Thirty-three Chapters · §1 · Evagrius Ponticus

Eight diseases of the rational soul

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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.

Jaundice 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

Capitula xxxiii (definitiones passionum animae rationalis) ΕΥΑΓΡΙΟΥ ΜΟΝΑΧΟΥ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΑ ΛΓʹ ΚΑΤ' ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΙΑΝ. Αʹ. Ἴκτερος, ἔστιν ἕξις χειρίστη ψυχῆς λογικῆς, καθ' ἣν ἐσφαλμένως Θεόν τε καὶ τὴν τῶν γεγονότων θεωρίαν ὁρᾷ. ‹40.1265› Βʹ. Ὀπισθότονος, ἔστι κακία φύσεως λογικῆς, καθ' ἣν δυσκαμπὴς γίνεται πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ γνῶσιν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Γʹ. Σφακελλισμὸς, ἔστι ζέσις καὶ κίνησις θυμοῦ τὸ λογιστικὸν μέρος τῆς ψυχῆς ἐκταράττουσα. ∆ʹ. Τυφλότης, ἔστιν ἄγνοια τοῦ νοῦ, ταῖς πρακτικαῖς ἀρεταῖς καὶ τῇ τῶν γεγονότων θεωρίᾳ μὴ ἐπιβάλλουσα. Εʹ. Παράλυσις, ἔστι δυσκινησία λογιστικῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς τὰς πρακτικὰς ἀρετάς. ϛʹ. Γονόῤῥοια, ἔστι ῥᾳθυμία λογικῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν ἀποβάλλειν τοὺς τῆς πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας εἴωθε λόγους. Ζʹ. Ἀποκάθισις, ἔστιν ἀδυναμία λογικῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν τὰς συντελούσας ἀρετὰς πρὸς τὴν μόρφωσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἴωθεν ἀποβάλλειν. Ηʹ. Λέπρα ἀπιστία ἐστὶν λογικῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν οὐ πληροφορεῖται ψηλαφῶσα τοὺς λόγους.

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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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