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Search results for beta,150 in Adler number:
Headword:
Basileios
Adler number: beta,150
Translated headword: Basil, Basilius, Basileios
Vetting Status: high
Translation: Bishop of Cappadocian
Caesarea (which in the past used to be called Mazaca);[1] a close friend of Gregory the bishop of Nadianda [= Nazianzus]. He came from illustirous parents, Basil and Emmelia, whose family [is discussed] above. A very famous man and one who advanced to the summit of every [branch of] education.[2] This man wrote many works, of which especially the commentaries on the Hexaemeron are admired.[3] He also composed[4] remarkable orations against Eunomius, and a book on the Holy Spirit, and the nine homilies on the Hexaemeron; another work on the ascetic lifestyle, [and] one on virginity; an oration in praise of the Forty Martyrs, another in praise of Gordius, another in praise of Barlaam, and another in praise of Julitta.[5] [There are] several edifying orations on different Psalms; letters -- unsurpassed -- to the sophist
Libanius and to his friend Gregory and to many others.[6] On this Basil, also, Philostorgius has made a record in a story about him. He wrote as follows.[7] "For in those times Basil flourished in Cappadocian
Caesarea and Gregory in Nadiandus (this place was a station in Cappadocia) and
Apollinarius in Laodicea in
Syria. These three men then fiercely defended the consubstantiality against the heterosubstantiality, having surpassed by and large everybody who in the past and later, until my own day, supported this same heresy, so that Athanasius would be judged a child in comparison to them.[8] They progressed far in the so-called education "from outside"; and of the holy scriptures, as much as they through the reading filled their memory, they had much experience and of them Basil had the most. And each one of them was in his own way a most respectable writer. Basil was by far at his best in the panegyrical genre: he was indeed most brilliant in delivering festival orations;
Apollinarius on the other hand was excellent in the commentary genre. Gregory, however, had -- and this was also the judgment of the other two -- the largest resources for the composing of homilies." These things Philostorgius the Arian as if in passing wrote about them. Basil died when Gratianus held the scepter of the Romans.[9]
Basil the Great had four brothers: Gregory the bishop of Nyssa, and Peter (also a bishop), and two others who became monks.[10]
Basileios, Kaisareias tês Kappadokôn episkopos [hêtis prôiên Mazaka ekaleito], hetairos Grêgoriou tou Nadiandôn episkopou. gegone de goneôn periphanôn, Basileiou te kai Emmeleias, hôn anôthen hê sungeneia: anêr ellogimôtatos kai pasês paideias eis akron elêlakôs. houtos egrapse pleista, en hois thaumazetai ta eis tên Hexaêmeron. kai kat' Eunomiou de exairetous sunetaxe logous, kai peri tou hagiou pneumatos teuchos, kai tas eis tên Hexaêmeron homilias th#: heteron teuchos askêtikon, peri parthenias allo: Epainon eis tous m# Marturas, heteron eis Gordion, allon eis Barlaam, heteron eis Ioulittan. eis diaphorous psalmous Êthikoi logoi diaphoroi: epistolai, hôn ouden ameinon, pros te ton sophistên Libanion kai pros ton philon Grêgorion kai eis allous pleionas. toude ge Basileiou kai Philostorgios mnêmên pepoiêtai en têi kat' auton historiai graphôn houtôs: Basileios gar êkmaze kat' ekeinous tous chronous en Kaisareiai tês Kappadokias kai Grêgorios en têi Nadiandôi [stathmos de houtos ho topos Kappadokias] kai Apolinarios en têi Laodikeiai tês Surias. treis dê houtoi andres tote tou homoousiou proumachoun kata tou heteroousiou, makrôi pantas parenenkontes tous proteron kai husteron achris emou tês autês haireseôs prostantas, hôs paida par' autois krithênai ton Athanasion. tês te gar exôthen kaloumenês paideuseôs epi pleiston houtoi proelêluthesan, kai tôn hierôn graphôn, hoposa eis anagnôsin kai tên procheiron mnêmên etelei, pollên eichon tên empeirian, kai malista ge autôn ho Basileios. kai mên kai sungraphein hekastos autôn es ton heautou tropon ên hikanôtatos. tôi men ge Basileiôi to panêgurikon eidos tou logou makrôi arista eichen: ên gar panêgurisai lamprotatos: ho de ge Apolinarios en tôi hupomnêmatikôi eidei tês lexeôs kai autos arista eiche: tôi de ge Grêgoriôi kai par' amphoterois exetazomenôi meizô basin eis sungraphên eichen ho logos. tosauta peri autôn hôs en paradromêi Philostorgios ho Areianos egrapse. teleutai de Basileios Gratianou ta Rhômaiôn skêptra diepontos. hoti ho megas Basileios adelphous eiche d#, ton te Grêgorion ton Nussês episkopon, kai Petron kai auton episkopon, kai heterous duo monasantas.
Notes:
Parts of this entry seem to be inspired by Jerome,
De viris illustribus 124.
See Catholic Encyclopedia entry at web address 1.
For Gregory of Nazianzus, see
gamma 450; Gregory of Nyssa,
gamma 451; Apollinarios,
alpha 3397.
[1] cf.
kappa 1201.
[2] cf.
alpha 1029.
[3] Basil's homilies on the Hexaemeron have been edited in the GCS-series. Of part of homily 7 and of 8 and 9 an English translation can be found in R.M. Grant,
Early Christians and Animals, London-New York, Routledge, 1999. For works available on the Internet, see web address 2.
[4] See for text editions and translations of the works mentioned besides the relevant entries in the
Clavis Patrum Graecorum, vol. II and the supplement also in Fedwick,
Bibliotheca Basiliana Universalis and Rousseau,
Basil.
[5] These are orations of praise on martyrs, the so-called martyrial encomia. They were delivered during the yearly celebration in honour of the martyr, which was held on the day his or her death was commemorated by local communities. So every year the memory of the Forty Martyrs of
Sebaste was (and is) celebrated on 9 March. The best study of Basil's martyrial encomia is M. Girardi,
Basilio di Cesarea e il culto dei martiri: scrittura e tradizione (Quaderni di Vetera Cristianorum, 21), Bari, 1990.
[6] The collection of Basil's letters is a source of paramount importance for Cappadocia in the second half of the fourth century. (See the work by B. Gain.) Even more important, however, is that they reveal much about the role of a bishop, his connections with other bishops and officials of the secular realm and members of his community. A brilliant analysis of this correspondence from this viewpoint can be found in the recent work by Dom Pouchet.
[7] This text is also edited in the GCS-edition of Philostorgius, edited by J. Bidez - F. Winkelmann, Berlin, 1981, pp. 111-113. This edition also contains the best introduction to the Arian historiographer. The Suda quotes this passage also at
alpha 3397 and
gamma 450.
[8] A good introduction to the christological controversies of the fourth century is R.P.C. Hanson,
The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: the Arian Controversy 318-381, Edinburgh, 1989.
[9] On the reign of Gratian, see web address 3.
[10] Not to mention his illustrious sister Macrina, commemorated by Gregory of Nyssa in his
Dialogue on the Soul and the Resurrection and
Life of Macrina.
Some recent monographs on Basil:
R.C. Gregg, Consolation Philosophy: Greek and Christian Paideia in Basil and the two Gregories (Patristic Monograph series, 3), Philadelphia Patristic foundation, Cambridge MA, 1975
P.J. Fedwick, Basil of Caesarea: Christian, Humanist, Ascetic: A sixteen-hundredth anniversary Symposium, Pontifical institute of mediaeval studies Toronto, 1981, 2 vols
B. Gain, L'Église de Cappadoce au IVe siecle d'après la correspondance de Basile de Césarée (330-379) (Orientalia christiana analecta, 225), Rome, 1985
R. Pouchet, Basile le Grand et son univers d'amis d'après sa correspondance: une stratégie de communion (Studia ephemeridis Augustinianum, 36), Rome, 1992
P.J. Fedwick (ed.), Bibliotheca Basiliana Universalis: a Study of the Manuscript Tradition of the Works of Basil of Caesarea (Corpus Christianorum), Brepols, Turnhout, 1993-1997, 3 vols: 1: The letters 2: The homiliae morales, Hexaemeron, De litteris, with additional coverage of the letters 3: The Ascetica, Contra Eunomium 1-3, Ad Amphilochium de spiritu sancto, dubia et spuria, with supplements to vol. I-II
Philip Rousseau, Basil of Caesarea (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage, 20), Univ of California Press, Berkeley, 1994
A. Sterk, Basil of Caesarea and the Rise of the Monastic Episcopate: Ascetic Ideals and Episcopal Authority in Fourth-Century Cappadocia, unpublished dissertation, Princeton Theological Seminary
Associated internet addresses:
Web address 1,
Web address 2,
Web address 3
Keywords: biography; Christianity; chronology; ethics; gender and sexuality; geography; history; religion; rhetoric; women
Translated by: Leemans Johan on 16 March 2000@08:36:39.
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