Contra Eunomium III 10—Who is Eunomius?

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the contents of Contra Eunomium ( CE ) III 10, before commenting in more detail on Gregory of Nyssa's characterisation of his opponent, Eunomius. It shows that an understanding of this feature in particular helps one to understand the structure and purpose of this concluding part of CE III. The chapter focuses on CE III 10,18-25, where Gregory describes how Eunomius actually responded to the challenge posed by Basil's reductio ad absurdum . One effect of Gregory's rhetorical techniques is to give the CE a strong agonistic tone. Gregory heightens this with the use of various images all of which emphasize the public nature of their rivalry. Gregory appears to reprise some of this agonistic imagery in book 10, for example evoking a chariot-race in CE III 10,45. Gregory's emphasis on ἦθος and πάθος in CE III, might help one to understand the work's structure. Keywords: agonistic imagery; Basil's reductio ad absurdum; chariot-race; Contra Eunomium (CE) III 10; Eunomius; Gregory of Nyssa; rhetorical techniques