Comment on the
"De vita contemplativa"
Emil Schürer
comments: "Περι βιου θεωρητικου η ικετωον αρετων. De vita
contemplativa (Mangey, ii. 471-486). — Eusebius twice cites the
title in the following form (H. E. ii. 17. 3 and ii. 18. 7): περι
βιου θεωρητικου η ικετων. The αρετων added at the end must therefore
be expunged. Eusebius, H. E. ii. 17, gives full information
concerning the contents, comp. also ii. 16. 2. This composition has,
since the time of Eusebius, enjoyed special approbation in the
Christian Church. Christian monks being almost universally
recognised in the 'Therapeutae' here described.
"This treatise
is except for a few digressions a highly eulogistic account of
an ascetic community known to Philo and settled near Alexandria. The
Therapeutae are differentiated
from the others in that while the Essenes exemplify the
practical they represent the contemplative life. Therapeutae admit women freely to such
communal life as they have. The Essenes of course observe
frugality. The Therapeutae, he argued, are said by the author to
have been found in many places. This kind, he says is found in many parts of the world,
particularly in Egypt, and the best of them find a home in a
certain spot which he proceeds to describe. But when we look
back to find who this kind are it appears that they are
religious enthusiasts who give up their property and family ties. That this type of character existed
in Philo's time we might take for granted even if we did not
have, and it would not be
surprising to find them occasionally organizing themselves into
communities which would not necessarily attract much attention.
Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. ii. 17 discovered in the
Therapeutae a picture of the first Christian converts. After
noting the traditional evangelization of Alexandria by St. Mark,
he declares that no one could possibly doubt that Philo was
referring to the first generation of his converts. In the
renunciation of their property, in their study of the scriptures
including the writings of men of old which are clearly the
gospels and apostolic writings and commentaries on the Old
Testament such as Paul used — in their festal meetings which are a
description of Easter celebrations, and the officials who manage
these meetings in whom we may see bishops, priests and deacons,
no one can possibly fail to see the first Christians." - F. H.
Colson writes (Philo, vol. 9, pp. 104-108)
On the
Contemplative Life or Suppliants
"Introduction
and Transition:
I. (1) Having
mentioned the Essenes, who in all respects selected for their
admiration and for their especial adoption the practical course of
life, and who excel in all, or what perhaps may be a less unpopular
and invidious thing to say, in most of its parts, I will now
proceed, in the regular order of my subject, to speak of those who
have embraced the speculative life, and I will say what appears to
me to be desirable to be said on the subject, not drawing any
fictitious statements from my own head for the sake of improving the
appearance of that side of the question which nearly all poets and
essayists are much accustomed to do in the scarcity of good actions
to extol, but with the greatest simplicity adhering strictly to the
truth itself, to which I know well that even the most eloquent men
do not keep close in their speeches. Nevertheless we must make the
endeavour and labour to attain to this virtue; for it is not right
that the greatness of the virtue of the men should be a cause of
silence to those who do not think it right that anything which is
creditable should be suppressed in silence; (2) but the deliberate
intention of the philosopher is at once displayed from the
appellation given to them; for with strict regard to etymology, they
are called
therapeutae and
therapeutrides,
{from therapeuoµ, "to heal."} either because they process an art of
medicine [healing]
more excellent than that in general use in cities (for that only
heals bodies, but the other heals souls which are under the mastery
of terrible and almost incurable diseases, which pleasures and
appetites, fears and griefs, and covetousness, and follies, and
injustice, and all the rest of the innumerable multitude of other
passions and vices, have inflicted upon them), or else because they
have been instructed by nature and the sacred laws
to serve
the living God, who is superior to the good, and more simple than
the one, and more ancient than the unit; (3) with whom, however, who
is there of those who profess piety that we can possibly compare?
. . . . [various examples] . . . .
(17) As if great anxiety concerning the means of subsistence and the
acquisition of money engendered injustice by reason of the
inequality which it produced, while the contrary disposition and
pursuit produced justice by reason of its equality, according to
which it is that the wealth of nature is defined, and is superior to
that which exists only in vain opinion. (18) When, therefore, men
abandon their property without being influenced by any predominant
attraction, they flee without even turning their heads back again,
deserting their brethren, their children, their wives, their
parents, their numerous families, their affectionate bands of
companions, their native lands in which they have been born and
brought up, though long familiarity is a most attractive bond, and
one very well able to allure any one. (19) And they depart, not to
another city as those do who entreat to be purchased from those who
at present possess them, being either unfortunate or else worthless
servants, and as such seeking a change of masters rather than
endeavouring to procure freedom (for every city, even that which is
under the happiest laws, is full of indescribable tumults, and
disorders, and calamities, which no one would submit to who had been
even for a moment under the influence of wisdom), (20) but they take
up their abode outside of walls, or gardens, or solitary lands,
seeking for a desert place, not because of any ill-natured
misanthropy to which they have learnt to devote themselves, but
because of the associations with people of wholly dissimilar
dispositions to which they would otherwise be compelled, and which
they know to be unprofitable and mischievous.
Can we compare those who honour the elements, earth, water, air, and
fire? to whom different nations have given different names, calling
fire Hephaestus, I imagine because of its kindling, {2}{the Greek is
exapsis, as if eµphaistos were also derived from aptomai, being akin
to apheµ.} and the air Hera, I imagine because of its being raised
up, {3}{the Greek word is hairesthai, to which Heµra has some
similarity in sound.} and raised aloft to a great height, and water
Poseidon, probably because of its being drinkable, {4}{the Greek
word is poton, derived from 3rd sing. perf. pass. of pinoµ pepotai,
from the 2nd sing. of which Peposai, poseidoµn may probably be
derived.} and the earth Demeter, because it appears to be the
Mother{5}{the Greek word is meµteµr, evidently the root of
Deµmeµteµr.} of all plants and of all animals. (4) But these names
are the inventions of sophists: but the elements are inanimate
matter, and immovable by any power of their own, being subjected to
the operator on them to receive from him every kind of shape or
distinctive quality which he chooses to give them. (5) But what
shall we say of those men who worship the perfect things made of
them, the sun, the moon, and the other stars, planets, or
fixed-stars, or the whole heaven, or the universal world? And yet
even they do not owe their existence to themselves, but to some
creator whose knowledge has been most perfect, both in mind and
degree. (6) What, again, shall we say of the demi-gods? This is a
matter which is perfectly ridiculous: for how can the same man be
both mortal and immortal, even if we leave out of the question the
fact that the origin of the birth of all these beings is liable to
reproach, as being full of youthful intemperance, which its authors
endeavour with great profanity to impute to blessed and divine
natures, as if they, being madly in love with mortal women, had
connected themselves with them; while we know gods to be free from
all participation in and from all influence of passion, and
completely happy. (7) Again, what shall we say of those who worship
carved works and images? the substances of which, stone and wood,
were only a little while before perfectly destitute of shape, before
the stone-cutters or wood-cutters hewed them out of the kindred
stuff around them, while the remainder of the material, their near
relation and brother as it were, is made into ewers, or foot-pans,
and other common and dishonoured vessels, which are employed rather
for uses of darkness than for such as will bear the light; (8) for
as for the customs of the Egyptians, it is not creditable even to
mention them, for they have introduced irrational beasts, and those
not merely such as are domestic and tame, but even the most
ferocious of wild beasts to share the honours of the gods, taking
some out of each of the elements beneath the moon, as the lion from
among the animals which live on the earth, the crocodile from among
those which live in the water, the kite from such as traverse the
air, and the Egyptian iris. (9) And though they actually see that
these animals are born, and that they are in need of food, and that
they are insatiable in voracity and full of all sorts of filth, and
moreover poisonous and devourers of men, and liable to be destroyed
by all kinds of diseases, and that in fact they are often destroyed
not only by natural deaths, but also by violence, still they,
civilised men, worship these untameable and ferocious beasts; though
rational men, they worship irrational beasts; though they have a
near relationship to the Deity, they worship creatures unworthy of
being compared even to some of the beasts; though appointed as
rulers and masters, they worship creatures which are by nature
subjects and slaves.
II. (10) But since these men infect not only their fellow
countrymen, but also all that come near them with folly, let them
remain uncovered, being mutilated in that most indispensable of all
the outward senses, namely, sight. I am speaking here not of the
sight of the body, but of that of the soul, by which alone truth and
falsehood are distinguished from one another. (11) But the
therapeutic sect of mankind, being continually taught to see without
interruption, may well aim at obtaining a sight of the living God,
and may pass by the sun, which is visible to the outward sense, and
never leave this order which conducts to perfect happiness. (12) But
they who apply themselves to this kind of worship, not because they
are influenced to do so by custom, nor by the advice or
recommendation of any particular persons, but because they are
carried away by a certain heavenly love, give way to enthusiasm,
behaving like so many revellers in bacchanalian or corybantian
mysteries, until they see the object which they have been earnestly
desiring. (13) Then, because of their anxious desire for an immortal
and blessed existence, thinking that their mortal life has already
come to an end, they leave their possessions to their sons or
daughters, or perhaps to other relations, giving them up their
inheritance with willing cheerfulness; and those who know no
relations give their property to their companions or friends, for it
followed of necessity that those who have acquired the wealth which
sees, as if ready prepared for them, should be willing to surrender
that wealth which is blind to those who themselves also are still
blind in their minds. (14) The Greeks celebrate Anaxagoras and
Democritus, because they, being smitten with a desire for
philosophy, allowed all their estates to be devoured by cattle. I
myself admire the men who thus showed themselves superior to the
attractions of money; but how much better were those who have not
permitted cattle to devour their possessions, but have supplied the
necessities of mankind, of their own relations and friends, and have
made them rich though they were poor before? For surely that was
inconsiderate conduct (that I may avoid saying that any action of
men whom Greece has agreed to admire was a piece of insanity); but
this is the act of sober men, and one which has been carefully
elaborated by exceeding prudence. (15) For what more can enemies do
than ravage, and destroy, and cut down all the trees in the country
of their antagonists, that they may be forced to submit by reason of
the extent to which they are oppressed by want of necessaries? And
yet Democritus did this to his own blood relations, inflicting
artificial want and penury upon them, not perhaps from any hostile
intention towards them, but because he did not foresee and provide
for what was advantageous to others. (16) How much better and more
admirable are they who, without having any inferior eagerness for
the attainment of philosophy, have nevertheless preferred
magnanimity to carelessness, and, giving presents from their
possessions instead of destroying them, so as to be able to benefit
others and themselves also, have made others happy by imparting to
them of the abundance of their wealth, and themselves by the study
of philosophy? For an undue care for money and wealth causes great
waste of time, and it is proper to economise time, since, according
to the saying of the celebrated physician Hippocrates, life is short
but art long. (17) And this is what Homer appears to me to imply
figuratively in the Iliad, at the beginning of the thirteenth book,
by the following lines, --
"The Mysian close-fighting bands, And dwellers on the Scythian
lands, Content to seek their humble fare From milk of cow and milk
of mare, The justest of Mankind."{6}{il. 13.5.}
As if great anxiety concerning the means of subsistence and the
acquisition of money engendered injustice by reason of the
inequality which it produced, while the contrary disposition and
pursuit produced justice by reason of its equality, according to
which it is that the wealth of nature is defined, and is superior to
that which exists only in vain opinion. (18) When, therefore, men
abandon their property without being influenced by any predominant
attraction, they flee without even turning their heads back again,
deserting their brethren, their children, their wives, their
parents, their numerous families, their affectionate bands of
companions, their native lands in which they have been born and
brought up, though long familiarity is a most attractive bond, and
one very well able to allure any one. (19) And they depart, not to
another city as those do who entreat to be purchased from those who
at present possess them, being either unfortunate or else worthless
servants, and as such seeking a change of masters rather than
endeavouring to procure freedom (for every city, even that which is
under the happiest laws, is full of indescribable tumults, and
disorders, and calamities, which no one would submit to who had been
even for a moment under the influence of wisdom), (20) but they take
up their abode outside of walls, or gardens, or solitary lands,
seeking for a desert place, not because of any ill-natured
misanthropy to which they have learnt to devote themselves, but
because of the associations with people of wholly dissimilar
dispositions to which they would otherwise be compelled, and which
they know to be unprofitable and mischievous.
Many like them, especially in Egypt
and around Alexandria:
III. (21) Now this class of persons may be met with in many places,
for it was fitting that both Greece and the country of the
barbarians should partake of whatever is perfectly good; and there
is the greatest number of such men in Egypt, in every one of the
districts, or nomi as they are called, and especially around
Alexandria;
The best group is between the
Mareotic Lake and the Mediterranean:
(22) and from all quarters those who are the best of these
therapeutae
proceed on their pilgrimage to some most suitable place as if it
were their country, which is beyond the Mareotic lake, lying in a
somewhat level plain a little raised above the rest, being suitable
for their purpose by reason of its safety and also of the fine
temperature of the air. (23) For the houses built in the fields and
the villages which surround it on all sides give it safety; and the
admirable temperature of the air proceeds from the continual breezes
which come from the lake which falls into the sea, and also from the
sea itself in the neighbourhood, the breezes from the sea being
light, and those which proceed from the lake which falls into the
sea being heavy, the mixture of which produces a most healthy
atmosphere.
Their distributed separate
dwellings:
(24) But the houses of these men thus congregated together are very
plain, just giving shelter in respect of the two things most
important to be provided against, the heat of the sun, and the cold
from the open air; and they did not live near to one another as men
do in cities, for immediate neighbourhood to others would be a
troublesome and unpleasant thing to men who have conceived an
admiration for, and have determined to devote themselves to,
solitude; and, on the other hand, they did not live very far from
one another on account of the fellowship which they desire to
cultivate, and because of the desirableness of being able to assist
one another if they should be attacked by robbers.
Private worship, meditation, and
study in their houses:
(25) And in every house there is a sacred shrine which is called the
holy place, and the monastery in which they retire by themselves and
perform all the mysteries of a holy life, bringing in nothing,
neither meat, nor drink, nor anything else which is indispensable
towards supplying the necessities of the body, but studying in that
place the laws and the sacred oracles of God enunciated by the holy
prophets, and hymns, and psalms, and all kinds of other things by
reason of which knowledge and piety are increased and brought to
perfection. (26) Therefore they always retain an imperishable
recollection of God, so that not even in their dreams is any other
object ever presented to their eyes except the beauty of the divine
virtues and of the divine powers. Therefore many persons speak in
their sleep, divulging and publishing the celebrated doctrines of
the sacred philosophy. (27) And they are accustomed to pray twice
every day, at morning and at evening; when the sun is rising
entreating God that the happiness of the coming day may be real
happiness, so that their minds may be filled with heavenly light,
and when the sun is setting they pray that their soul, being
entirely lightened and relieved of the burden of the outward senses,
and of the appropriate object of these outward senses, may be able
to trace out truth existing in its own consistory and council
chamber. (28) And the interval between morning and evening is by
them devoted wholly to meditation on and to practice of virtue, for
they take up the sacred scriptures and philosophise concerning them,
investigating the allegories of their national philosophy, since
they look upon their literal expressions as symbols of some secret
meaning of nature, intended to be conveyed in those figurative
expressions. (29) They have also writings of ancient men, who having
been the founders of one sect or another have left behind them many
memorials of the allegorical system of writing and explanation, whom
they take as a kind of model, and imitate the general fashion of
their sect; so that they do not occupy themselves solely in
contemplation, but they likewise compose psalms and hymns to God in
every kind of metre and melody imaginable, which they of necessity
arrange in more dignified rhythm. (30) Therefore, during six days,
each of these individuals, retiring into solitude by himself,
philosophises by himself in one of the places called monasteries,
never going outside the threshold of the outer court, and indeed
never even looking out.
Sabbath assemblies (procedures and
layout):
But on the seventh day they all come together as if to meet in a
sacred assembly, and they sit down in order according to their ages
with all becoming gravity, keeping their hands inside their
garments, having their right hand between their chest and their
dress, and the left hand down by their side, close to their flank;
(31) and then the eldest of them who has the most profound learning
in their doctrines, comes forward and speaks with steadfast look and
with steadfast voice, with great powers of reasoning, and great
prudence, not making an exhibition of his oratorical powers like the
rhetoricians of old, or the sophists of the present day, but
investigating with great pains, and explaining with minute accuracy
the precise meaning of the laws, which sits, not indeed at the tips
of their ears, but penetrates through their hearing into the soul,
and remains there lastingly; and all the rest listen in silence to
the praises which he bestows upon the law, showing their assent only
by nods of the head, or the eager look of the eyes. (32) And this
common holy place to which they all come together on the seventh day
is a twofold circuit, being separated partly into the apartment of
the men, and partly into a chamber for the women, for women also, in
accordance with the usual fashion there, form a part of the
audience, having the same feelings of admiration as the men, and
having adopted the same sect with equal deliberation and decision;
(33) and the wall which is between the houses rises from the ground
three or four cubits upwards, like a battlement, and the upper
portion rises upwards to the roof without any opening, on two
accounts; first of all, in order that the modesty which is so
becoming to the female sex may be preserved, and secondly, that the
women may be easily able to comprehend what is said being seated
within earshot, since there is then nothing which can possibly
intercept the voice of him who is speaking.
IV. (34) And these
expounders of the law, having first of all laid down temperance as a
sort of foundation for the soul to rest upon, proceed to build up
other virtues on this foundation, and no one of them may take any
meat or drink before the setting of the sun, since they judge that
the work of philosophising is one which is worthy of the light, but
that the care for the necessities of the body is suitable only to
darkness, on which account they appropriate the day to the one
occupation, and a brief portion of the night to the other; (35) and
some men, in whom there is implanted a more fervent desire of
knowledge, can endure to cherish a recollection of their food for
three days without even tasting it, and some men are so delighted,
and enjoy themselves so exceedingly when regaled by wisdom which
supplies them with her doctrines in all possible wealth and
abundance, that they can even hold out twice as great a length of
time, and will scarcely at the end of six days taste even necessary
food, being accustomed, as they say that grasshoppers are, to feed
on air, their song, as I imagine, making their scarcity tolerable to
them. (36) And they, looking upon the seventh day as one of perfect
holiness and a most complete festival, have thought it worthy of a
most especial honour, and on it, after taking due care of their
soul, they tend their bodies also, giving them, just as they do to
their cattle, a complete rest from their continual labours; (37) and
they eat nothing of a costly character, but plain bread and a
seasoning of salt, which the more luxurious of them to further
season with hyssop; and their drink is water from the spring; for
they oppose those feelings which nature has made mistresses of the
human race, namely, hunger and thirst, giving them nothing to
flatter or humour them, but only such useful things as it is not
possible to exist without. On this account they eat only so far as
not to be hungry, and they drink just enough to escape from thirst,
avoiding all satiety, as an enemy of and a plotter against both soul
and body. (38) And there are two kinds of covering, one raiment and
the other a house: we have already spoken of their houses, that they
are not decorated with any ornaments, but run up in a hurry, being
only made to answer such purposes as are absolutely necessary; and
in like manner their raiment is of the most ordinary description,
just stout enough to ward off cold and heat, being a cloak of some
shaggy hide for winter, and a thin mantle or linen shawl in the
summer; (39) for in short they practise entire simplicity, looking
upon falsehood as the foundation of pride, but truth as the origin
of simplicity, and upon truth and falsehood as standing in the light
of fountains, for from falsehood proceeds every variety of evil and
wickedness, and from truth there flows every imaginable abundance of
good things both human and divine.
Other communal activities; the Jubilee feast:
V. (40) I wish also to speak of their common assemblies, and their
very cheerful meetings at convivial parties, setting them in
opposition and contrast to the banquets of others, [[lengthy
description of other banquets]].
VI. (48) And perhaps some people
may be inclined to approve of the arrangement of such entertainments
which at present prevails everywhere, from an admiration of, and a
desire of imitating, the luxury and extravagance of the Italians
which both Greeks and barbarians emulate, making all their
preparations with a view to show rather than to real enjoyment, (49)
for they use couches called triclinia, and sofas all round the table
made of tortoiseshell, and ivory, and other costly materials, most
of which are inlaid with precious stones; and coverlets of purple
embroidered with gold and silver thread; and others brocaded in
flowers of every kind of hue and colour imaginable to allure the
sight, and a vast array of drinking cups arrayed according to each
separate description; for there are bowls, and vases, and beakers,
and goblets, and all kinds of other vessels wrought with the most
exquisite skill, their clean cups and others finished with the most
elaborate refinement of skilful and ingenious men; (50) and
well-shaped slaves of the most exquisite beauty, ministering, as if
they had come not more for the purpose of serving the guests than of
delighting the eyes of the spectators by their mere appearance. Of
these slaves, some, being still boys, pour out the wine; and others
more fully grown pour water, being carefully washed and rubbed down,
with their faces anointed and pencilled, and the hair of their heads
admirably plaited and curled and wreathed in delicate knots; (51)
for they have very long hair, being either completely unshorn, or
else having only the hair on their foreheads cut at the end so as to
make them of an equal length all round, being accurately sloped away
so as to represent a circular line, and being clothed in tunics of
the most delicate texture, and of the purest white, reaching in
front down to the lower part of the knee, and behind to a little
below the calf of the leg, and drawing up each side with a gentle
doubling of the fringe at the joinings of the tunics, raising
undulations of the garment as it were at the sides, and widening
them at the hollow part of the side. (52) Others, again, are young
men just beginning to show a beard on their youthful chins, having
been, for a short time, the sport of the profligate debauchees, and
being prepared with exceeding care and diligence for more painful
services; being a kind of exhibition of the excessive opulence of
the giver of the feast, or rather, to say the truth, of their
thorough ignorance of all propriety, as those who are acquainted
with them well know. (53) Besides all these things, there is an
infinite variety of sweetmeats, and delicacies, and confections,
about which bakers and cooks and confectioners labour, considering
not the taste, which is the point of real importance, so as to make
the food palatable to that, but also the sight, so as to allure that
by the delicacy of the look of their viands, {8}{the remainder of
this section originally appeared in section 55. The material has
been reordered to reflect the Loeb sequence.} they turn their heads
round in every direction, scanning everything with their eyes and
with their nostrils, examining the richness and the number of the
dishes with the first, and the steam which is sent up by them with
the second. Then, when they are thoroughly sated both with the sight
and with the scent, these senses again prompt their owners to eat,
praising in no moderate terms both the entertainment itself and the
giver of it, for its costliness and magnificence. (54) Accordingly,
seven tables, and often more, are brought in, full of every kind of
delicacy which earth, and sea, and rivers, and air produce, all
procured with great pains, and in high condition, composed of
terrestrial, and acquatic, and flying creatures, every one of which
is different both in its mode of dressing and in its seasoning. And
that no description of thing existing in nature may be omitted, at
the last dishes are brought in full of fruits, besides those which
are kept back for the more luxurious portion of the entertainment,
and for what is called the dessert; (55) and afterwards some of the
dishes are carried away empty from the insatiable greediness of
those at table, who, gorging themselves like cormorants, devour all
the delicacies so completely that they gnaw even the bones, which
some left half devoured after all that they contained has been torn
to pieces and spoiled. And when they are completely tired with
eating, having their bellies filled up to their very throats, but
their desires still unsatisfied, being fatigued with eating. (56)
However, why need I dwell with prolixity on these matters, which are
already condemned by the generality of more moderate men as
inflaming the passions, the diminution of which is desirable? For
any one in his senses would pray for the most unfortunate of all
states, hunger and thirst, rather than for a most unlimited
abundance of meat and drink at such banquets as these.
VII. (57) Now of the banquets among the Greeks the two most
celebrated and most remarkable are those at which Socrates also was
present, the one in the house of Callias, when, after Autolycus had
gained the crown of victory, he gave a feast in honour of the event,
and the other in the house of Agathon, which was thought worthy of
being commemorated by men who were imbued with the true spirit of
philosophy both in their dispositions and in their discourses, Plato
and Xenophon, for they recorded them as events worthy to be had in
perpetual recollection, looking upon it that future generations
would take them as models for a well managed arrangement of future
banquets; (58) but nevertheless even these, if compared with the
banquets of the men of our time who have embraced the contemplative
system of life, will appear ridiculous. Each description, indeed,
has its own pleasures, but the recorded by Xenophon is the one the
delights of which are most in accordance with human nature, for
female harp-players, and dancers, and conjurors, and jugglers, and
men who do ridiculous things, who pride themselves much on their
powers of jesting and of amusing others, and many other species of
more cheerful relaxation, are brought forward at it. (59) But the
entertainment recorded by Plato is almost entirely connected with
love; not that of men madly desirous or fond of women, or of women
furiously in love with men, for these desires are accomplished in
accordance with a law of nature, but with that love which is felt by
men for one another, differing only in respect of age; for if there
is anything in the account of that banquet elegantly said in praise
of genuine love and heavenly Venus, it is introduced merely for the
sake of making a neat speech; (60) for the greater part of the book
is occupied by common, vulgar, promiscuous love, which takes away
from the soul courage, that which is the most serviceable of all
virtues both in war and in peace, and which engenders in it instead
the female disease, and renders men men-women, though they ought
rather to be carefully trained in all the practices likely to give
men valour. (61) And having corrupted the age of boys, and having
metamorphosed them and removed them into the classification and
character of women, it has injured their lovers also in the most
important particulars, their bodies, their souls, and their
properties; for it follows of necessity that the mind of a lover of
boys must be kept on the stretch towards the objects of his
affection, and must have no acuteness of vision for any other
object, but must be blinded by its desire as to all other objects
private or common, and must so be wasted away, more especially if it
fails in its objects. Moreover, the man's property must be
diminished on two accounts, both from the owner's neglect and from
his expenses for the beloved object. (62) There is also another
greater evil which affects the whole people, and which grows up
alongside of the other, for men who give into such passions produce
solitude in cities, and a scarcity of the best kind of men, and
barrenness, and unproductiveness, inasmuch as they are imitating
those farmers who are unskilful in agriculture, and who, instead of
the deep-soiled champaign country, sow briny marshes, or stony and
rugged districts, which are not calculated to produce crops of any
kind, and which only destroy the seed which is put into them. (63) I
pass over in silence the different fabulous fictions, and the
stories of persons with two bodies, who having originally been stuck
to one another by amatory influences, are subsequently separated
like portions which have been brought together and are disjoined
again, the harmony having been dissolved by which they were held
together; for all these things are very attractive, being able by
novelty of their imagination to allure the ears, but they are
despised by the disciples of Moses, who in the abundance of their
wisdom have learnt from their earliest infancy to love truth, and
also continue to the end of their lives impossible to be deceived.
VIII. (64) But
since the entertainments of the greatest celebrity are full of such
trifling and folly, bearing conviction in themselves, if any one
should think fit not to regard vague opinion and the character which
has been commonly handed down concerning them as feasts which have
gone off with the most eminent success, I will oppose to them the
entertainments of those persons who have devoted their whole life
and themselves to the knowledge and contemplation of the affairs of
nature in accordance with the most sacred admonitions and precepts
of the prophet Moses. (65) In the first place, these men assemble at
the end of seven weeks, venerating not only the simple week of seven
days, but also its multiplied power, for they know it to be pure and
always virgin; and it is a prelude and a kind of forefeast of the
greatest feast, which is assigned to the number fifty, the most holy
and natural of numbers, being compounded of the power of the
right-angled triangle, which is the principle of the origination and
condition of the whole.
Clothing, orderliness, meal, women:
(66) Therefore when they come together clothed in white garments,
and joyful with the most exceeding gravity, when some one of the
ephemereutae (for that is the appellation which they are accustomed
to give to those who are employed in such ministrations), before
they sit down to meat standing in order in a row, and raising their
eyes and their hands to heaven, the one because they have learnt to
fix their attention on what is worthy looking at, and the other
because they are free from the reproach of all impure gain, being
never polluted under any pretence whatever by any description of
criminality which can arise from any means taken to procure
advantage, they pray to God that the entertainment may be
acceptable, and welcome, and pleasing; (67) and after having offered
up these prayers the elders sit down to meat, still observing the
order in which they were previously arranged, for they do not look
on those as elders who are advanced in years and very ancient, but
in some cases they esteem those as very young men, if they have
attached themselves to this sect only lately, but those whom they
call elders are those who from their earliest infancy have grown up
and arrived at maturity in the speculative portion of philosophy,
which is the most beautiful and most divine part of it. (68) And the
women also share in this feast, the greater part of whom, though
old, are virgins in respect of their purity (not indeed through
necessity, as some of the priestesses among the Greeks are, who have
been compelled to preserve their chastity more than they would have
done of their own accord), but out of an admiration for and love of
wisdom, with which they are desirous to pass their lives, on account
of which they are indifferent to the pleasures of the body, desiring
not a mortal but an immortal offspring, which the soul that is
attached to God is alone able to produce by itself and from itself,
the Father having sown in it rays of light appreciable only by the
intellect, by means of which it will be able to perceive the
doctrines of wisdom.
Their fruglaity (meal cushions!):
IX. (69) And the order in which they sit down to meat is a divided
one, the men sitting on the right hand and the women apart from them
on the left; and in case any one by chance suspects that cushions,
if not very costly ones, still at all events of a tolerably soft
substance, are prepared for men who are well born and well bred, and
contemplators of philosophy, he must know that they have nothing but
rugs of the coarsest materials, cheap mats of the most ordinary kind
of the papyrus of the land, piled up on the ground and projecting a
little near the elbow, so that the feasters may lean upon them, for
they relax in a slight degree the Lacedaemonian rigour of life, and
at all times and in all places they practise a liberal,
gentlemanlike kind of frugality, hating the allurements of pleasure
with all their might.
No slaves (but voluntary service
from young men):
(70) And they do not use the ministrations of slaves, looking upon
the possession of servants of slaves to be a thing absolutely and
wholly contrary to nature, for nature has created all men free, but
the injustice and covetousness of some men who prefer inequality,
that cause of all evil, having subdued some, has given to the more
powerful authority over those who are weaker. (71) Accordingly in
this sacred entertainment there is, as I have said, no slave, but
free men minister to the guests, performing the offices of servants,
not under compulsion, nor in obedience to any imperious commands,
but of their own voluntary free will, with all eagerness and
promptitude anticipating all orders, (72) for they are not any
chance free men who are appointed to perform these duties, but young
men who are selected from their order with all possible care on
account of their excellence, acting as virtuous and wellborn youths
ought to act who are eager to attain to the perfection of virtue,
and who, like legitimate sons, with affectionate rivalry minister to
their fathers and mothers, thinking their common parents more
closely connected with them than those who are related by blood,
since in truth to men of right principles there is nothing more
nearly akin than virtue; and they come in to perform their service
ungirdled, and with their tunics let down, in order that nothing
which bears any resemblance to a slavish appearance may be
introduced into this festival.
No wine or fancy food (including
meat):
(73) I know well that some persons will laugh when they hear this,
but they who laugh will be those who do things worthy of weeping and
lamentation. And in those days wine is not introduced, but only the
clearest water; cold water for the generality, and hot water for
those old men who are accustomed to a luxurious life. And the table,
too, bears nothing which has blood, but there is placed upon it
bread for food and salt for seasoning, to which also hyssop is
sometimes added as an extra sauce for the sake of those who are
delicate in their eating, for just as right reason commands the
priest to offer up sober sacrifices, (74) so also these men are
commanded to live sober lives, for wine is the medicine of folly,
and costly seasonings and sauces excite desire, which is the most
insatiable of all beasts.
General silence, explanatory
discourse [by the president]:
X. (75) These, then, are the first circumstances of the feast; but
after the guests have sat down to the table in the order which I
have been describing, and when those who minister to them are all
standing around in order, ready to wait upon them, and when there is
nothing to drink, some one will say ... but even more so than
before, so that no one ventures to mutter, or even to breathe at all
hard, and then some one looks out some passage in the sacred
scriptures, or explains some difficulty which is proposed by some
one else, without any thoughts of display on his own part, for he is
not aiming at reputation for cleverness and eloquence, but is only
desirous to see some points more accurately, and is content when he
has thus seen them himself not to bear ill will to others, who, even
if they did not perceive the truth with equal acuteness, have at all
events an equal desire of learning. (76) And he, indeed, follows a
slower method of instruction, dwelling on and lingering over his
explanations with repetitions, in order to imprint his conceptions
deep in the minds of his hearers, for as the understanding of his
hearers is not able to keep up with the interpretation of one who
goes on fluently, without stopping to take breath, it gets
behind-hand, and fails to comprehend what is said; (77) but the
hearers, fixing their eyes and attention upon the speaker, remain in
one and the same position listening attentively, indicating their
attention and comprehension by their nods and looks, and the praise
which they are inclined to bestow on the speaker by the cheerfulness
and gentle manner in which they follow him with their eyes and with
the fore-finger of the right hand. And the young men who are
standing around attend to this explanation no less than the guests
themselves who are sitting at meat. (78) And these explanations of
the sacred scriptures are delivered by mystic expressions in
allegories, for the whole of the law appears to these men to
resemble a living animal, and its express commandments seem to be
the body, and the invisible meaning concealed under and lying
beneath the plain words resembles the soul, in which the rational
soul begins most excellently to contemplate what belongs to itself,
as in a mirror, beholding in these very words the exceeding beauty
of the sentiments, and unfolding and explaining the symbols, and
bringing the secret meaning naked to the light to all who are able
by the light of a slight intimation to perceive what is unseen by
what is visible.
Response (applause) and hymnody:
(79) When, therefore, the president appears to have spoken at
sufficient length, and to have carried out his intentions
adequately, so that his explanation has gone on felicitously and
fluently through his own acuteness, and the hearing of the others
has been profitable, applause arises from them all as of men
rejoicing together at what they have seen and heard; (80) and then
some one rising up sings a hymn which has been made in honour of
God, either such as he has composed himself, or some ancient one of
some old poet, for they have left behind them many poems and songs
in trimetre iambics, and in psalms of thanksgiving and in hymns, and
songs at the time of libation, and at the altar, and in regular
order, and in choruses, admirably measured out in various and well
diversified strophes. And after him then others also arise in their
ranks, in becoming order, while every one else listens in decent
silence, except when it is proper for them to take up the burden of
the song, and to join in at the end; for then they all, both men and
women, join in the hymn.
Serving of the sacred bread:
(81) And when each individual has finished his psalm, then the young
men bring in the table which was mentioned a little while ago, on
which was placed that most holy food, the leavened bread, with a
seasoning of salt, with which hyssop is mingled, out of reverence
for the sacred table, which lies thus in the holy outer temple; for
on this table are placed loaves and salt without seasoning, and the
bread is unleavened, and the salt unmixed with anything else, (82)
for it was becoming that the simplest and purest things should be
allotted to the most excellent portion of the priests, as a reward
for their ministrations, and that the others should admire similar
things, but should abstain from the loaves, in order that those who
are the more excellent person may have the precedence.
The evening celebrations, with
separate male and female choruses:
XI. (83) And after the feast they celebrate the sacred festival
during the whole night; and this nocturnal festival is celebrated in
the following manner: they all stand up together, and in the middle
of the entertainment two choruses are formed at first, the one of
men and the other of women, and for each chorus there is a leader
and chief selected, who is the most honourable and most excellent of
the band. (84) Then they sing hymns which have been composed in
honour of God in many metres and tunes, at one time all singing
together, and at another moving their hands and dancing in
corresponding harmony, and uttering in an inspired manner songs of
thanksgiving, and at another time regular odes, and performing all
necessary strophes and antistrophes. (85) Then, when each chorus of
the men and each chorus of the women has feasted separately by
itself, like persons in the bacchanalian revels, drinking the pure
wine of the love of God, they join together, and the two become one
chorus, an imitation of that one which, in old time, was established
by the Red Sea, on account of the wondrous works which were
displayed there; (86) for, by the commandment of God, the sea became
to one party the cause of safety, and to the other that of utter
destruction; for it being burst asunder, and dragged back by a
violent reflux, and being built up on each side as if there were a
solid wall, the space in the midst was widened, and cut into a level
and dry road, along which the people passed over to the opposite
land, being conducted onwards to higher ground; then, when the sea
returned and ran back to its former channel, and was poured out from
both sides, on what had just before been dry ground, those of the
enemy who pursued were overwhelmed and perished. (87) When the
Israelites saw and experienced this great miracle, which was an
event beyond all description, beyond all imagination, and beyond all
hope, both men and women together, under the influence of divine
inspiration, becoming all one chorus, sang hymns of thanksgiving to
God the Saviour, Moses the prophet leading the men, and Miriam the
prophetess leading the women. (88) Now the chorus of male and female
worshippers being formed, as far as possible on this model, makes a
most humorous concert, and a truly musical symphony, the shrill
voices of the women mingling with the deep-toned voices of the men.
The ideas were beautiful, the expressions beautiful, and the
chorus-singers were beautiful; and the end of ideas, and
expressions, and chorussingers, was piety; (89) therefore, being
intoxicated all night till the morning with this beautiful
intoxication, without feeling their heads heavy or closing their
eyes for sleep, but being even more awake than when they came to the
feast, as to their eyes and their whole bodies, and standing there
till morning, when they saw the sun rising they raised their hands
to heaven, imploring tranquillity and truth, and acuteness of
understanding.
The conclusion:
And after their prayers they each retired to their own separate
abodes, with the intention of again practising the usual philosophy
to which they had been wont to devote themselves. (90) This then is
what I have to say of those who are called
therapeutae,
who have devoted themselves to the contemplation of nature, and who
have lived in it and in the soul alone, being citizens of heaven and
of the world, and very acceptable to the Father and Creator of the
universe because of their virtue, which has procured them his love
as their most appropriate reward, which far surpasses all the gifts
of fortune, and conducts them to the very summit and perfection of
happiness." -
Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – 50 CE) in "De Vita Contemplativa".
Essenia
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