Epigrams on Works of Art 171However, before we turn to the epigram cycles, let us first look at one of
these epigrams of Theodore of Stoudios, no. 67 (“on St. Gregory the Theolo-
gian”):
Bront0n t2 qe¦a t! bo! t0n dogm1tzn
Èchsaß Ántzß tën Üp\ oJranön, m1karº
kaò p1saß äpròx mzr1naß t2ß aWr6seiß
tñn kösmon ™st8rixaß ™n to¦ß so¦ß lögoiß^54.“Thundering the divine doctrine with the roar of dogmas, your voice truly
resounded all over the earth, O saint, and by making all heresies at once look
foolish, you fastened the world to the anchor of your words”. The epigram is
difficult to translate because Theodore of Stoudios uses a very poetic diction,
which here and there infringes upon the rules of Greek syntax: bront0 plus
direct object is most unusual, and the transitive use of the verb šc0 is unique^55.
The adverb äpr5x ordinarily means “tightly” and is used in combination with
verbs: “to hold tight”, “to cling to something tightly”; but here it appears to
modify the meaning of the determiner p1saß: “all ... together”, “all ... without
any exception”, “all at once”^56. The epigram alludes to certain Biblical passag-
es: for tën Üp\ oJranön, see Luke 17: 24; for mzr1naß, see Paul, 1 Cor. 1: 20; and
for tñn kösmon ™st8rixaß, see the beginning of the book Genesis. Gregory of
Nazianzos’ thundering is a theme that also occurs in other epigrams on this
church father: see, for instance, Geometres, Cr. 302, 11: bront‰ß lögzn plhro ̄sa
g‰n te kaò pölon (“filling heaven and earth with the thunder of your words”), or
an anonymous ninth-century epigram that begins as follows: Grhgörioß bront‰ß
noer@ß gönoß ™st5n (“Gregory is the descendant of the spiritual thunder”)^57.
Gregory is said to be “thundering” because he is primarily known to the
Byzantines as “the Theologian” (a honorific title which was awarded to him at
the Council of Chalcedon). The “theologian” among the apostles is St. John.
Byzantine epigrams on John the Apostle usually emphasize that he was “the
(^54) Speck prints tën Üpoyranön (v. 2) by analogy to tën Üó8lion (SPECK 1968: 95); but if the
word was a compound adjective, it would have to be accentuated as follows: *Üpo7ranoß
(cf. Üpoyr1nioß).
(^55) Cf. the Anon. Italian, no. 12 (ed. BROWNING 1963: 298), vv. 3–4: lögoi dê p@san Äß Qeo ̄
óznaò kt5sin bront0si, see BALDWIN 1982: 13–14.
(^56) Theodore uses the adverb twice, here and in epigram 38, 4: (Christ is) dittñß äpròx tën
ó7sin (“er ist seiner Natur nach untrennbar doppelt”, as Speck rightly translates). The
lexicon of Hesychios derives äpr5x from pr5z, “to saw”. This false etymology, “indivis-
ible”, accounts for Theodore’s use of the adverb in 38, 4. It also explains how the adverb
is probably to be interpreted here. The adverb goes with p1saß: “all ... together”, “all at
once”, i.e., Gregory refuted all heresies, none excluded or at one blow.
(^57) See SAJDAK 1914: 270.