Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-521-47281-4. Pp.183.
The life and work of St Gregory Nazianzen has been thoroughly studied in this century by several scholars, among whom P. Gallay, J. Plagneaux, J. Bernardi, C. Moreschini, R. Ruether, D. Winslow, Fr. W. Norris and K. Demoen might be mentioned. There is, however, still not much to read in English on St Gregory; there is no comprehensive biography of this important author of the fourth century, who for the Eastern Church has always been ‘the Theologian’ par excellence. Indeed, not all Gregory’s works have been translated into English.
Gregory was not only one of the greatest theologians of all times but also a distinguished poet. Unlike the writings of many other Fathers, his poetic works are of a distinctly autobiographical character. In this respect the new English translation of Gregory’s major autobiographical poems is certainly to be warmly praised. Carolinne White of the University of Oxford has carefully selected the most characteristic poems, among which the famous De Vita Sua (‘Concerning his own life’) is by far the longest, the most comprehensive and intriguing account of Gregory’s life.
Like the other titles in ‘Cambridge Medieval Classics’, the edition of Gregory Nazianzen’s autobiographical poems is bilingual: the original Greek text is given on left-hand pages, while the right-hand pages present the translation into modern English. This makes the book a precious tool for students and scholars of Christian antiquity. As far as the translation is concerned, it is sometimes more and sometimes less literal, but is always comprehensible and easy to read.
A reader might expect a more thorough introduction into Gregory’s poetry: only four pages of the Introduction are dedicated to this theme, and very little is said of the genre, style and language of Gregory’s poems. There are no indices in the book, no critical apparatus for the Greek text, and very few explanatory notes to the translation.
These lacunae do not diminish the importance of the new bilingual edition of St Gregory’s autobiographical poems undertaken by Cambridge University Press. It is to be hoped that other pieces of St Gregory’s poetry will also find their way into the modern English, and that at some point in the twenty-first century (there is not much time left before it begins!) the complete English edition of Gregory’s writings will see the light of day. He certainly deserves this.
Hilarion Alfeyev