St. Photius the Great
The Bibliotheca
Photius's review of the books he had read, with his prefatory letter to his brother Tarasius and a selection of the codices
Contents5 sections
Photius's letter to his brother Tarasius
Editor's note
The Bibliotheca is the record of a reading circle. Before he was raised to the patriarchate, Photius and a company of friends read their way through hundreds of books, pagan and Christian, and discussed them together. When his brother Tarasius had to leave on an embassy to the East, Photius dictated to a secretary, from memory, short notices of the works read in his absence, so that Tarasius might share in them. That dictated index — affectionate in its occasion, encyclopaedic in its reach — became the Bibliotheca, our single richest witness to what the ninth-century Christian East had read, and the only surviving trace of many ancient books now wholly lost. It opens with this dedicatory letter.
The Library of Photius, tr. J. H. Freese (SPCK, 1920): the prefatory letter to Tarasius.
Photius, to his beloved brother Tarasius, in the name of the Lord, greeting.
My dearest brother Tarasius, after our appointment as ambassador to Assyria had been confirmed by the assent of the embassy and approved by the emperor, you asked to be furnished with summaries of those works which had been read and discussed during your absence. Your idea was to have something to console you for our painful separation, and at the same time to acquire some knowledge, even if vague and imperfect, of the works which you had not yet read in our company. We believe that their number is exactly 279. Accordingly, regarding the fulfilment of your request as a sacred obligation, we engaged a secretary, and set down all the summaries we could recollect. No doubt we have not been expeditious enough to satisfy your feverish eagerness and vehement desire, but still we have been quicker than might have been expected. The summaries will be arranged in the order in which our memory recalls them. Certainly, it would not be difficult, if one preferred it, to describe historical events and those dealing with different subjects under separate headings. But, considering that nothing would be gained by this, we have set them down indiscriminately as they occurred to us.
If, during your study of these volumes, any of the summaries should appear to be defective or inaccurate, you must not be surprised. It is no easy matter to undertake to read each individual work, to grasp the argument, to remember and record it; but when the number of works is large, and a considerable time has elapsed since their perusal, it is extremely difficult to remember them with accuracy. As to the commonplaces met with in the course of our reading, so simple that they can hardly have escaped your notice, we have devoted less attention to them, and have purposely refrained from examining them carefully. You will be better able than ourselves to decide whether these summaries will do more than fulfil your original expectations as to their usefulness. Certainly, such records will assist you to refresh the memory of what you have read by yourself, to find more readily what you want, and further, to acquire more easily the knowledge of what has not as yet been the subject of intelligent reading on your part.
Codex 1 — Theodore the Presbyter, on the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite
Editor's note
The very first codex shows the critical temper of the whole work. Photius reports a treatise defending the apostolic authorship of the writings ascribed to St. Dionysius the Areopagite (the convert of Acts 17), and sets out the objections against that authorship with such clarity that the passage is still cited in the modern scholarly question of the corpus. He records the case without endorsing either side — the reader's-notebook stance that runs through the book.
Codex 1, in Freese's English.
Read the treatise of Theodore the Presbyter, in which he undertakes to prove the genuineness of the works of St. Dionysius. The following arguments against it are refuted: (1) If they are genuine, how is it that none of the later Fathers cites them or quotes any passages from them? (2) How is it that Eusebius Pamphili, in his list of the writings of the Holy Fathers, does not mention them? (3) How is it that these treatises describe in detail rites and customs which only became established in the Church gradually and after a long time? The great Dionysius, as is clear from the Acts, was contemporary with the Apostles; it is therefore improbable (says the objector), or rather a clumsy fiction, to assert that Dionysius could have undertaken to describe institutions which were not fully developed till long after his death. (4) How is it that a letter of the divinely-inspired Ignatius is referred to? for Dionysius flourished in the time of the Apostles, whereas Ignatius suffered martyrdom during the reign of Trajan, and wrote the letter referred to shortly before his death. Theodore endeavours to solve these difficulties and does his best to prove the genuineness of the treatises.
Codices 16–20 — the Acts of the Ecumenical Councils
Editor's note
Among the volumes Photius had read were the official Acts of the Church's great councils, and he notices them in quick succession. Five short codices carry the reader from the Third Council to the Seventh — from the condemnation of Nestorius to the defeat of the iconoclasts — in a few sentences each. They are a useful window onto how a learned ninth-century churchman held the whole conciliar tradition in view at once.
Codices 16–20, in Freese's English (here given in sequence).
Read the Acts of the third council, consisting almost entirely of the letters of St. Cyril to Nestorius and that impious man's replies.
Read the Acts of the fourth council in several books. There were fifteen sessions, at which Dioscorus and Eutyches were condemned, and Nestorius excommunicated. St. Flavian was declared innocent after his death, together with Eusebius of Dorylaeum, Theodoret and Ibas. Other special matters were discussed, and the spirit of piety was strengthened.
Read the Acts of the fifth council, at which the three so-called "chapters" were dealt with, and Origen and his writings excommunicated, together with Diodorus of Tarsus, and Theodore of Mopsuestia. Theodoret's answer to the twelve anathematisms of Cyril was also excommunicated. Previous to this, the cases of Zooras and Anthimus, who wormed his way into the patriarchate of Constantinople, and certain other matters were discussed.
Read the Acts of the sixth Council, at the sessions of which Sergius, Cyrus, and Pyrrhus of Constantinople were excommunicated, together with Honorius of Rome, Polychronius, and others, who had ventured to assert that there was only one will and one energy in Christ. The dogma of truth was confirmed.
Read the Acts of the seventh council, at the sessions of which the iconoclasts were defeated and the orthodox faith shone with increased brightness.
Codex 6 — Gregory of Nyssa against Eunomius
Editor's note
Photius read theology as a connoisseur of style as well as a judge of doctrine. Here he weighs St. Gregory of Nyssa's defence of his brother St. Basil the Great against the Arian Eunomius, comparing him to two other refuters he had just read, and pronouncing — "without partiality" — for Gregory.
Codex 6, in Freese's English.
Read also the attack of Gregory of Nyssa 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 enthymemes 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.
Codex 8 — Origen, On First Principles
Editor's note
The notice on Origen's De Principiis shows Photius the doctrinal reader. He gives a faithful book-by-book outline of the work, while flagging without hesitation the teachings the Church had judged erroneous — the subordination of the Son and Spirit, the pre-existence and migration of souls — the very points for which Origen's name had been condemned at the Fifth Council noticed just above.
Codex 8, in Freese's English.
Read Origen's four books On First Principles. The first deals with the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. In this his statements are often blasphemous; thus, he asserts that the Son was created by the Father, the Holy Ghost by the Son; that the Father pervades all existing things, the Son only those that are endowed with reason, the Holy Ghost only those that are saved. He also makes other strange and impious statements, indulging in frivolous talk about the migration of souls, the stars being alive, and the like. This first book is full of fables about the Father, Christ (as he calls the Son), the Holy Ghost, and creatures endowed with reason. In the second book he treats of the world and created things. He asserts that the God of the Law and the prophets, of the Old and the New Testament, is one and the same; that there was the same Holy Spirit in Moses, the rest of the prophets, and the Holy Apostles. He further discusses the Incarnation of the Saviour, the soul, resurrection, punishment, and promises. The third book deals with free will; how the devil and hostile powers, according to the Scriptures, wage war against mankind; that the world was created and is perishable, having had a beginning in time. The fourth book treats of the final end, the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and the proper manner of reading and understanding them.