Letter 505: Ingratitude, Peter, is not merely an unpleasant quality — it is a failure of perception.

Those who were ensnared, I shall pass over so as not to appear tedious — for all the sacred Scriptures, and the tragedies of the pagans, and the daily dramas of life are full of such examples. But those who exercised a certain foresight and overcame the passion (for it is not possible to achieve chastity without effort), these I shall attempt to bring forward. Now if I were to show that some who were outside the faith accomplished this same thing through a certain prudence and caution, and not by throwing themselves into the fire, perhaps they would dismiss them as having achieved nothing great. But if I call the divine Paul as a witness, saying, "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified," every defense is closed off to them. And perhaps they would be put to shame and take thought for their own safety. It would have been sufficient to rest upon the apostolic testimony. But since even the accomplishments of the pagans can spur one on toward chastity, I shall not forget these either. I have read, for instance, that a certain king, upon seeing an Ephesian priestess who appeared surpassingly beautiful, immediately departed from Ephesus, fearing that he might be compelled against his will to do something unholy. And Cyrus the Persian did not even dare to look upon Pantheia, who was reputed to possess a wondrous and irresistible beauty. If therefore both the facts of experience and the pagans bear witness to the saving oracle as being correct and sound — for continual gazing is a road leading to the deed, and even if it does not proceed to the act, it defiles the mind and renders the one ensnared an adulterer — who is so bold as to say that he is not harmed at all while continually feasting his eyes on the beauty of others? And if this is difficult, one must above all flee the continual company of women; but if necessity compels, one must bridle the eyes. The doctrine that the soul pre-existed, which seems plausible though in my view untrue, two things in particular, by our reckoning, appear to refute: first, that it has not been clearly proclaimed in the Scriptures; second, the utter forgetfulness. For the Scriptures, not perceiving what scandal would arise from openly proclaiming this — for the soul would more easily revert to its original state, having fallen and learned this — what is this utter and deep forgetfulness, that the soul remembers nothing of those former things, even though it has the faculty of memory? It would have sprung back most swiftly to the place from which it fell, even if it had to endure ten thousand toils. For if a king's son, through negligence, fell from his royal glory and chose to dwell among robbers and murderers, the memory of his former prosperity would be able to bring him back effortlessly and swiftly to his ancestral dignity. But if the former memory were completely extinguished from his soul, he would neither find the life among robbers burdensome, but would even most gladly consort with them; nor would he do anything that could bring him back to a kingdom he does not even know. And not doing what leads him there, he would never return. The argument from memory, then, if the fall were true, would have driven all people toward the return; and the clear teaching of the Scriptures would have confirmed it further. We believe, however, that certain things greater than our worth have been hidden from us; but this much, I think, appears most beneficial: that neither possibility has occurred, yet many doctrines have burst into our life. For some believe that the soul is extinguished along with the body; others that they were brought into life solely to enjoy the good things of this present world; some imagined a doctrine of chance; others entrusted their affairs to fate and destiny and fortune; some declared the world to be created while others held that heaven was worthy of providence but the earth was not; others that the body was fashioned by evil and cannot be an instrument of virtue; and countless other things which, lest we extend this little discourse, I shall pass over. All these doctrines would have been extinguished if the memory of the former state had been present in the soul — if the account of the fall were true — and if its fall had been most clearly proclaimed in the sacred oracles, calling it back to return.

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΑΡIUM LIB. II. μὲν οὖν ἀλόντας, ἵνα μὴ δόξω διενοχλεῖν, παραλείψω· πᾶσαι γὰρ αἱ ἱεραὶ Γραφαὶ, καὶ αἱ ἔξωθεν τραγῳδίαι, καὶ τὰ καθ' ἡμέραν δράματα (40), τούτων γέμουσι τῶν παραδειγμάτων· τοὺς δὲ προμηθείᾳ τινὶ χρησα- μένους καὶ περιγενομένους τοῦ πάθους (οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἀπραγμόνως κατορθῶσαι σωφροσύνην), τούτους εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν πειράσομαι. Εἰ μὲν οὖν τινας τῶν ἔξω τῆς πίστεως τοῦτ᾽ αὐτὸ κατορθώσαντας ἐπι- δείξαιμι προνοίᾳ τινὶ καὶ ἀσφαλείᾳ, καὶ οὐ τῷ ἑαυ- τοὺς ἐπιῤῥίπτειν τῷ πυρὶ, ἴσως ἂν αὐτοὺς παραγρά- ψοιντο, ὡς οὐδὲν μέγα ἀνύσαντας. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὸν Θε- σπέσιον Παῦλον μάρτυρα καλέσω, λέγοντα, « Ὑπω- πιάζω μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγῶ, μήπως ἄλλοις κηρύξας, αὐτὸς ἀ[πο]δόκιμος γένωμαι,» πᾶσα αὐτοῖς ἀποκέκλεισται ἀπολογία. Καὶ ἴσως ἂν δυσωπη- θεῖεν (41), καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἀσφαλείας πρόνοιαν ποιήσονται. Ἐχρῆν μὲν οὖν ἀρκεσθῆναι τῇ ἀποστο- λικῇ μαρτυρίᾳ. ᾿Αλλ' ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὰ τοῖς ἔξωθεν κατ- ορθωθέντα ἀλείφει εἰς σωφροσύνην, οὐδὲ τούτων ἀμνημονήσω. Οἶδα τοιγαροῦν ἀναγνοὺς, ὅτι βασιλεύς τις Ἐφεσίαν ἱέρειαν ἰδὼν ὑπερβολῇ καλὴν φανεῖσαν, ἀνέζευξεν εὐθὺς ἐξ Ἐφέσου, φοβούμενος μὴ παρὰ γνώμην ἐκβιασθῇ πρᾶξαί τι τῶν οὐχ ὁσίων. Καὶ Κύρος δ' ὁ Πέρσης οὐδ᾿ ἰδεῖν τὴν Πάνθειαν ἐτόλ- μησε (42), θαυμαστόν τι καὶ ἀμήχανον κάλλος ἔχειν μαρτυρουμένην. Εἰ τοίνυν καὶ τὰ πράγματα, καὶ οἱ ἔξωθεν τῷ σωτηρίῳ χρησμῷ μαρτυροῦσιν, ὡς ὀρθῶς καὶ ἀσφαλῶς ἔχοντι (ἡ γὰρ συνεχής θέα ὁδὸς ἐστιν ἐπὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν ἄγουσα· εἰ δὲ καὶ εἰς ἔργον μὴ ἐx- βαίη, μολύνει τὸν λογισμὸν, καὶ μοιχὸν ἀποφαίνει τὸν ἀλόντα)· τὶς τοσοῦτόν ἐστι τολμηρὸς, ὅστις άλλο- τρίοις συνεχῶς ἐστιώμενος κάλλεσι, λέγοι μηδὲν τὸ παράπαν παραβλάπτεσθαι; Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο δύσκολον, χρὴ μάλιστα μὲν φεύγειν τὰς συνεχεῖς τῶν γυναικῶν ἐντεύξεις· εἰ δ᾽ ἀνάγκη εἴη, χαλινοῦν τοὺς ὀφθαλ- μούς. μὲν, ὡς οἶμαι, οὐκ ὄντα, πιθανὸν δὲ δοκοῦντα, πολλὰ A μὲν καὶ ἄλλα, δύο δὲ (6), κατά γε τὸν ἡμέτερον λο- γισμὸν, ἀνατρέπειν δοκεῖ· ἓν μὲν, τὸ μὴ σαφῶς κεκηρύχθαι ἐν ταῖς Γραφαῖς· δεύτερον δὲ, ἡ ἄκρατος λήθη. Οὐ συνορῶσα γὰρ (7), ποῖον ἔμελλε τίκτεσθαι, σκάνδαλον ἐκ τοῦ διαῤῥήδην κηρυχθῆναι· ῥᾷον γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπαλινδρόμει κατάστασιν · ἣν κα- ταπεσοῦσα (8) τοῦτο μαθοῦσα ψυχή, τις ἡ ἄκρατος αὕτη καὶ βαθεία λήθη, ὡς μηδὲν αὐτὴν τῶν ἐκεῖσε μεμνῆσθαι, καίτοι μνημονεύουσα, ἀνέδραμεν ἂν τὴν ταχίστην, ὅθεν ἐξέπεσεν, καὶ εἰ μυρίους ἐχρῆν ὑποστῆναι πόνους. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ βασιλέως υἱὸς, ἀπὸ ῥαθυμίας (9) τῆς βασιλικῆς μὲν δόξης ἐκπέσοι, μετὰ λῃστῶν δὲ καὶ ἀνδροφόνων συνδιατρίβειν ἔλοιτο, ἡ μνήμη τῆς πρώτης εὐημερίας δυνήσεται ἀπόνως τάχιστα ἐπαναγαγεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν πατρῴαν ἀξίαν. Εἰ δὲ Β παντελῶς ἀποσβεσθείη ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ ἡ προ- τέρα μνήμη, οὔτε βαρείαν διαιτηθήσεται (10) τὴν μετὰ τῶν λῃστῶν διαγωγὴν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἥδιστα αὐτοῖς συνδιατρίβοι· οὔτε τι πράξοι τῶν ἐπαναγαγεῖν αὐ- τὸν δυναμένων ἐφ᾽ ἣν μηδ' οἶδε βασιλείαν· μὴ πράττων δὲ τὰ φέροντα αὐτὸν ἐκεῖσε, οὐκ ἂν ἐπ- ανέλθοι ποτέ. Ὁ μὲν οὖν τῆς μνήμης λόγος, εἶγ' ἀληθὴς ἦν ἡ ἔκπτωσις, πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἤλα- σεν (11) ἐπὶ τὴν ἐπάνοδον· ἡ δὲ σαφὴς τῶν Γραφῶν διδασκαλία πλέον ἂν ἐβεβαίωσε. Πιστεύομεν δὲ ἄλλα τινὰ μείζονα ἡμῶν ὄντα τῆς ἀξίας ἀποκεκρύφθαι· C ἀλλ᾽ αὕτη, ὡς γε οἶμαι, φαίνεται ὠφελιμωτάτη, τὸ μηδὲ ὁπότερον γεγενῆσθαι, πολλὰ δόγματα εἰς τὸν βίον εἰσεκώμασε τὸν ἡμέτερον. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ οἷον-, ται (12), σβέννυσθαι μετὰ τοῦ σώματος τὴν ψυχήν· οἱ δὲ ὅτι ἀπολαύσοντες μόνον τῶν ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ καλῶν παρήχθησαν εἰς τὸν βίον· καὶ οἱ μὲν αὐτο- ματισμὸν ἐφαντάσθησαν· οἱ δὲ εἰμαρμένῃ καὶ γενέ- σει καὶ τύχῃ τὰ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐπέτρεψαν· καὶ οἱ μὲν γεννητὸν (15) εἶναι τὸν κόσμον ἀπεφήναντο (14) οἱ δὲ τὸν μὲν οὐρανὸν προνοίας ἠξιῶσθαι· τὴν δὲ γὴν οὐχὶ· οἱ δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῆς κακίας τὸ σῶμα πεπλάσθαι, καὶ μὴ δύνασθα. ἀρετῆς ὅργανον εἶναι· καὶ ἄλλα μυρία· ἅπερ, ένα μη τὸ λογίδιον μηκύνωμεν, παρα- λείψω. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἐσβέσθη (15), ἦν ἡ μνήμη τῆς προτέρας καταστάσεως ἐνυπῆρχε τῇ ψυχῇ, είγε ἀληθὴς ἦν ὁ τῆς ἐκπτώσεως λόγος, καὶ εἰ ἐν τοὺς ἱεροῖς χρησμοῖς σαφέστατα ἐκηρύχθη αὐτῆς ἡ ἔx- πτωσις, καλοῦσα ἐπὶ τὴν ἐπάνοδον. Διὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ D πρώτου καὶ Ἕλληνες καὶ βάρβαροι· διὰ δὲ τοῦ δευ-