Letter 773: I know what you call my reputation: not a thousand or ten thousand or twice that many people, but Acacius the orator...
Ἀθανασίῳ. (362)
Οἶδα ὃ καλεῖς τὴν περὶ ἐμοῦ φήμην· οὐκ ἀνθρώπους
χιλίους ἢ μυρίους ἢ δὶς τοσούτους, ἀλλ’ Ἀκάκιον τὸν ῥήτορα
καὶ τὸ Ἀκακίου στόμα πολλῷ μὲν ἐμοὶ κάλλιον δισμυρίων
στομάτων, οὐκ ἔξω δὲ ὑποψίας διὰ τὴν ἄγαν φιλίαν.
οὐ
μὴν ἀλλ’ ὧν ἔχομεν ὁ Γάϊος ἀπολαύσεται καὶ τοσαύτης γε
προθυμίας ὅσης ὁ παῖς ἐκείνου τοῦ τὴν φήμην πεποιηκότος.
ὑμεῖς τε γὰρ ἄξιοι τιμῆς ἐκεῖνός τε ταῦτα κελεύει παῖδα μὲν
αὑτοῦ τὸν ὑμέτερον καλῶν, διηγούμενος δὲ καὶ τἄλλα, ὡς εἴη
τε ὑμῖν ἀγαπητὸς καὶ μόλις ἡ μήτηρ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ διαλυθείη
μέχρι τῶν ὅρων εἰλημμένη.
ταῦτ᾿ οὖν ἀεί τε μεμνησό-
μεθα καὶ φήσεις οὐκ ἂν αὐτῷ γίγνεσθαι παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς
πλέον, εἴπερ ἐτύγχανε ζῶν ᾖπερ ἐγὼ τέχνῃ.
Related Letters
Flatterers are not friends — they are parasites who feed on your vanity and disappear when your power fades.
Virtue must be practiced with all one's strength — not merely admired from a distance.
Why do people bring the Lord's judgment down upon themselves?
When someone treats you unjustly, Athanasios, the natural response is to respond in kind.
The demands of the priestly life are real, Athanasios — I will not pretend otherwise.