Μηδαμῶς, ὦ φίλοι καὶ ἀδελφοί· ἀδελφοὺς γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἔτι καλῶ, καίπερ οὐκ ἀδελφικῶς ἔχοντας· μὴ οὕτω διανοώμεθα, μηδὲ καθάπερ ἵπποι θερμοὶ καὶ δυσκάθεκτοι, τὸν ἐπιβάτην λογισμὸν ἀπορρίψαντες, καὶ τὴν καλῶς 3 εὐσεβὲς acd ’duo Colb. Coisl. 3 Or. 1 ’ 2. θεολογεῖν] = τὸ περὶ θεοῦ φιλο- σοφεῖν (supra), ‘to discuss theology.’ ib. ὥσπερ ἀσεβές] ‘ as though it were wrong in itself? The reading εὐσεβές, though well attested, appears to be the result of misunderstanding. It would mean, ’ nor do I forbid theology, if done in a godly manner.’ 4. τὴν ἀμετρίαν] ‘ Nor is it the function of a teacher that I object to, but want of judgment in the exercise of it.' ib. ἢ μέλιτος κτλ.] Prov. xxv 16. καίπερ ὄντος μ., ‘ honey though it ’ i.e. the best of things in itself. 5. καιρὸς τῷ π. π.] Eccl. iii 1 ; ὡς Σ. κἀμοὶ δ., ‘ There is α time... as Solomon and I think.’ 6. τὸ καλὸν οὐ κ.] The saying is quoted as a proverbial one ὅ Φασιν) in the Clementine Epitome § 18. 7. ἄνθος ἐν χ.] rather a curious instance to choose, — as if people would object to flowers in winter. 9. πένθει γεωμ.] Geometry was, so Maximus suggests, a recreation and a joy. Indeed, according to him, it formed part of the musical curriculum, and as such is included in the warning of Ecclus. xxii 6. After this suggestion Max. gives up the enquiry into Gr.'s meaning. Perhaps it was not necessary to go so far into it. Or. is only taking examples of irksome incongruity. ib. ἐνταῦθα δέ] ‘ And shall we in this case alone disregard “ the time ”?’ 5. We should not discuss theology before the heathen. Tiny turn our dissensions into a defence of heathenism, and come down upon our weaknesses like flies upon a sore. They would themselves rather die than divule their mysteries. We must learn the decencies of speech. 13. οὐκ ἀδελφικῶς ἕχ.] ’ although so unbrotherly ’ Cp. Aug. Serm. ccclvii 4, Quiduis dicas, quantumlibet odens, at placuerit detesteris, teris, frater meus es. 14. θερμοὶ κ. δυσκάθεκτοι] θ. is ‘wild,’ ‘excited’ ; δυσκ. (from κατέχειν), ‘hard to hold in.' Xenophon uses it ID the same sense. 15. ἐπιβάτην] more usually signifies ’ a rider ’ ; but here the metaphor is probably taken from a chariot race, and ἐπιβ. will mean ’ the man in the ’ i.e. the driver. The word is elsewhere used in a more restricted sense, of the man who fights in a chariot, not the driver; but it is evidently not so intended here. ἄγχουσαν εὐλάβειαν ἀποπτύσαντες, πόρρω τῆς νύσσης θέωμεν· ἀλλ’ εἴσω τῶν ἡμετέρων ὅρων φιλοσοφῶμεν, καὶ μὴ εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐκφερώμεθα, μηδὲ εἰς Ἀσσυρίους κατασυ- ρώμεθα, μηδὲ ᾄδωμεν τὴν ᾠδὴν κυρίου ἐπὶ γῆς ἀλλοτρίας, πάσης ἀκοῆς λέγω, ξένης τε καὶ ἡμετέρας, ἐχθρᾶς καὶ φιλίας, εὐγνώμονος καὶ ἀγνώμονος, ἢ λίαν ἐπιμελῶς τηρεῖ τὰ ἡμέτερα, καὶ βούλοιτο ἂν τὸν σπινθῆρα τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν κακῶν γενέσθαι φλόγα, ἐξάπτει τε καὶ ἀναρριπίζει καὶ εἰς οὐρανὸν αἴρει ταῖς παρ’ ἑαυτῆς αὔραις λανθάνουσα, καὶ ποιεῖ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας φλογὸς τὰ κύκλῳ καταφλεγούσης ὑψηλοτέραν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτῶν δόγμασιν ἔχουσι τὴν ἰσχύν, ἐν τοῖς ἡμετέροις σαθροῖς ταύτην θη- ρεύουσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο, ὥσπερ αἰ μυῖαι τοῖς τραύμασιν, 1. ἄγχουσαν] lit. ‘throttling,’ ‘strangling’; here ‘restraining.’ ib. ἀποπτύσαντες] lit. ‘ slitting out,’ i.e. ‘ getting the bit out of our mouths.’ It is used by other authors of the same action. ib. πόρρωτῆςνύσσης θέωμεν] ‘dash wide of the .’ Νύσσα (Lat. meta) is the καμπτήρ, or post, round which the chariot turns to do the second lap of the δίαυλος. Naturally, it ought to be barely euitata rotis. 2. εἵσω τ. ἤμ’. ὅρων] The metaphor phor begins to change; and Gr. ’s, as the following words shew, ’within the Holy ’ i.e. within the Church. The Egypt and Assyria are the heathen world, — not, as Elias and others take it, heretical Christians. 3. ἐκφερώμεθα . . . κατασυρώμεθα] The metaphor of the runaway chariot seems not to have wholly disappeared. There is, of course, a reference to such passages as Hos. ix 3. 4. τὴν ᾠδὴν κ.] Psalm exxxvi cexxxvii) 4. 5. πάσης ἀκοῆς λέγω] ‘Ι mean any and every ’ ‘Akoῆς is grammatically in apposition to γῆς. 6. εὐγνώμονος κ. ἂγ ἀγν.] ‘sympathetic thetic or unsympathetic.’ This seems from the context to be the intended meaning; but it would be equally in accordance with the usage of the words to understand (as Elias does) ‘ sensible and senseless. ’ ib. ἢ] very naturally refers only to the ἀκοὴ ἀγνώμων, or the γῆ ἀλ- λοτρία. 7. τὰ ἡμέμτερα...τῶν ἐν ἤμ’. κακῶν] The heathen and unconverted keep a watch upon Christians, and make the most of anything among them that is wrong ; ‘ would like the spark ...to become a flame.’ 8. ἀναρριπίζει] ’fans it up ’ ; from ῥιπίς, ‘a fan.’ 9. λανθάνουσα] i.e. without our seeing what they are about. 10. τῆς Baβ. φλογός] Dan. iii 23 (LXX.). 11. δόγμασιν] ‘ received ’ ; used of heathen beliefs in general, — possibly of the doctrines of heathen philosophers in particular. οὕτω τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἐπιτίθενται — εἴτε ἀτυχήμασι λέγειν, εἴτε ἁμαρτήμασιν. ἁλλ’ ἡμεῖς γε μὴ ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀγνοήσωμεν, μηδὲ τὸ περὶ ταῦτα κόσμιον ἀτιμάσωμεν· ἀλλ’ εἰ μὴ τὴν ἔχθραν καταλύσασθαι δυνατόν, ἐκεῖνό γε συμβῶμεν ἀλλήλοις, μυστικῶς τὰ μυστικὰ φθέγγεσθαι, καὶ ἁγίως τὰ ἅγια, καὶ μὴ ῥίπτειν εἰς βεβήλους ἀκοὰς τὰ μὴ ἔκφορα, μηδὲ σεμνοτέρους ἡμῶν ἀποφαίνωμεν τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας τοῖς δαιμονίοις καὶ τῶν αἰσχρῶν μύθων καὶ πραγμάτων θεραπευτάς, οἲ θᾶττον ἂν τοῦ αἵματος ἢ λόγων ἔστιν ὧν μεταδοῖεν τοῖς ἀμυήτοις. ἀλλ’ εἰδῶμεν, ὥσπερ ἐσθῆτος καὶ διαίτης καὶ γέλωτος καὶ βαδίσματος οὖσάν τινα κοσμιότητα, οὕτω καὶ λόγου καὶ σιωπῆς, ὅτι καὶ λόγον πρεσβεύομεν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων τοῦ θεοῦ προσηγοριῶν καὶ δυνάμεων. ἔστω καὶ τὸ φιλόνεικον ἡμῶν ἔννομον.