Thanksgiving Address to Origen · §18 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

Ending the speech: thanks spoken plainly

Gregory ends his speech, sure that its thanks, though unworthy, are sincere.

So let my speech end here. It has been bold where it least ought to have been; but it has given thanks in some fashion, I think, with a grateful mind and as far as we are able. We have said nothing worthy, yet we have not been wholly silent. It has also wept its farewell, as those who part from their friends usually do. Whether it has nothing boyish or flattering in it, nothing old-fashioned or overdone, I cannot say. But this I know clearly: it has this much, that it is not made up. It is true in every way, from a sound mind and from a purpose that is sincere and whole.

Greek

ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν ἐνθάδε παυέσθω ὁ λόγος, θρασυνόμενος μὲν ἐφ᾽ οὗ ἥκιστα ἐχρῆν· εὐγνωμόνως δὲ καὶ εὐχαριστήσας πῃ, οἶμαι, κατὰ δύναμιν τὴν ἡμετέραν, ἄξιον μὲν οὐδὲν λεγόντων, οὐ μὴν σιωπησάντων παντελῶς· καὶ ἔτι καὶ ἀποκλαυσάμενος, οἷα οἱ ἀποδημοῦντες τῶν φίλων εἰώθασι. μειρακιῶδες μηδὲ θωπείας ἐχόμενον οὐδέν, οὐδὲ ἀρχαιότερον, ἢ περιεργότερον, οὐκ οἶδα. πρόσεστι μέντοι αὐτῷ, καὶ τὸ μὴ πεπλασμένον, τοῦτο σαφῶς γινώσκω· ἀληθὲς δὲ πάντη, γνώμῃ ὑγιεῖ, καὶ προαιρέσει εἰλικρινεῖ καὶ ὁλοκλήρῳ.

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About this text

Gregory's farewell speech to his teacher Origen: how a pagan boy bound for law school in Berytus was led to Caesarea, how Origen taught him logic, natural science, ethics and the reading of Scripture, and his grief at leaving. A fresh English translation of the whole address.

Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) wrote this address to his teacher Origen. The speech is an expression of thanks and praise, though Gregory feels inadequate to the task of honoring his teacher.

The occasion is Gregory's farewell to Origen's school at Caesarea. He begins by explaining that he has neither spoken nor written for eight years, and has only listened to philosophers who value accurate investigation over polished speech. He then tells how a guardian angel led him, a pagan boy bound for law studies in Berytus, to Origen, and how Origen trained him in logic, natural science, ethics and the reading of Scripture. He ends by lamenting his departure and asking Origen to pray for him.

A reader will meet Gregory himself as the speaker, and Origen as the subject of the speech. Origen is described as a man who appears human, but to those who can perceive the greatness of his character and habits, seems endowed with greater and nearly divine ornaments.

The opening section (to the point where Gregory turns to his subject) was translated from the Latin column of the Opera omnia print (Paris, 1622). Everything after it, to the closing prayer, was translated from that print's Greek column, read from the page images; the facing Latin was used to settle damaged or abbreviated words. Where the print is hard to construe, a few readings follow Koetschau's edition (1894); each one is named in the translator notes. The older Ante-Nicene Fathers English was used only as a sense check for the opening section.

Printed text used

Translated from Opera omnia, Greek and Latin (Paris: Sonnius, Morel and Cramoisy, 1622), page images (Greek and Latin · Whole address: Latin column for section 1, Greek column for sections 2.1-19)
Translated from Latin of the opening section (Latin · Section 1)
Also checked DjVu text of the same print (Latin and Greek (machine-read text) · Opening)

Where the prints differ

Section 1 — Translated from the Latin column; the Greek of this opening was not used. Long-s and column joins expanded (ductu; nec aut scripsi; historiamve; arte nostra); the editor's argument and notes left out.
Sections 5.1, 5.3 and 6.2 — Abbreviated words read from the page images and the facing Latin: 'father' (πατρός), 'toward our sister' (πρὸς τὴν ἀδελφήν), 'through the whole of this life' (διὰ παντός), 'handing over his charge' (τὴν οἰκονομίαν παραδιδούς), 'with difficulty' (δυσχερῶς).
Section 6.3 — The print's doubtful participle (βλέψαν) is rendered with Koetschau's reading βλάψαν ('without doing it any harm').
Sections 7.2 and 8 — The print runs one sentence across the break; it is translated once, at the start of section 8, where Koetschau begins chapter 8.

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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