronto, who
real world of fourth-century politics the contemplative man
had laboured so hard to make a brilliant orator of his promising
was fast becoming the apolitical man.z In the Theaetetupsh ilo-
student.2
sophy is defined as the life that fleest he agora and the dicastery,
The philosopher's conversion was symbolized by the tribdn,
which is ignorant of and indifferent to all political matters, and
the coarse,d ark cloak later adopted by the Christian monk. In
which, in solitude,c ontemplatest he eternal cosmos.3
Cynicism the rejection of normal social moresw as developed in
These two tendencieso f antipathy towards aesthetic culture
its most radical form. The sageb ecame the philosophic outcast.
and apathy towards political action, when reinforced by ethical
Freeing himself from all dependenceo n the social and economic
and metaphysical dualism, give later Greek philosophy an in-
system,h e strove for autarkeiao r self-sufficiency.H is boldnesso f
creasingly ascetic and mystical cast. Man is seen as an anti-
speech (parrhesia)a nd shamelessness(a naideia)t estified to his
thetical diarchy of soul and body; his true ruling principle being
freedom from the shams of society and to his life according to
his soul, and his body an alien and hostile encasement.+T his
nature (physis).In his askesisth e Cynic inured himself to hard-
anthropological dualism correspondst o the ontological dualism
ship, so that, having reduced his wants to the bare necessities,
of matter and spirit, sensible and intelligible, visible and in-
he might never desire what he could not obtain.
visible. In the eclectic philosophy of the Empire as well as in the
In Stoicism and Cynicism, the goal of conversion and asceti-
developing Christian theology, this dualism has become stan-
cism is freedom. The external world is seen as an impersonal
dard. Thus Stoicism, originally based on the pre-Socratic
order beyond human control. Freedom is found in detachment
hylozoismo f Heraclitus, by the time of Seneca,E pictetus, and
(apatheia).M an cannot control destiny, but he can control his
Marcus Aurelius has come to speak a dualistic and even other-
relation to destiny. By looseningt he bonds of either hope or fear
worldly language.s
which tie him to the courseo f events,h e can be free and tranquil
The original mythological expressiono f this anthropological
within.
dualism is found in the idea of the soul's previous existencei n
Although the Stoic sage might continue to operate on the
the celestial regions,i ts fall into matter through some mistake or
political stage, the gospel of salvation through apatheiaim plied
non-involvement and withdrawal from the political community r Epictetus'discourse'on those who have spent their energies on advancement
in Rome' (i. ro) is typical of the tendency to despise the life of political action and
2I FMoarr rmoua,n yE dyeuacarsti othne in c Aonrrteiqsupiotjn d2eonBc,e zorzf .the prince and his teacher was filled con2tr Sasete iWt w.Jiathe gtehra, t o'Ofpnh iltohseo pOhriicg int raannqdu ilClityyc, le wohf icthhe aPlohnileo siso pohfrice alL ifvea',l ueA.ristoth
wMiathrc ursh'bertoeraikc al wsithho prh-teatlokr.i c.L eltntheirss Mroe8d it(aNtianbnesr t he7 5E) mapnedr orr 7d5i sm(Nisasbeesr r hrert3o)r ics iwgnitahl l(' Oanxafto iF4ruodri,t dt hcr9ela 4scBsla)iq s4zsaeic( GaBl-r 6uprxu;e nl laeolssn,o tIRh 9e.5 6Jw)o o6ltydy,sr o L5scd. mTah lamned psh&inloas, oepxhpirqeusesdi nezgs gTtehhneera eeestqd zuctua astirf o7ung d .aonfs
ntheee dw foorrd sm'Io raolw ree fiot rtmo aRtiounst,i cuasn d[ htihsa St tIo iwc apsr encoet pdtoerv]o ttehda t toI lfiotermraeryd athmeb iidtieoan oof rt htoe the sb Sodeye , wfoirth exthaem tpolem,b ,S esenee cPah'sil oElapuisst,l ef rrgo. 2.r246 ,( Diwelhse);r ea lhseo Pdrlaatwos, Car asth. a4rpocoo sn, trca.st
write treatises on philosophical subjects or make rhetorical exhortations . , . and
between body and soul, and expressesa longing for the liberation of the soul from
that I kept away from rhetoric and poetry and frippery ofspeech' (i. 7). the bonds ofthe body, praising death as the beginning oftrue life.
INTRODUCTION r3
12 INTRODUCTION
fault, and its return through the heavenlys pheresa t death to its describeda s the'practice of dying', and the philosopher'sa skesis
true home.r Death then becomest he entrance to true life, the defined as the separation of the soul from the body and all
material things in anticipation and preparation for the final
discarding of the unnatural body, and a return to the soul's
separationo f the soul from its alien encumbrance.rY et Plato
proper disincarnate state. This myth had already travelled to
was too much a Hellene to be oblivioust o the beauty of the out-
Greecei n the sixth century, and, in the form of Orphism, in-
fluencedP lato's myth of the soul.zT his sagao f the soul and the ward form, and for him the visible form remained a stepping-
stone to the invisible form. But in gnosticism theset eachings are
Weltanschauunwgh ich it implied arose with new vigour under
the Empire, and found its most radical expressioni n gnosticism, carried through to a full re-evaluation of classical concepts of
where the dualism between the sensiblea nd the intelligible, the aretE.Y irtue can no longer consist in the perfection of man's
natural powers. These are the instruments of the evil one.
material and the spiritual, became a complete alienation.s
Nature can no longer set any guides to morality. All the norms
For the Platonist the sensiblew as opposed to the intelligible
only in a relative way. Appearance was still appearance of the of physis and n0m0sn, ature and convention, also belong to the
alien power. The result is either an extreme antinomian and
intelligible. The cosmoss till reflectedt he divine ; it is the image
libertine ethic or else extreme asceticism.B oth are ways of re-
of the intelligible universe and can itself be spokeno f as a visible
pudiating man's allegiancet o nature; in the one caset hrough
god. Gnosticism split apart the foundation of classical cosmos
abuse,a nd in the other through non-useo fnatural f;aculties.
piety. This world doesn ot proceed from true being. It is not the
Both Christianity and Hellenism rejected gnostic acosmism.
creation of God, but it is the result of some error or fault, and is
To Christianity, it was incompatible with Biblical creationism,
ruled by evil and daemonic forces.aO nly man's inner core of
'light', and, to the classical philosopher, it affronted his senseo f the
being, his spirit, contains sparkso f the world of the world
cosmosa s an emanation from and imitation of the divine, intelli-
of true being. These sparks are the remnants of truth entrapped
gible world.2 Yet the gnostic world view permeated late antique
in the daemonic cosmosw hich struggle to be releaseda nd return
thought, both Christian and pagan. The doctrine of man as a
to their transcendentalh ome. Not only man's body but his 'above',
sojourneri n an alien universew hoset rue home is whose
psyche as well are the work of the alien principle, and salvation
'this life in this world should be one of mortification in preparation
is to be found in the negation of thesea long with the rest of
for death and the return of the soul from whence it came, all
world'.
'mortification' this was common property for both Christian and Platonist.
Asceticismi n the senseo f becomest he way
The great Hellenistic met ropolis ofAlexandria wast he melting-
of salvation. Already, in Plato's Phaedop, hilosophy had been
pot for all current religious and philosophic ideas. There
r The origin of this myth of the soul probably is to be found in Chaldean astral
religion; see F. Cumont, Aftprlife in RomanP aganism( New York, 1956) 95. the religious traditions of the old oriental world, of Judaism,
z Plato's teachings on the pre-existence and incarnation of the soul are in Christianity, and Greek philosophy met and mingled. Philo,
Phaedrus2 47-9 and Timaeus4 t-2. In the former, incarnation is seen as a fall due to Origen, and Plotinus represent the Jewish, Christian, and
pre-incarnational fault, while, in the latter, it is seen as a natural pedagogy by
'that Platonic versions of this Graeco-oriental synthesis. For Philo,
which the soul lives well during his appointed time, returns and dwells in his
native star and there has a blessed and congenial existence'. Scripture has become an allegorv of Platonic mystical philo-
3 According to llans Jonas, gnosticism, far from being 'radical Hellenism', as sophy,ra nd the Old Testament so many symbolics torieso f the
Harnack had said, arose from the submerged oriental intelligentsia of the eastern
Empire, and, in its acosmism, represented a fundamental assault upon the Hellenic r Phaedo 64; also Phaedrus 66.
world view; Tlv GnosticR eligion (Boston, r95B) zr-7, and z4r-4.
4 It was from gnosticism that Hellenistic Judaism and Christianity learned to 2 It was Plotinus who stated the Platonist's rejection of gnostic acosmism; Enn.
2. g.
use words like'demon' and'Demiurge' (which in Hellenic philosophy meant divine
wagoerlndt's; ) if.oer, tahgise natlsie no f weovrilld. Itnh att hiem pgrnisoosntisc urse -aenvda lkueaetiposn ,u sh frt omko somuro stbr ueeco hmoemse '.t hIins an ta lIlne gDorey Voitfa p Choilonsteomphpyla, tiwan Pdh isloa ydse tshcarti btehse t hweo Trdhse roafp ethueta tee xst tuadcyt inags aS c'rreipmtuinrdee ra's
'the leading them from the outer and visible to the inward and hidden truths of the
speaking of the devil as Prince of this world', Christianity reflected the gnostic
acosmisml cf. the Gospel ofJohn rr. 3r, 16. rr. soul (78, also zg).
