Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶςKatholikon

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St Photius the Great, tr. Freese, 1920; selections

6. Codex 6: Gregory of Nyssa

Read also the attack of Gregory of Nyssa1 on Eunomius in defence of St. Basil. His style is as brilliant as that of any rhetorician, and agreeable to listen to. He does not refute Eunomius in detail, and is consequently briefer than Theodore, but fuller than Sophronius. He is fond of using enthymemes2 and arguments from example. But I can say without partiality that the copiousness and fertility of his arguments are as convincing a proof of his superiority to Theodore as the charm, brilliancy, and pleasantness of his style.

Notes

  1. (332-396). Bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia (372), younger brother of Basil the Great, called Father of the Fathers.
  2. The special meaning of an “enthymeme” is a rhetorical or imperfect syllogism, drawn from probable premises. But here and elsewhere in Photius it seems to mean simply “arguments.”

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