The Library · §5 · Photius of Constantinople

Sophronius, Against Eunomius

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The work of Sophronius likewise, on behalf of Basil against Eunomius, has been read by me. He is clearer than Theodore and much more concise, and does not go through every work of Eunomius; instead he exercises himself on those passages, and overthrows by refutation those which seem to hold his heresy together and to be its chief points. He employs an aphoristic manner, and in general his discourse is detached and disconnected — though not from want of judgment; rather, it is rounded off with logical arguments as well.

Greek

Ἀνεγνώσθη ὁμοίως ΣΩΦΡΟΝΙΟΥ ὑπὲρ Βασιλείας κατὰ Εὐνομίου. σαφέστερος μὲν Θεοδώρου καὶ πολλῷ συντομώτερος, καὶ οὐδὲ πᾶσι τοῖς Εὐνομίου ἐπεξιών, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνα γυμνάζων καὶ ἐλέγχω καθυποβάλλων, ἃ δοκεῖ συνεκτικὰ καὶ κεφάλαια τῆς Εὐνομίου αἱρέσεως εἶναι. ἀφοριστικῷ δὲ κέχρηται χαρακτῆρι, καὶ ὡς ἐπίπαν ἀπόλυτός ἐστιν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀσύνδετος ὁ λόγος, ἐξ ἀκρισίας δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ λογικοῖς ἐπιχειρήμασι περιηγημένος.

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About this text

Photius's notes on the first 17 books in his Library, from Theodore's defense of Dionysius to the Acts of the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon.

Photius of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893) was a scholar and patriarch of Constantinople in the ninth century.

The Library is a record of Photius's private reading, containing summaries of 279 books that he had read and discussed. Photius engaged a secretary and set down all the summaries he could recollect, arranging them in the order in which his memory recalled them rather than by subject. In the ninth century it was still possible to read vast quantities of ancient literature, both pagan and Christian, that has since been lost, and Photius is often our best or only source of information about these lost books.

A reader will meet summaries of early Christian writings, including works by Eusebius, Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, Apollinarius, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Sophronius, as well as summaries of works by Theodore the Presbyter, Hadrian the Monk, and Nonnosus, and of the acts of the councils of Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon. Photius was a keen critic of style and content, and his summaries often include his own judgments on the works he describes. Because many of the books he read have since disappeared, his notes are frequently the only surviving evidence for their contents.

Part only: Codices 1–17 of 279

EditionImmanuel Bekker, Photii Bibliotheca (Berlin, 1824)

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