On Teachers and Disciples · §1 · Evagrius Ponticus

The unskilled guide destroys; the skilled guide heals

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Evagrius opens the treatise by addressing the monastic leader directly, comparing unskilled and skilled guides through a series of parallel images.

An unskilled pilot is a shipwreck waiting to happen, and an ignorant leader is the destruction of his disciples. An inexperienced shepherd has twisted the ankles of his sheep, and a leader twists the paths of his disciples. An ignorant shepherd will not discern among sheep in the fog, nor will an inexperienced teacher say anything useful in a time of trial. A skilled leader is a general in war and a physician of the passions: he will either keep a man from being wounded or heal him quickly once he is wounded. A disobedient disciple is a warped piece of wood, and he will never be straightened no matter how often he is reproved. A discordant brother is a string on an out-of-tune lyre, and by his discord he is cut off from the common melody. A drone eats the labors of the bees, and a careless brother diminishes the virtuous practice of the community.

Greek

De magistris et discipulis sub nomine Nili Ancyrani fragmenta e codd. Paris. gr. 1188 + 1066 43 Ἄτεχνος κυβερνήτης ἕτοιμος ναυαγία καὶ ἀνεπιστήμων ἡγούμενος ἀπώλεια μαθητῶν. Ἄπειρος ποιμὴν ἐξέστρεψεν ἀστραγάλους προβάτων καὶ ἡγούμενος ὁδοὺς μαθητῶν. Οὐ διαγνώσεται ἐν ὁμίχλῃ ἀνὰ μέσον προβάτων ἀνεπιστήμων ποιμὴν οὐδ' ἐν καιρῷ πειρασμῶν ἐρεῖ τι συμφέρον διδάσκαλος ἄπειρος. Στρατηγὸς πολέμου καὶ παθῶν ἰατρός ἐστιν ἐπιστήμων ἡγούμενος· ἢ γὰρ τρωθῆναι οὐκ ἐάσει ἢ τρωθέντα ταχέως ἰάσεται. Ἀνήκοος μαθητὴς διεστραμμένον ξύλον καὶ οὐ μὴ ὀρθωθῇ ἐλεγχόμενος συνεχῶς. Ἀσύμφωνος ἀδελφὸς ἀπηχούσης λύρας νευρὰ καὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ λυομένη τοῦ κοινοῦ μέλους. Κηφὴν ἐσθίει μελισσῶν πόνους καὶ ῥᾴθυμος ἀδελφὸς ἐλαττοῖ συνοδίας ἐνάρετον πρᾶξιν.

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About this text

Evagrius on how a spiritual father should guide his disciples: an unskilled guide destroys and a skilled one heals, correction comes without anger, and the road leads, like Israel's to Elim, to freedom from the passions.

Evagrius Ponticus (c. 345–399) wrote this treatise for a monastic leader responsible for guiding disciples. He was a monk and ascetic teacher who spent his later years in the Egyptian desert communities of Nitria and Kellia, after earlier being a disciple of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Macarius of Egypt. The work offers practical guidance on how to lead a community toward virtue and guard its members from harm.

The treatise addresses a leader directly, using comparisons from seafaring, shepherding, warfare, medicine, and Israel's desert journey. Evagrius argues that an unskilled guide destroys those in his care, just as an unskilled pilot wrecks a ship or an inexperienced shepherd loses sheep. The skilled leader is like a general and physician who prevents wounds or heals them quickly.

A reader should know that the leader must arm disciples with specific spiritual equipment, train them for spiritual combat, correct them without anger, and lead them through discipline toward the promised land. There they will live the blessed life of freedom from passions, receiving true joy as the reward for their labors.

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