The Instructor 2.8.72
Summary: The early Greeks did not use garlands; Christians avoid them because they are dedicated to idols and used in the service of demons.
Greek text · Stählin 1:201
Ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἀρχαίοις τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡ χρῆσίς πω τῶν στεφάνων ἦν. οὔτε γὰρ οἱ μνήστορες οὔθʼ οἱ ἁβροδίαιτοι κέχρηνται Φαίακες αὐτοῖς. ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀγῶσι πρῶτον ἡ τῶν ἄθλων δόσις ἦν, δεύτερον δὲ ὁ περιαγερμός, τρίτον ἡ φυλλοβολία, τελευταῖον ὁ στέφανος, ἐπίδοσιν λαβούσης εἰς τρυφὴν τῆς Ἑλλάδος μετὰ τὰ Μηδικά. εἴργονται τοίνυν στεφάνων οἱ τῷ λόγῳ παιδαγωγούμενοι, οὐκ ἐπεὶ καταδεῖν δοκοῦσιν τὸν λόγον ἐν ἐγκεφάλῳ τοῦτον ἱδρυμένον, οὐδʼ ὅτι κωμαστικῆς ἀγερωχίας σύμβολον ὁ στέφανος εἴη ἄν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὅτι τοῖς εἰδώλοις κατωνόμασται. ὁ γοῦν Σοφοκλῆς τὸν νάρκισσον »ἀρχαῖον μεγάλων θεῶν στεφάνωμα« προσεῖπε, τῶν χθονίων λέγων· ῥόδῳ δὲ τὰς Μούσας Σαπφὼ καταστέφει· οὐ γὰρ † ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ῥόδων τῶν ἐκ Πιερίας· κρίνῳ δὲ ἥδεσθαι τὴν Ἥραν φασὶν καὶ τὴν Ἄρτεμιν μυρρίνῃ. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα μὲν διʼ ἄνθρωπον γέγονε τὰ ἄνθη, ταῦτα δὲ οἱ ἀνόητοι λαβόντες οὐκ εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν εὐχάριστον χρῆσιν, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὴν τῶν δαιμονίων ἀχάριστον ὑπηρεσίαν κατεχρήσαντο, ἀφεκτέον αὐτῶν »διὰ τὴν συνείδησιν«.
English · Claude translation
Even among the ancient Greeks the use of garlands was not yet customary. Neither the suitors nor the luxurious Phaeacians used them. In the games, first came the giving of prizes, second the procession, third the throwing of leaves, and last the garland, as Greece progressed toward luxury after the Persian wars. Those instructed by the Word, then, keep away from garlands, not because they think they bind the reason seated in the brain, nor because the garland is a symbol of reveling arrogance, but because it has been dedicated to idols. Sophocles called the narcissus “the ancient garland of the great gods,” meaning the gods of the underworld; Sappho crowns the Muses with the rose: “for you have no share † in the roses from Pieria”; and they say Hera delights in the lily and Artemis in myrtle. For even if flowers were made above all for the sake of human beings, the foolish have taken them and misused them, not for their own thankful use, but for the thankless service of demons; so we must abstain from them “for conscience's sake.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 683–684, Sappho (fragment 55, with a corrupt text), and 1 Cor 10:28.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.8.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/8/72/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.8.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/8/72/).
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