Letter 479: The philosophers teach, Nemesios, that the soul has parts, and that its health depends on the right ordering of...
To Eutonios the Deacon: How many people do you suppose, among all humanity, are nameless and without fame, though they have proven far more zealous than those who are celebrated in song? This is because the latter found poets and storytellers who did not judge every deed according to truth, but assessed it according to their own goodwill, and exalted every achievement to the skies...
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
ΥΟΘ. – ΕΥΤΟΝΙΟ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΩ.
Πόσους οἴει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀνωνύμους καὶ ἀδόξους
εἶναι πολλῷ σπουδαιοτέρους γεγενημένους τῶν ἀδο-
μένων ; τῷ τοὺς μὲν ποιητῶν τυχεῖν καὶ λογοποιῶν,
τῶν πᾶν τὸ πραττόμενον μὴ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν κρι-
νόντων, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἣν εἶχον εὔνοιαν ὑπολαμβανόντων,
καὶ τὸ κατορθωθὲν οὐρανόμηκες ποιοῦντων · τοὺς δὲ
μὴ ἐσχηκέναι τοὺς ὑμνήσαντας διὰ φθόνον, ὅπερ
ταῖς λαμπραῖς πράξεσιν ἀκολουθεῖν εἴωθεν. Ἐνταῦθα
μὲν οὖν εἰ καὶ ἔδοξαν οἱ μὲν ἀνακεκηρύχθαι, οἱ δὲ
σεσιωπῆσθαι, τοῦ κόσμου λοιπὸν εἰς τέλος ἐπειγομέ-
νου, ἐκεῖσε τοὺς ὄντως λαμπροὺς καὶ ἐνδόξους ὀψό-
μεθα, τῆς θείας δίκης οὐκ ἀνεξομένης ἐκ τῆς τῶν
ἀνθρώπων δόξης ἐνεγκεῖν τὴν ψῆφον, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς
οἰκείας, τῆς εἰλικρινοῦς καὶ ἀδιαπτώτου. Μὴ οὖν
ὀλιγωρει, εἰ οὐρανοπολίτης ὢν τὰς τῶν φθονούντων
σοι γλώττας αἰχμῆς νεηκόνου ὀξυτέρας ας αἰσθάνῃ κατὰ
σαυτοῦ φερομένας, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα λαμπρό-
τερος ἔσεσθαι προσδόκησον.
Revision history
- 2026-03-20v2.1.0-import
Initial corpus import from Patrologia Graeca 78 OCR.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/PatrologiaGraeca
Related Letters
The defense of sound doctrine is not a matter of institutional pride, Pamretios.
1. Whatever your rank may be in connection with the course of this world, I have the greatest confidence in addressing you as my much-loved, true-hearted Christian fellow-servant Olympius. For I know that this name, in your esteem, excels all other glorious and lofty titles.
Here is a famous epigram of mine — and how could it fail to be famous, when the great Nicander himself has praised it?
1. Although, when we heard recently of your having obtained merited promotion to the highest rank, we felt persuaded, however uncertain we still were in some degree as to the truth of the report, that towards the Church of which we rejoice to know that you are truly a son, there was no other feeling in your mind than that which you have now made...
in parceciam alienam inradere, or qnidijuam in ea, inconsiillo ipsitis to the bishop, ugere not licere.