Gregory of Nyssa: The Letters. Translated by ANNA M. SILVAS.

Abstract

Gregory of Nyssa was not so extensive a writer of letters as either his brother Basil or his namesake of Nazianzus. In Pasquali's collection they are only 30 in number. Even so, perhaps because of their relative paucity, they have already provoked recent translations into French and German, namely Pierre Maraval's Sources chrétiennes edition of 1990 and the annotated translation by Doerte Teske of 1997. The most important point on which Silvas differs from the previous two translations is that before she gets to work on the Pasquali collection of 30 letters she provides two preludes in the shape of the letters of the other two Cappadocians to Gregory of Nyssa. The letters above all of Basil illustrate the rather low opinion Basil had of his younger brother's political ability. The other important feature of this collection is that Silvas offers as a sort of postlude to the traditional 30 letters, what she terms a supplementary collection of seven letters. Most stimulating is number 31, entitled the Canonical Letter to Letoius, Bishop of Melitene, which treats the important subject of how to deal with those guilty of serious sins. The final letter, number 37, is a somewhat grovelling letter to the Great Emperor, presumably Theodosius, whose proclamation as Augustus of the East on 19 January 379 rather rules out the possibility of Basil being the author, Basil having died at the very latest on 1 January of the same year. Stylistic considerations above all suggest that Gregory of Nyssa not Gregory of Nazianzus was the author.