ON PASSIONS

34-39 Περὶ παθῶν

34. IF our memories of anything are full of passion, it. is because we once welcomed the things themselves with passion. Whatever things we welcome with passion, we shall later remember with passion. So anyone who has defeated the demons which activate such things makes light of the things they activate The immaterial battle is harder than the material battle.

λδ' Ὧν τὰς μνήμας ἔχομεν ἐμπαθεῖς͵ τούτων καὶ τὰ πράγματα πρότερον μετὰ πάθους ὑπεδεξάμεθα· καὶ ὅσα τῶν πραγμάτων πάλιν μετὰ πάθους ὑποδεχόμεθα͵ τούτων καὶ τὰς μνήμας ἕξομεν ἐμπαθεῖς. Ὅθεν ὁ νικήσας τοὺς ἐνεργοῦντας δαίμονας τῶν ὑπ΄ αὐτῶν ἐνεργουμένων καταφρονεῖ· τοῦ γὰρ ἐνύλου πολέμου ὁ ἄϋλος χαλεπώτερος.

35. THE The passions of the soul derive from men; the passions of the body derive from the body. The passions of the body are cut back by self-control; those of the soul are cut back by spiritual love.

λεʹ Τὰ μὲν τῆς ψυχῆς πάθη ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔχει τὰς ἀφορμάς· τὰ δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἐκ τοῦ σώματος· καὶ τὰ μὲν τοῦ σώματος πάθη περικόπτει ἐγκράτεια͵ τὰ δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγάπη πνευματική.

36. THE demons that preside over the passions of the soul go on until we die; those which preside over the passions of the body leave sooner. Other demons are like the rising or setting sun and affect only one part of the soul; but the noonday demon generally enfolds the whole soul and suffocates the mind. This is why the withdrawn life is pleasant after we have cleared out the passions; then our memories are merely memories, and the point of the monk’s struggle then is not to make him ready to do battle, but to enable him to contemplate the struggle itself.

 λς' Οἱ μὲν τῶν ψυχικῶν προεστῶτες παθῶν ἄχρι θανάτου προσκαρτεροῦσιν· οἱ δὲ τῶν σωματικῶν θᾶττον ὑποχωροῦσιν· καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι δαίμονες ἀνατέλλοντι ἢ δύνοντι τῷ ἡλίῳ ἐοίκασιν͵ ἑνός τινος μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς ἐφαπτόμενοι· ὁ δὲ μεσημβρινὸς ὅλην περιλαμβάνειν εἴωθε τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ ἐναπο πνίγειν τὸν νοῦν. Διὸ γλυκεῖα ἡ ἀναχώρησις μετὰ τὴν τῶν παθῶν κένωσιν· τότε γὰρ αἱ μνῆμαι μόνον εἰσὶ ψιλαί· καὶ ἡ πάλη οὐ πρὸς ἀγῶνα λοιπόν͵ ἀλλὰ πρὸς θεωρίαν αὐτῆς παρασκευάζει τὸν μοναχόν.

37. WHETHER it is ideas (ennoia) which incite passions or passions which incite ideas is a matter which needs attention. Some have held the first view, others the second.

λζʹ Πότερον ἡ ἔννοια τὰ πάθη κινεῖ͵ ἢ τὰ πάθη τὴν ἔννοιαν προσεκτέον· τισὶ μὲν γὰρ ἔδοξε τὸ πρότερον͵ τισὶ δὲ τὸ δεύτερον.

38. BY means of sensations passions are naturally aroused: if both charity and self-control are present they will not be aroused; [but] if absent, they will be aroused. Indignation requires more remedies than desire, and because of this charity is called “great” (1 Cor. 13:13), because it bridles indignation; and therefore Holy Moses in his natural science symbolically names it “snake-fighter” (Lev. 11:22).

ληʹ Ὑπὸ τῶν αἰσθήσεων πέφυκε κινεῖσθαι τὰ πάθη· καὶ παρούσης μὲν ἀγάπης καὶ ἐγκρατείας οὐ κινηθήσεται͵ ἀπούσης δὲ κινηθήσεται· πλειόνων δὲ παρὰ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ὁ θυμὸς δεῖται φαρμάκων͵ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μεγάλη λέγεται ἡ ἀγάπη ὅτι χαλινός ἐστι τοῦ θυμοῦ· ταύτην καὶ Μωσῆς ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἅγιος ἐν τοῖς φυσικοῖς συμβολικῶς ὀφιομάχην ὠνόμασεν.

39. BECAUSE of the prevailing stench in demons, the soul is ordinarily enflamed against thoughts (logismoi) when it perceives them drawing near because of the influence of the passion associated with the demon in question.

λθ' Πρὸς τὴν ἐπικρατοῦσαν δυσωδίαν ἐν τοῖς δαίμοσιν εἴωθεν ἀνάπτεσθαι πρὸς λογισμοὺς ἡ ψυχή͵ ὅταν αὐτῶν ἐγγιζόντων ἀντιλαμβάνηται͵ τῷ τοῦ παρενοχλοῦντος πάθει πεποιωμένη.