The Concepts of Beauty and Form

(as found in select writings of Origen, Gregory of Nyssa & Bernard of Clairvaux)

The incentive for compiling this list of references pertaining to beauty is quite simple. I was prompted to search for that which is essential to every human being regardless of where he or she happens to stand with regard to moral and spiritual advancement. In addition, I desire to behold a capacity in each person which is open to appreciate a reality larger than our limited circumstances, however vague this apprehension might be. For a starting point, we may take this undefined awareness as an innate attraction to beauty in various objects found in creation; of course, nothing prevents this awareness from being transferred to some praiseworthy human activity at a later stage of development. The advantage of appealing to one's instinctive sense of beauty is that even a person with a deformed conscience can readily apprehend such things as a lovely scene or fine music. Yet apart from these aesthetic appreciations, they do not necessarily provide impetus for the person enjoying them to modify his or her deficient behavior for the better. Nevertheless, recourse to our inherent sense of beauty is a starting point and an important one at that.

The subject of beauty raises another essential ingredient for its appreciation, namely form, that which circumscribes our awareness that we may better focus attention upon an attractive object. In other words, beauty does not exist in a vacuum; it needs to be delineated according to a pattern not only in the outer world but requires an echo within ourselves that it may assume a specific interior shape. Those beautiful forms in the natural order are immediately available to our perception and have an existence independent from our inner condition. This objectivity can provide an incentive for transcending any inner disorder and lack of harmony; for example, a sunset or sweeping vista of the ocean has the capacity of averting attention, albeit temporary, from a thought or emotion which is currently disturbing us.

I just noted that anyone can be drawn to an attractive natural form external to his or her inner condition. Its observation can capture one's attention to such an extent that we seek to appropriate the object of our contemplation. In other words, we commandeer the form of beauty, a tendency which de-forms that which first had enthralled our imagination. Perhaps a better way of putting this is to say that physical beauty can trigger a desire to possess it selfishly while paying scant attention to the inherent structure of beauty's form so necessary for its manifestation. Form contains a built in mechanism, as it were, which bestows beauty with its proper dignity, a boundary beyond which it cannot trespass without risk of losing its inherent identity. Thus the form provides both a protection for beauty to flourish as well as a barrier to keep external or harmful influences from exerting themselves.

The best example of beauty found within persons may be identified with virtue which has its own form, namely, admirable behavior usually under difficult circumstances. Such beauty by itself is not always manifest to the eyes of the flesh; it can be overlooked much like that physical appreciation of a lovely object mentioned above. Although one may admire a virtuous action, it necessarily does not follow that the person observing it will appropriate this trait. Implied here is that a genuine appreciation of beauty or virtuous action requires assumption of its form or the necessity of being con-formed to it. The form of virtue lies concealed from the casual onlooker; it compels an observer to seek the source of this power which ultimately lies in a reality transcendent to him or herself. This wellspring of virtue is hidden from sight and often does not become fully appreciated until after the person we admire has passed away from our lives or has died. Yet for some reason or another, this mysterious transcendent source has a way of manifesting itself even after death; by this I do not mean through miraculous interventions but that the memory of the person in question somehow makes him or her present in a tangible way.

One common misunderstanding of virtue is that it almost invariably suggests difficult circumstances where one is compelled to act courageously or manifest a stoic indifference in the face of overwhelming misfortune. In other words, this idea of virtue intimates a grim determination with little or no joy. Yet despite the universal attractiveness of virtue in other persons, we tend to shrink away from it because of the equation, virtue = affliction. While preferring to avoid this unsophisticated attitude, a closer look reveals that it is more or less part and parcel of our common belief of how we perceive virtue⁽¹⁾.

Honorable behavior in another person also exposes our own weaknesses which can give rise to a sense of inferiority and shame. Yet should our inquiry into virtue persist, more precisely, inquiry into the life of a person who lives virtuously, there soon emerges a profound sense of beauty as revealed in how he or she con-forms to or assumes a particular form of attractive behavior. This admiration often begins with that contrast just mentioned between exemplary conduct demonstrated when we are confronted with unfavorable circumstances. Should we persist in our inquiry, we soon discover that the virtuous person seems to exemplify a pattern transcending the commendable behavior that has caught out attention. It is precisely because virtuous behavior works on a plane unfamiliar to us that we cannot help be curious about where it came from. We then wonder if this source of virtue which we admire in a particular person can pass over into our own lives. In brief, the charm of a virtuous person either living or deceased is contagious and is characterized by constancy or strength. Our English word "virtue" derives from the Latin virtus, which in fact means "fortitude," a definition implying not such much suffering but the sustained maintenance of correct moral behavior whether in or out of season.

Without a doubt, virtue has been studied as long as human beings have existed or more precisely, as long as they have become self-conscious as individuals engaged in the process of relating to other self-conscious individuals. It is not the purpose of this document to digress upon virtue; numerous texts exist, both ancient and modern. My intention is to present selections related to both the notion of virtue and form through the writings of Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Bernard of Clairvaux. Since all three writers were heavily influenced by Plato and Plotinus, at the beginning of this document I include a select list of words pertaining to beauty from these two authors. Furthermore, in many extracts I insert brief annotations intended to enhance the text.

What makes this inquiry into beauty as a transcendent reality fascinating is that Origen, Gregory and Bernard equate virtue (he arete-virtus) with beauty (to kallos-pulchritudo) which has precedents in the classical Greek tradition. This equivalent is significant for practical reasons: that which we commonly perceive as something arduous does not have to be so; virtue is an attractive and therefore a beautiful, indeed, a divine quality. Regardless of where we may find ourselves on the scale of virtue, we are all are attracted to a lovely person and/or physical object. On one hand, this attraction is often overlooked when it comes to things religious, yet we cannot help but admire a person who lives in accord with religious (and therefore) virtuous habits. Certainly the adjective "beautiful" in its fullest sense applies to such a person.

I originally decided to examine beauty through the writings of Gregory of Nyssa; a search in the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae for this word, to kallos and its variants, yielded a total of 637 references, a significant number of which covers the full spectrum from the conventional to the sublime. Despite this wide range of meanings, Gregory, Origen and Bernard have in mind the relationship of beauty to form, especially the to transcendent form of God⁽²⁾. The advantage of this association should not go unexamined because awareness of its role in spirituality can make religious terminology and teachings more appealing, thereby overcoming any hesitations associated with the practice of virtuous living.

The great number of references to beauty reveals that for Gregory, let alone for other authors of this late Christian period of antiquity, it was a main preoccupation inherited from the classical Greek tradition of which they considered themselves guardians in the light of the new Christian religion. For the most part these authors ascribed to the Platonic view that beauty is an ontological reality; it is not just something pleasant to behold but is a goal worthy of emulation. In comparison to this wholesome world view, Western Christianity seemed to have evolved a concept of beauty which is more descriptive and hence functions more as an accessory to revelation. One obvious example is the role of icons vis-a-vis Western religious paintings; the former communicate a somewhat static, other worldly feel, whereas the latter embraces a wider range of perceptions from statuary to conventional paintings intended to adorn, for example, sacred places. This generalization should not be taken as decisive in the sense of setting up a contrast between two aspects of one religious tradition; it is simply an observation in light of this study on beauty and form.

One theme closely related to that beauty and therefore of virtue is love which finds its best expression in commentaries on the biblical Song of Songs. I refer the reader to numerous studies on this matter in both this Home Page as well as the Lectio Divina Home Page⁽³⁾. Through the fairly exhaustive list of references plus comments on the passages at hand, the reader may obtain better insight into how each author of his respective Song Commentary handled the concept of beauty⁽⁴⁾. Please note that these texts are divided into four sections: the first is devoted to references from Plato and Plotinus with regard to to kallos⁽⁵⁾. The second contains excerpts from the Song Commentaries by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Bernard of Clairvaux pertaining to the words pulchritudo and to kallos. The third part contains further citations from Gregory's other works devoted to the same word, and the fourth contains references from all three authors related to the word forma and he morphe as found in the three Song Commentaries. Please observe that those excerpts after which I insert brief notations are in quotation marks, including references to the critical texts.

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First Section: References to To Kallos in Works by Plato and Plotinus

Plato⁽⁶⁾

For he who would proceed aright in this matter should begin in youth to visit beautiful (ta kala somata) forms; and first, if he be guided by his instructor aright, to love one such form only-out of that he should create fair thoughts; and soon he will of himself perceive that the beauty of one form is akin to the beauty of another; and then if beauty (ep' eidei kalous) of form in general is his pursuit, how foolish would he be not to recognize that the beauty (epi pasin tois somasi kallos) every form is one and the same! Symposium, 210

So that if a virtuous soul have but a little comeliness, he will be content to love and tend him, and will search out and bring to the birth thoughts which may improve the young, until he is compelled to contemplate and see the beauty (en tois epitedeumasi kai tois nomois kalon) of institutions and laws, and to understand that the beauty of them all is of one family, and that personal beauty (peri to soma kalon mikron) is a trifle; and after laws and institutions he will go on to the sciences, that he may see their beauty (kallos), being not like a servant in love with the beauty of one youth or man or institution, himself a slave...but drawing towards and contemplating the vast sea of beauty (polu pelagos tou kalou), he will create many fair and noble thoughts and notions in boundless love of wisdom; until on that shore he grows and waxes strong, and at last the vision is revealed to him of a single science, which is the science of beauty (epistemen...kalou) everywhere. Symposium, 210

He who has been instructed the things of love, and who has learned to see the beautiful (theomenos ta kala) in due order and succession, when he comes toward the end will suddenly perceive a nature of wondrous beauty (ti thaumaston ten phusin kalon)-thus far in a nature which in the first place is everlasting, not growing and decaying, or waxing and waning. Symposium, 210-11

but beauty (to kalon) absolute, separate, simple, and everlasting, which without diminution and without increase, or any change, is imparted to the ever-growing and perishing beauties (apollumenon) of all other things. He who from these ascending under the influence of true love, begins to perceive that beauty (to kalon), is not far from the end. And the true order of going, or being led by another, to the things of love, is to begin from the beauties (ta kala somata) of earth and mount upwards for the sake of that other beauty (epi ta kala epitedeumata), using these as steps only...and from fair practices to fair notions, until from fair notions he arrives at the notion of absolute beauty (kalon), and at last knows what the essence of beauty (teleuton ho esti kalon) is. Symposium, 211

But what if man had eyes to see the true beauty-the divine beauty (to theion kalon), I mean, pure and clear and unalloyed, not clogged with the pollutions of mortality and all the colours and vanities of human life-thither looking, and holding converse with the true beauty (kalon) simple and divine? Remember how in that communion only, beholding beauty (horonti ho oraton to kalon) with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty (ouk eidola aretes), but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal. Symposium, 212

Thus far I have been speaking of the fourth and last kind of madness, which is imputed to him who, when he sees the beauty (tis horon kallos) of earth, is transported with the recollection of the true beauty (tou alethous anamimneskomenos); he would like to fly away, but he cannot; he is like a bird fluttering and looking upward and careless of the world below...And I have shown this of all inspirations to be the noblest and highest and the offspring of the highest to him who has or shares in it, and that he who loves the beautiful (to koinonounti autes) is called a lover because he partakes of it. Phaedrus, 249

But of beauty (peri kallous), I repeat again that we saw her there shining in company with the celestial forms; and coming to earth we find her here too, shining in clearness through the clearest aperture of sense. For sight is the most piercing of our bodily senses; though not by that is wisdom seen; her loveliness would have been transporting if there had been a visible image of her, and the other ideas, if they had visible counterparts, would be equally lovely. But this is the privilege of beauty (kallos monon), that being the loveliest she is also the most palpable to sight. Phaedrus, 250

But he whose initiation is recent, and who has been the spectator of many glories in the other world, is amazed when he sees any one having a godlike face or form, which is the expression of divine beauty (theoeides prosopon de kallos). Phaedrus, 251

And wherever she thinks that she will behold the beautiful (to kallos idousa) one, thither in her desire she runs. And when she has seen him, and bathed herself in the waters of beauty, her constraint is loosened, and she is refreshed, and has no more pangs and pains; and this is the sweetest of all pleasures at the time, and is the reason why the soul of the lover will never forsake his beautiful (en to paronti parpoutai) one, whom he esteems above all. Phaedrus, 251-2

Yes, Socrates, he said; and that I think is certainly true: for he who this science or knowledge which knows itself will become like the knowledge which he has, in the same way that he who has swiftness will be swift, and he who has beauty will be beautiful (hotan kallos, kalos), and he who has knowledge will know. In the same way he who has that knowledge which is self-knowing, will know himself. Charmides, 169

But take the case of the other, who recognizes the existence of absolute beauty (ti auto kalon) and is able to distinguish the idea from the objects which participate in the idea, nether putting the objects in the place of the idea nor the idea in the place of the objects-is he a dreamer, or is he awake? He is wide awake. Republic V, 476

And when they are filled in the work, as I conceive, they will often turn their eyes upwards and downwards: I mean that they will first look at absolute justice and beauty (kalon kai sophron) and temperance, and again at the human copy; and will mingle and temper the various elements of life into the image of a man; and thus they will conceive according to that other image, which, when existing among men, Homer calls the form and likeness of God. Republic VI, 501

And the excellence or beauty (arete kai kallos kai orthotes) or truth of every structure, animate or inanimate, and of every action of man, is relative to the use for which nature or the artist has intended them. Republic X, 601

The Enneads of Plotinus⁽⁷⁾

He must be led and taught to make abstraction of the material element in them and come to the principles from which their proportions and ordering forces derive and to the beauty (to en taute kalon) which is in it, and beauty universal, not just some particular beauty (ou to ti kalon monon), and he must have the doctrines of philosophy implanted in him. I.3.1

Some things, bodies for instance, are not beautiful (ou kala) from the nature of the objects themselves, but by participation (methexei), others are beauties (ta kalle husper aretes he phusis) in themselves, like the nature of virtue. I.6.1

On this theory nothing single and simple but only a composite thing will have any beauty (to suntheton ex anagkes kalon huparxei). It will be the whole which is beautiful (to holon kalon), and the parts will not have the property of beauty (ouch hexei par' heauton to kala) by themselves, but will contribute to the beauty (pros to holon suntelounta) of the whole. But if the whole is beautiful, the parts must be beautiful too. I.6.1

Again, every sort of virtue is a beauty (kallos psuches arete pasa) of the soul, a truer beauty (kallos alethinoteron) than those mentioned before. I.6.1

It [corporeal beauty, en tois sumasi palon] is something which we become aware of even at the first glance. I.6.2

How are both the things in that world and the things in this beautiful (pos kala kakeina kai tauta)? We maintain that the things in this world are beautiful (kala metoche eidous) by participating in form. I.6.2

So then the beautiful (to kalon soma) body comes into being by sharing in a formative power which comes from the divine forms. I.6.2

But about the beauties (ton prosotero kalon) beyond, which it is no more the part of sense to see, but the soul sees them and speaks of them without instruments-we must go up to them and contemplate them and leave sense to stay down below. I.6.4

But there must be those who see this beauty (ho psuche ta toiauta blepei) by that with which the soul sees things of this sort, and when they see it they must be delighted and overwhelmed and excited much more than by those beauties we spoke of before, since now it is true beauty they are grasping. These experiences must occur whenever there is contact with any sort of beautiful (peri to ho ti an e kalon) thing. I.6.4

What do you feel when you see your own inward beauty (ti paschete...kala)? I.6.5

What does "really exists" (ta ontos onta) mean? That they exist as beauties (he kala). I.6.5

So the soul when it is purified becomes form and formative power, altogether bodiless and intellectual and entirely belonging to the divine, whence beauty (he pege tou kalou) springs and all that is akin to it. Intellect and the things of intellect are its beauty (nous kai ta para nou to kallos), its own beauty and not another's since only then it is truly soul. I.6.6

the soul's becoming something good and beautiful (kalon ten psuchen) is its being made like to God, because from Him come beauty (ekeithen to kalon) and all else which falls to the lot of real beings. I.6.6

so for God the qualities of good and beauty (agathon kai kalon) are the same, or the realities, the good and beauty (tagathon kai kallone). I.6.6

And soul makes beautiful (hosa) the bodies which are spoken of as beautiful (hosa); for since it is a divine thing and a kind of part of beauty (moira tou kalou), it makes everything it grasps and masters beautiful (ephapsetai kai krate kala), as far as they are capable of participation. I.6.6

So we must ascend again to the good, which every soul desires. Anyone who has seen it knows what I mean when I say that it is beautiful (kalon). I.6.7

he who has seen it glories in its beauty (kalon kataphronein) and is full of wonder and delight, enduring a shock which causes no hurt, loving with true passion and piercing longing. I.6.7

Since it is beauty (malista kallos) most of all, and primary beauty (to proton), makes its lovers beautiful (kalous kai erastous) and lovable. I.6.7

When he sees the beauty (en somasi kala) in bodies he must not run after them; we must know that they are images, traces, shadows, and hurry away to that which they image. I.6.8

How can you see the sort of beauty (to kallos echei) a good soul has? Go back into yourself and look; and if you do not yet see yourself beautiful (ides kalon), then, just as someone making a statue which has to be beautiful (dei kalon) cuts away here and polishes there...til he has given his statue a beautiful (kalon prosopon) face. I.6.8

No eye ever saw the sun without becoming sun-like, nor can a soul see beauty (to kalon) without becoming beautiful (kale). You must become first all godlike and all beautiful (theoeides pas kai kalos pas) if you intend to see God and beauty (theon kai kalon). First the soul will come in its ascent to intellect and there will know the Forms, all beautiful (panta kala ta eide), and will affirm that these, the Ideas, are beauty (to kallos...tas ideas); for all things are beautiful (tautais kala) by these, by the products and essence of intellect. I.6.9

but if one distinguishes the intelligibles [from the Good] one will say that the place of the Forms is the intelligible beauty (noeton kalon), but the Good is That which is beyond, the "spring and origin" (Phaedrus 245c9) of beauty (pegen kai archen tou kalou)...in any case, beauty (ekei to kalon) is in the intelligible world. I.6.9

But if someone who sees beauty (kallos en prosopo) excellently represented in a face is carried to that higher world, will anyone be so sluggish in mind and so immovable that, when he sees all the beauties (en aistheto kalle) in the world of sense...he will not think, "What wonders, and from what a source?" II.9.16

Then one should be aware that there is not the same beauty (kallos epi meri) in part and whole and in all individual things and the All: and then that there are such beauties (toiauta kalle) in things perceived by the senses...that they come from the higher world. II.9.17

And the man whose love of the beautiful is pure will be satisfied with beauty (ho tou kalou eros) alone, if he recollects the archetype. III.5.1

and mover of the soul towards the beauty (pros to ekei kallos) of the higher world, or also to increase the impulse towards that world which is already there. III.5.2

One must "take away," as if there was some evil in the soul, and "put in" virtue, and set the soul in order and produce beauty (kallos empoiesai) in it instead of the ugliness which was there before. III.6.2

Often I have woken up out of the body to my self and have entered into myself, going out from all other things; I have seen a beauty (thaumaston helikon kallos) wonderfully great. IV.8.1

For the First in its progress could not take its stand upon something soulless, nor immediately upon Soul, but there must be an inconceivable beauty (kallos amechanon pro autou) going out before it. V.5.3

But the passionate love of beauty (tou kalou ho eros), when it comes, causes pain, because one must have seen it to desire it. V.5.12

But the more ancient, unperceived desire of the Good proclaims that the Good itself is more ancient and prior to beauty (archaiotera tou) . All men think that when they have attained the Good it is sufficient for them: for they have reached their end. But not all see beauty (to kalon). V.5.12

The stone which has been brought to beauty (eis eidous kallos) of form by art will appear beautiful (kalos) not because it is a stone-for then the other would be just as beautiful (kalos)-but as a result of the form which art has put into it. V.8.1

If art makes its work like what it is and has-and it makes it beautiful (he techne...kalon) according to the forming principle of what it is making-it is itself more, and more truly, beautiful (alethesteros kale) since it has the beauty (to kallos to technes) of art which is greater and more beautiful (kallion...en to exo) than anything in the external object. V.8.1

Well, then, are the things made and the forming principle in matter beautiful (kala ta poiemata), but the forming principle which is not in matter but in the maker, the first immaterial one, is that not beauty (kallos)? V.8.2

There is therefore in nature a rational forming principle which is the archetype of the beauty (kallous archetupos tou en somati) in body, and the rational principle in soul is more beautiful (kallion) than that in nature, and is also the source of that in nature. V.8.3

For this reason it is not an expressed forming principle at all, but is the maker of the first forming principle which is the beauty (kallous en hule psuchike) present in the matter which is soul. V.8.3

For, if that was not transcendently beautiful (to huperkalon) with an overwhelming beauty (kallei amechano), what would be more beautiful (kallion) than this visible universe?

Nonetheless, a thing is beautiful (kallos prostheon) in itself; as related to something else it is either more or less beautiful (kallion). VI.3.11

It is surely inconceivable that any living thing be beautiful (ti zoon kalon) failing a Life-Absolute of a wonderful, an ineffable, beauty (me thaumastou to kallos kai aphaustou): this must be the Collective Life, made up of all living things, or embracing all, forming a unity coextensive with all, as our universe is a unity embracing all the visible. VI.6.7

This is why we read of "Truth introduced into the Mixture" and of the "measuring standard as a prior condition" and are told that the symmetry and beauty (summetria kai to kallos) necessary to the Mixture come Thence into whatever has beauty (kalon) ; it is in this way that we have our share in Beauty (kallen);. VI.7.30

Its beauty, too, will be unique, a beauty above beauty (kallos huper kallos): it cannot be beauty (kallos) since it is not a thing among things. It is lovable and the author of beauty (kallou anthos); as the power to all beautiful shape (periousia tou kallous), it will be the ultimate of beauty (kallous kai peras kallous). VI.7.32

When therefore we name beauty (kallos), all such shape must be dismissed; nothing visible is to be conceived, or at once we descend from beauty (kpeses tou kalou) to what but bears the name in virtue of some participation. This formless Form is beautiful (to amorphon eidos kalon) as Form, beautiful (kallon) in proportion as we strip away all shape even that given in thought to mark difference. VI.7.33

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Second Section: The Three Song Commentaries by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Bernard of Clairvaux

Origen⁽⁸⁾

"And the soul is moved by heavenly love and longing when, having clearly beheld the beauty (pulchritudine et decore Verbi Dei speciem) and the fairness of the Word Himself and receives a certain dart and wound of love. Prol 2.17" Note the use of cupiditas for "longing," the equivalent of eros in Greek which means erotic love; furthermore, Origen associates it with "love," amor. Here Origen identifies cupiditas with "heavenly" love or caelesti, its opposite quality. It seems that such cupiditas and amor impel the soul to seek God to behold "the fairness of the Word (Verbi)" followed by a reception of that "dart" (telum) and "wound" (vulnus) of amor. In the next sentence Origen augments this by a quote from Col 1.15-16: "He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation, for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth." He implies that cupiditas and amor apply to those "all things" "in heaven and on earth."

"So that, having beheld the beauty of the Word of God (perspecta pulchritudine Verbi Dei), we may be kindled with a saving love for Him, and He Himself may deign to love the soul whose longing for Himself He has perceived. Prol 3.23" Here the beholding (perspecta) of that beauty proper to God's Verbum or Jesus Christ results in salutari in eum amore; note use of amor as opposed to cupiditas.

"His beauty (pulchritudinem quoque eius) also they described, His charm and gentleness, that I might be inflamed beyond all bearing with the love of Him by all these things. Bk 1.1.6" Origen has the prophets speaking here; the primary function of their vision consists in a beholding of God's pulchritudo together with his charm (speciem) and gentleness (mansuetudinem). These latter two qualities necessarily following pulchritudo result in an inflammation (inflammarer) of the bride with the bridegroom's amor. Note that such burning is intensified by the adjective intolerabiliter.

"That is to say, the young souls growing up in years and beauty (in augmento scilicet aetatis et pulchritudinis positae animae), who are always being made new and renewed from day to day, as they put on the new man who is created according to God [Eph 4.24]. Bk 1.4.3" This verse is within the context of beauty regarding a verse from Ephesians implying continuous growth, foreshadowing Gregory of Nyssa's doctrine on this matter. Two features of growth (in augumento) are included, in augmento or conventional time or chronos and in pulchritudinis which intimates "divine" time or kairos. The former is biological whereas the latter is transcendental, the plane where true beauty is to be found. Note the twofold renewal, innovantur and renovantur: the former seems to apply to spiritual growth in general and the latter to a more specific form of temporal grow, i.e., de die in diem.

"Do not reproach me for my color, then, O daughters of Jerusalem, seeing that my body lacks neither natural beauty (pulchritudo non desit), nor that which is acquired by practice. Bk 2.1.2" Two qualities of which the bride indirectly boasts, "natural (naturalis) beauty" and that implied beauty which is acquired or exercitio which implies exercise of the virtues. Another contrast between two types of pulchritudo, physical and moral.

"But I have my own beauty (habeo tamen pulchritudinem meam mecum) all the same. For in me too there is that primal thing, the Image of God wherein I was created. Bk 2.1.4" Implied here is a close identification with, indeed an interchangeable reality, between pulchritudo and ad imaginem Dei in which the bride was made. By reason of being "primal," this imago is the wellspring from which all her qualities flow. The next sentence reads, "And coming now to the Word of God, I have received my beauty" or speciem. This section includes the two features of the bride already being an imago Dei and of her necessity of accedens ad Verbum Dei.

"So, if the bride compares her beauty (pulchritudinem suam) to the curtains of Solomon, she doubtless means the glory and beauty (gloriam et pulchritudinem) of those curtains which cover that tabernacle, which God has pitched, and not man. Bk 2.1.54" Occurring with the context of Heb 8.2 and therefore Ex 25.40 ("And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain"). The beauty of these curtains is external to the interior beauty of the tabernacle, but we have here an "exterior" beauty quite different from the physical kind. It is of the moral variety which both veils and reveals the inner (tabernacle) beauty or that proper to imago Dei.

"Unless you have known yourself, O fair one among women, and have recognized whence the ground of thy beauty (agnoveris pulchritudinis tuae causas inde descendere) proceeds-namely, that you were created in God's Image, so that there is an abundance of natural beauty; unless you have thus realized how fair (quam pulchra) you were in the beginning. Bk 2.5.2" Origen borrows the famous gnothi sauton or "Know thyself" ascribed to the Spartan Ephor Chilon in the context of imago Dei. Note the way by which the bride's beauty "proceeds," descendere, that is, from tuae causas. Such "descent" is consistent with the general Greek notion of creation emanating from God; it also implies the potential for a "fall" associated with the Genesis narrative. The close affiliation of the bride's beauty with imago Dei for Origen is a natural source for her "abundance of natural beauty" or plurimum naturalis decoris.

"These things shalt you endure till circumstances and experience teach you how great an evil it is for the soul not to know herself, nor yet that beauty (animam nescire semet ipsam neque pulchritudinem suam) of hers by which she is superior not to other virgins, but to other women. Bk 2.5.4" Again, reference to "know thyself" but in the context of its potential failure, ignorance of this self which is equated with beauty. We could modify this expression to read, "Know thy beauty."

"and contemplating the beauty (quibus cognoscere semet ipsam anima probeter et pulchritudinem suam) which she received at her creation in God's Image, may judge how it may be renewed and restored. Bk 2.5.15" Pondering (contemplari) her inherent beauty which Origen again associates with Imago Dei yields a two-fold result: the bride acknowledges that such beauty is integral to constitution while at the same time she realizes it needs fulfillment, to "be renewed (repare) and restored (resituere)." Note that the bride's act of congnoscere as a type of conscious examination of facts flows from such contemplari. This perception of a future fulfillment of what is essentially part and parcel of the bride's essence is know by the Greek term apokatastasis. Origen received much criticism for it, yet Gregory of Nyssa took up and developed it later on.⁽⁹⁾

"among whom you art fair (tamen iam in mulieribus pulchra est), because you have already not only received the kisses of the Word of God, but also have beheld the secrets of His chamber. Bk 2.5.16" Such "being among (in) women" is a presence-with, not necessarily a comparison of the bride in the sense of being better than her companions. Origen says that she has received two things from her beloved, "kisses of the Word" and "secrets of His chamber" (cubilis eius arcana), the former being exterior and the latter interior. Kisses are essential for knowing the bridegroom's arcana. Origen sees a unity between these kisses/chamber and "know thyself" in the words which immediately follow: "If, then, I say, you have not known yourself, but making no distinction, have preferred to live as do the common people."

"So, then, if thou, O soul, that art fairer (quae pulchrior es et eminentior inter ceteros) and more notable than others-teachers, for instance-neglect yourself and continue in your ignorance, how will those desiring edification obtain instruction? Bk 2.5.35" Note use of inter which means "among;" compare it with "among (in) whom you are fair" immediately above. Although the bride's role is not one of teaching, Origen has her being present inter such "others." Here failure not to "know thyself" as being pulchrior has the potential of disappointing others less fortunate than the bride. I.e., it seems her role is not so much to teach as to impart beauty, that is a beauty springing from the dictum, "know thyself."

"Thus we may understand once and for all how vital it is for a soul-and especially for one who is good and lovely (quae bona et pulchra est sensibus et ingenio vigilans) in disposition and awake in her intelligence-to acquire knowledge of herself. Bk 2.5.39" Again, this "know thyself" (cognoscere ipsam) achieves fruition by the sentence which follows as related to Rom 8.14-15: "to give heed to the recognition of herself (ad agnitionem sui) through the study of doctrine and sacred pursuits, and thus to be led by the Spirit of God and the Spirit of adoption." The bride is "good and lovely" in two ways, "in her disposition (sensibus) and intelligence (ingenio)." By becoming aware of these (i.e., through the practice of vigilans), the bride sets herself on the way to achieving that apokatastasis or restoration "by the Spirit of God and of adoption." Note that exercitia applies to doctrine and studia to what is divina, two essentials for achieving apokatastasis.

"and without doubt she receives the splendor of beauty (splendorem decoris) from the Bridegroom Himself, so that having once gained that loveliness (ab ipso sumpta pulchritudine), she will continue beautiful (pulchra permaneat) even if she should chance to suffer absence from Him for a little while. Bk 3.1.3" Earlier Origen spoke of the bride as being beautiful in her own soul ("in the beginning," Bk 2.5.2), whereas here he says it comes "from the Bridegroom Himself." He has the bride continuing (permaneat) in beauty after having attained it a fact which transcends both the bridegroom's presence and absence.

"and [she] has considered with her eyes that have been called doves, the fairness and the beauty (inspexisse sponsi sui pulchritudinem sponsa) of the Word of God. Bk 3.2.1" Here the bride's eyes are identified with doves, a symbol for beauty, which behold the Verumi Dei who is decus et speciem, the source of her own pulchritudo.

"But these people who only believe in the Bridegroom and have lacked power to see what beauty (in Verbo Dei quanta sit pulchritudo) there is in the Son of God say, 'And we looked, and He had no beauty nor comeliness,' Is 53.2. Bk 3.2.3" This sentence at first seems strange because the important element of belief (credunt) is contrasted with an inability to perceive the bridegroom's beauty; it seems that while important, belief takes second place to beauty, an encouraging observation.

"The Nephew, then, is said to be good and beautiful (tanto speciosior invenitur et pulchrior), and the more closely He can be contemplated with the eyes of the spirit, so much the lovelier and more beautiful (pulchritudo mirabilis apparebit) is He found. Bk 3.2.7" Here is a direct parallel between the capacity to contemplate (invenitur, more properly, to discover) through the medium of spiritualibus oculis which find (apparebit) the beloved.

"And the soul who is aflame with longing for God's wisdom-a soul, that is, who has been able to behold the beauty (sapientiae eius pulchritudinem potuit intueri) of His wisdom-can say in the same way: 'I have been wounded by Wisdom.' Bk 3.8.15" Here beauty is affiliated with "longing for God's wisdom," sapientia; not just longing but the more explicit fervens. Origen does not exactly say what type of wounding Sapientia imparts but most likely it assumes the form of an arrow according to the Song of Songs.

"For, just as he who calls himself a lover of the beauty (pulchritudinis sapientiae) of wisdom will transfer the natural affection of charity that is in him to the pursuit of wisdom. Bk 3.9.5" Such an amator or lover of beauty with regards to sapientia has the capacity of transference (transtulerit), that is, of making a transition from natural affections (affectum) to sapientia. This ability lies at the heart of most Church Fathers in their quest to make an analogy between visible and invisible creation which, as Origen claims, is a genuine Christian studia.

"For He is certain both that her face is beautiful (facies eius pulchra ) and that her voice is sweet and a delight to hear. Bk 3.11.8" Here the bridegroom attributes beauty to his spouse's face. Next he attributes sweetness (suavis) and delight (delectabilis), qualities proper to hearing, however, these adjectives imply the sense of taste.

"When, on the other hand, a soul, seeing how the world is decked out, perceives the Creator of all in the beauty (ex pulchritudine creaturarum conditorem omnium intelligat Deum) of His creatures and marvels at His works and praises their Maker, to this soul life enters through the windows of the eyes. Bk 3.14.17" Origen speaks of the world's natural splendor which provides incentive to attribute it to God (i.e., intelligat Deum). Here natural beauty when immediately perceived as coming from the Creator has the capacity to impart life by means of vision (per fenestras ingreditur oculorum). Thus we have a three-fold result: beauty in creation (the starting point), beauty in God and finally beauty in the person beholding the relationship of beautiful things to God. In the sentences which follow, Origen speaks of listening with regard to the Word of God which is also a window by which audible beauty enters.

"This body [the Church] truly will appear as beautiful (pulchrum videbitur et decorum) and comely, if the souls of which that body is constituted persevere in all the comeliness of perfection. Bk 4.2.18" Towards the end of his Song Commentary, Origen specifies the Church as repository of beauty when its members remain (permanserint) in the comeliness of perfection (in omni perfectionis decore). Note that he specifies decor which is another way of speaking about beauty vis-a-vis perfection. This is an attractive way of uniting beauty with an such abstract concept as perfection.

"If indeed anyone is able to discern this beauty (pulchritudinem vultus probare) of face-if he is spiritual, that is to say, and a person who knows how to sift all things out. Bk 4.2.28" Here the bride's beauty related to her face is bound up with discernment, probare. Furthermore, Origen allies such probare with being spiritual, that is, not bound by the limitations of physical beauty. He alludes to 1Cor 2.15, "The spiritual man judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one." Such capacity for judgement lies in the fact that the spiritual realm includes the physical, not the other way around, realization of which is a true examinare as the next sentence says.

Gregory of Nyssa

"You have become beautiful (gegonas kale) by approaching my light; by drawing near to me, you have attained communion with my beauty (ten koinonian tou kallous). 104.15" Such drawing near to the bridegroom is essential for his spouse's transformation. Gregory does not focus upon different degrees of "approaching," simply the fact that the bride is engaged in this process. That second sentence stresses this fact and is associated with koinonia. In brief, light (phos) is that which effects beauty and effects koinoia with such beauty.

"When the purified eye of the soul has received the impression of a dove, it becomes capable of contemplating the bridegroom's loveliness (tou kallous auten theasamenos). 106.7" Notice the connection between impression (charackter) of a dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, and the bridegroom's (Christ) beauty. Gregory is saying that this Spirit enables the purified eye of the soul to behold Christ's beauty where one is an active participant in Trinitarian life and sharing the Spirit's position as engaged in such a beholding.

"The bride...sees the decorative work in cypress which graces the beautiful sight (to tes orophes kallos diapoikillousa) with its highly polished and well fitted construction. 112.4" Reference is to the "chaste bridal chamber;" the verb diapoikillo implies variety, that is, variety as well as intricacy in this chamber's construction.

"By properly carrying out what we just mentioned, beauty (epauxesis tou en hemin ginetai kallous) will grow in us. 113.2" Gregory refers to correct moral behavior as Christian witness. Implied is the association of such behavior with beauty which gives a certain attractiveness to virtue. Ginetai suggests a coming to birth, a constant begetting of different stages related to beauty.

"The reason for this is that its [lily] loveliness (kathoaron...to kallos) might remain pure while raised on high. 114.9" This sentence continues with "and not be defiled [i.e., in the moral sense] by contact with the earth below." The contrast between earth and heaven ("on high") is typical of Gregory as one influenced by the Platonic division of invisible reality and the created realm.

"that she may become a flower by springing up through his wisdom from the valleys of human existence into the beauty of a lily (eis krinou kallos anadramousa). 114.15" These word carry over the Platonic division mentioned in the sentence just above where "human existence" (anthropines zoes) by its very association with "valleys" implies a lowlier existence than that lily on high. The means of making a transition between the two planes is by anatrecho, "to shoot up quickly," that is, by not making any stops along the way.

"it [human nature perfected by virtue] does not give nourishment to the husbandman but provides adornment (heauten kallopizousa) for itself. 117.16" Gregory backs up this claim by citing Ps 15.2, "You do not need any of my good deeds."

"For what could be a more beautiful sight (perikallesteron theama) than an arrangement of apples when the fruit...yields a many-colored spectacle? 125.1" Although emphasis is upon the sight of apples in their "arrangement" or sunthesis, Gregory suggests that their true value lies in their scent or odor. In the context of this passage Gregory has these apples with a "natural inclination upward" (pros to hupsos ten rhopen) quite similar to the upward movement of the lily mentioned earlier.

"The bride desires the roof of her own house to be adorned with the beauty (dio te kallei ton toiouton melon) of such apples. 125.11" Again, "roof" is symbolic of pros to hupsos yet at the same time implying a sheltered area, namely, the divine bridal chamber. Gregory continues to identify apples with virtue or as a "path (hodegia) to virtue;" he implies movement towards it, not necessarily achievement.

"Human nature is also a mirror, and it was not beautiful (kalon) until it drew near to Beauty (to kalo eplesiase) and was transformed by the image of the divine loveliness (te eikoni tou theiou kallous enemorphothe). 150.13" The notion of a mirror is important for Gregory in that it immediately reflects in itself any object placed before it. Cf. 440.4: "When the soul has prepared itself and has rejected every material stain, it represents the image of that pure, unstained beauty." Observe that in 150.13 Gregory doesn't say "human nature is like a mirror" but "human nature is also a mirror," thereby signifying mirror-ness as integral to our human constitution. The "image (eikon) of the divine loveliness" is intimated as being Jesus Christ much like Heb 1.3, "He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp (charakter) of his nature." Note that the bride does two things: it first "drew near" and was then "transformed" or enemorphothe, more specifically, receiving the (divine) morphe within herself.

"The Word has spoken to the bride and called her "beautiful" (kalen) due to her proximity to him and "dove" because of her beauty (dia to kallos). 151.5" Two reasons for calling the bride beautiful: first, she is near (plesion) the divine spouse, although Gregory doesn't spell out what such "nearness" means; secondly, her beauty resembles that of a dove which in the sentence before "indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit." Most likely such proximity to the divine bridegroom is one of degree but a degree determined by the Holy Spirit (dove) who, as it were, flies back and forth. I.e., emphasis is more upon the movement, so typical of Gregory's thought, not so much as upon the "distance" between the two objects.

"Man was stripped of the beauty of immortality (tou kallous tes athanasias). 153.4" Obvious reference to the "fall" of our first parents. Note use of "stripped" (egunmothe) which implies exterior removal or the "likeness" (homoiosis) of God, not our eikon or image.

"Then he starts again to draw her to participate in a higher beauty (pros ten tou huperkeimenou kallous) as if she had never tasted it. 159.7" This sentence is situated within a broader description of perpetual advancement or epektasis, a theme for which Gregory of Nyssa is most famous. The verb "draw" or choreo more specifically means making a separation, that is, making a divergence from her "lower" beauty to the "higher" one. However, such a contrast between low and high is a degree of the bride's awareness with regard to beauty. Certainly all along she had enjoyed a met(a)-ousia...a true being-with... such beauty which has an innate ability for perpetual epektasis. Shortly afterwards Gregory associates epektasis with a development of the bride's "desire" or epithumia. Thus, as she progresses, her desire grows with each step.

"to teach lovers of transcendent beauty (tous erastas tou huperkeimenou kallous) about God. 173.1" The word "transcendent" literally means "lying above," that is, situated above lower stages of the bride-soul's advancement but not in the sense of these steps being inferior. The person engaged in the teaching is the bride who imparts wisdom from her own experience of continuous growth or epektasis in knowledge of her divine spouse.

"In her growth through these ascents she is called beautiful (kale legetai). 176.10" A clear identification of the bride's epektasis through her "ascents" (auxetheisa dia ton toiouton hodon) with beauty. Again, Gregory posits no hard and fast distinction with regard to such ascents; the main point is that the bride is constantly in the process of making such ascents, a fact which makes her beautiful to behold.

"later they [bridegroom's friends] glorify her loveliness (to kallos autes horaizontes) by comparing it to gold with studs of silver. 186.16" The reason for marveling at the bride's beauty on part of her spouse's friends (which we may take as angelic spirits) is that "not only do they marvel at her ascent but at the depth from which she arose." I.e., the source for such veneration lies in the distance she has come and at the even greater distance she must traverse which, of course, is infinite.

"It seems that the desert caused these things and made her shoot rise up and change into such beauty (metaballousa kallos). 188.1" "Desert" signifies a place of testing, a theme found throughout the Old and New Testaments; it is also a place of preparation for prophetic witness. Applied to the bride in her search for the divine spouse, she was purified in the desert. "Her shoot" is that epektasis which constantly becomes (metaballo, 'to change') beautiful.

"After bearing witness to the bride's loveliness (epi to kallei marturian), the bridegroom's friends...show her the beauty (tes basilikes klines to kallos) of the royal bed. 189.16 & 190.2" First comes the bridegroom's friends "bearing witness" to his spouse's beauty, that is, they must confirm for themselves that this is true and then "prepare a pure wedding chamber" and are her "escorts." Only then do these friends or angelic spirits point out (hupodeiknumi) the "beauty of the royal bed," this verb meaning more specifically tracing out a pattern. This makes sense because of the words which follow, "they want to excite in her a desire (epithumia) for the divine, immaculate marriage."

"Who was adorned (kallopismos genoito klines numphikes) about the nuptial bed by sixty armed men trained in the fearful deeds of war? 190.19" Gregory poses this rhetorical question which is answered in part by the verse which follows just below, 191.7. There is a contrast between the show of armed force and the fact that it "was adorned" or made to appear beautiful.

"Perhaps the loveliness of the divine beauty (theion kallos en to phobero) has something fearful about it. 191.7" Note the word "perhaps" (eoike) as if Gregory were hesitant to present his readers with the paradox of beauty and fear. More specifically, he is referring to "loveliness" or erasmios which can also mean something desired.

"On the other hand, that incorruptible beauty (akeraton kallos ekeno) is fearful, terrifying and not easily frightened. 191.12" It seems logical that a beauty which is incorruptible could not be alarmed; it also has two other qualities, "fearful" and "terrifying." This sentence is preceded by the words, "what attracts our desire (epithumia) is pleasant to the sight, soft to the touch and not associated with anything fearful." At first such epithumia and "incorruptible beauty" seem contrary, but the Song for Gregory is a transformation of epithumia into those characteristics which are its opposite such as incorruptibility.

"thus revealing the soul's beauty (to katharo tes psuches kallos) as pure and no longer sullied by a desire for carnal pleasure. 192.6" What does the revealing is "unrelenting anger" (androdous thumou, literally, 'manlike') which also imparts indifference "for carnal pleasure," somatikes eipthumias. Hence, fear and epithumia are opposite to each other. Note the context in which this is set, the "king's nuptial bed."

"all parts [chariot or Church's body] are tastefully adorned (pros ton kallopismon), and the beauty (panta katakosmeitai to kallei) of each part is intended to be different yet harmonious. 210.10 & 11" This sentence reveals a Stoic influence or the harmony between the various parts which make up a whole; even the preposition pros, "towards," reveals a direction-towards-which or attention to that which effects beauty with regard to all the parts. Only then can there be difference (diaphoros) and harmony (katallelos hekasto).

"The proclamation of her beauty (kerux tou kallous autes) is made more solemn and is clearly depicted in the Song, for the praise of the bride's beauty (epainos tou kallous) does not simply pertain to her loveliness but to each member. 215.2 & 5" Here Gregory briefly states the function of the Song of Songs, to proclaim the bride's beauty; this loveliness must have a source, namely, the divine bridegroom. Apart from her various praises there exists the more comprehensive reality of "each member" which may apply not only to specific members of the Church but to the Song's readers. This theme is developed at length on pp.216-19.

"Those following the good shepherd from out of the nations share in the beauty (tou tes numphes kallous) of the bride's hair [i.e., her chastity]. 222.11" This reference to universal evangelization stresses beauty in the bride, an exemplar for those coming "from out of the nations" and suggests the prophet Elijah who led a "philosophic way of life" (philosophias tropon). Furthermore, the nations share this beauty as a result of evangelization, a fact not usually stressed.

"a person wishing to show a more subtle kind of beauty (glaphuroteron to kallos) indicates a smile on the mouth. 223.14" This description of the bride's smile resembles a Mona Lisa-like intimation of gladness which is deliberately enigmatic, indeed "subtle" or glaphuros, an adjective which implies something hollowed out or polished.

"The text next adds a fitting praise to the bride's lips by comparing their beauty (pareikazon to kallos) to a 'scarlet thread.' 228.5" Such a "scarlet thread" intimates the bride's smile mentioned just above and is closely identified with "her lovely speech" or beautiful manner of conveying love for the bridegroom through the medium of the "faith of our confession," p.229.17.

"then the bride's lips are adorned (kallopisthenai) with a scarlet form when the entire Church has one lip and one voice in harmony with the good. 228.17" An elaboration of the sentence just above but now applied to the "entire Church." The "harmony with the good" (kata ten tou agathou sumphonian) is another intimation of Stoic influence as applied to the ekklesia.

"The beauty (to kallos...pros ti paratheseos kai homoioseos) of the entire Church's body will in the future be glorified in each member through some kind of comparison and likeness. 232.12" Gregory alludes to a future beauty in terms of glorification, egkomiazo. Note that it will occur by a parathesis and homoiosis, "comparison" and "likeness," two means which now allow for glimpses into the Church's nature but await further revelation. Gregory continues in the following pages to give a description of each member of the Church through a comparison with a bodily limb. Although helpful, this obscure analogy will achieve fulfillment "in the future;" the task in this world consists in paying close attention to the order of beauty as signified by the important word akolouthia which signifies the correct sequence or succession of events and functions: d'akolouthou tous en to lao.

"the loveliness of their [lilies] beauty (tou kallous tes oras) which delights the eyes. 240.17" Here emphasis is upon the sense of sight, yet this sentence is in the context of the sense of smell with regard to the lilies (next sentence): "However, their scent is filled with the good odor (euodia) of Christ while purity and undefilement appear through their form."

"Not only does he manifest his own beauty (kallos...prodeiknusin) to the bride. 252.4" This demonstration of divine beauty is in conjunction with the bridegroom who "reminds her of her horrible, beastly forms." I.e., despite her advancement, the divine spouse informs his bride of her previous condition not to abase her but that she may grown in appreciation of his beauty.

"If I may put it more boldly, by contemplating the bridegroom's beauty (to tou numphiou kallos idontes) in his spouse. 256.10" Reference here is to the "bridegroom's friends" who behold (idontes signifies more a seeing) his loveliness in the bride mainly because she is constantly seeking him. Furthermore, such friends "marvel at his invisible, incomprehensible (aoraton kai akatalepton) presence in all creatures," presumably including the bride herself. Thus the "contemplating" refers to the bridegroom's beauty, whereas their "marveling" (ethaumasan) refers to his shrouded presence among creatures.

"He testifies to his spouse's loveliness (te marturia tou kallous) by adding greater wonder in the description of her beauty (horan) shining in her bodily members. 260.15" The bride's "loveliness" seems to be an overall impression which caught her spouse's attention, a fact which makes him perceive it extending to "her bodily members" which infers the Church. The all-pervasiveness of kallos makes the divine spouse describe it with this same Church. As bodily members, it is helpful to become aware of this describing, that is, of the divine Logos "speaking' logoi within the Church.

"I may receive some assistance from on high to perceive these mysteries, understand the Church's beauty (eis epiknosis tou kallous tes ekklesias), and praise the glory of God's grace in Christ Jesus 661.1." These concluding words of Homily Eight are Gregory's own as opposed to using the bride as a mouthpiece; they assume a three-fold request: perception (pros ten katanoesin), understanding, (eis epignosin) and praise (eis epainon). Note the use of prepositions: pros ("towards") with regard to perception and eis ("into") pertaining to both understanding and praise. All serve to point out two definite directions, towards and in, which are related to the bride.

"Let us now pay attention to the divine words describing the bride's immaculate beauty (tes amiantou nuphes to kallos). 262.20" Here "immaculate" or amiantos is used in the sense of being undefiled. This sentence precedes, "Let us listen as if we had no share in the nature of flesh and blood [i.e., implying a condition of miantos] and have been transferred into the spiritual realm." Such "transference" comes from the verb metastoicheioo which more specifically means changing the elementary nature of something. In this instance, Gregory indicates that "flesh and blood," the realm of sensation, has its very substance transformed into its opposite, pneumatikos.

"the bridegroom explains her increase in beauty (eis to kallos autes epidoseos). 263.11" That is, she makes a connection between her elevated condition and the pracitce of virtue ('through good works') where the word "increase" or epidosis more specifically means "being endowed," that is, receiving something through some one else's intervention. Throughout the Song Commentary we constantly see how the bride increases her beauty, this being one of many such stages.