Thirty-three Chapters

Name: Thirty-three Chapters
Author: Evagrius Ponticus

Capitula XXXIII

Evagrius Ponticus (c. 345–399 AD)

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Contents4 passages

1Eight diseases of the rational soul
2Definitions of soul-diseases nine through fifteen
3Dropsy and the symbolic animals of spiritual progress
4Unclean Powers, False Knowledge, and Holy Powers

Author

Evagrius Ponticus (c. 345–399 AD) — A preacher at Constantinople who became a monk in the Egyptian desert. His short sayings on prayer and on the eight evil thoughts shaped Christian teaching on the spiritual life.

All works by Evagrius Ponticus

About this text

Thirty-three one-line definitions by Evagrius that read the diseases, beasts and powers named in Scripture as pictures of the soul's vices, of false knowledge, and of growth toward God.

Evagrius Ponticus (c. 345–399) wrote this short handbook for monks. He was born in Pontus, served as a deacon in Constantinople, and then left the city to become a monk near Jerusalem and in the Egyptian desert. He wrote to help fellow ascetics recognize and resist the inner disorders that block the knowledge of God.

The work is a diagnostic list. Evagrius names spiritual diseases of the rational soul, then gives symbolic animals and figures that represent different kinds of people and spiritual powers. A reader will meet the ant, the gecko, the lion cub, the rooster, and the he-goat as figures of practitioners at different stages, along with rock badgers, locusts, the leech, ravens, and eaglets. No other speakers are quoted.

The key term throughout is the rational soul, the human soul capable of reason and knowledge of God. Evagrius also speaks of dispositions, vices, virtues, ignorance, contemplation, practical virtues, unclean powers, holy powers, the mind, and freedom from passions. Some disease names are medical images, such as jaundice, freckle, or convulsion, used to describe spiritual conditions. Biblical animal imagery and priestly blemish laws stand behind several figures, but Evagrius does not cite books by name.

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Translated from PG (Greek)

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Eight diseases of the rational soul§1

Evagrius opens his list of thirty-three definitions by naming eight diseases of the rational soul, each defined as a disposition, vice, movement, or ignorance that hinders virtue and knowledge of God.

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1Jaundice is the worst disposition of the rational soul, by which it sees God and the contemplation of the things that have come to be in a distorted way.

Opisthotonos is a vice of the rational nature, by which it becomes hard to bend toward virtue and the knowledge of God.

Sphakelismos is a boiling and a movement of anger that throws the reasoning part of the soul into confusion.

Blindness is ignorance of the mind that does not lay hold of the practical virtues and the contemplation of the things that have come to be.

Paralysis is a difficulty of movement in the rational soul toward the practical virtues.

Gonorrhea is a slackness of the rational soul, by which it habitually casts away the words of spiritual teaching.

Sitting-down is a weakness of the rational soul, by which it habitually casts away the virtues that contribute to the formation of Christ.

Leprosy is unbelief of the rational soul, by which, though handling the words, it is not fully assured.

Greek · §1

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Definitions of soul-diseases nine through fifteen§2

Evagrius continues his numbered definitions of spiritual diseases of the rational soul, moving from ecstasy and crushing to mutilation, deafness, freckle, speech-difficulty, and lameness.

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2Ecstasy is a bending again toward vice of the rational soul, after virtue and the knowledge of God.

Crushing is a most wicked disposition of the rational soul, by which it pursues the virtues not because of the beautiful itself.

Docking of the nose is a deprivation of the virtue that takes in the fragrance of Christ.

Cutting off of the ear is a hardness of the rational soul that drags it back from spiritual teaching.

A freckle is a falling away from spiritual contemplation, or an untrue comprehension of the contemplation of the things that have come to be.

Difficulty of speech is a passion of the rational soul, by which it is scandalized at what happens and is unable to give thanks to God in everything.

Lameness is an inability of the rational nature for the work of virtue.

Greek · §2

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Dropsy and the symbolic animals of spiritual progress§3

Evagrius continues his list of spiritual diseases and then begins a series of symbolic animals and natural figures representing practitioners at different stages of spiritual progress.

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3Dropsy is an irrational turning away of the soul, in which vice and ignorance prevail once the virtues have been quenched.

An ant is a practical man who prepares his own food in this age.

Rock badgers are unclean nations that have received the commandments of our Savior Christ.

Unruled locusts are rational souls that are not shaken by death and are fed by seeds.

A gecko is a practical mind that leans on virtues and dwells in the knowledge of the heavenly powers.

A lion cub is a man free from passions who has ruled the beasts within him.

A rooster is a spiritual man who is filled with knowledge and proclaims to other souls the day that has come from the intelligible sun.

A he-goat is a practical man who rightly leads the disordered thoughts within him.

Greek · §3

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Unclean Powers, False Knowledge, and Holy Powers§4

Evagrius continues his symbolic definitions, now listing unclean powers, false knowledge, and holy powers that oppose or destroy vices.

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4A leech is an unclean power that sucks the righteous blood out of rational souls.

Hades is ignorance that comes upon a rational nature through the deprivation of the contemplation of God.

A woman is folly that summons rational souls to uncleanness.

Earth is a most wicked disposition gathered together from impiety and lawlessness.

Fire is a vice of rational nature that destroys the virtues of God.

Water is false knowledge that extinguishes true knowledge.

A mocking eye is an unclean power that mocks the knowledge of God and dishonors the wisdom in created things.

Ravens are holy powers that destroy vices.

Ravines are rational souls hollowed out by vice and ignorance.

Eaglets are holy powers entrusted with casting down the unclean.

Greek · §4

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