Capturing Pupils

Συνδήσασθαι πάντα τρόπον ἐμηχανήσατο· πάντας λόγους στρέφων, καὶ πάντα κάλων, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ τοῦ λόγου, κινῶν, καὶ πάσας τὰς δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ προχειριζόμενος· ἐπαινῶν μὲν φιλοσοφίας ἐραστὰς, μακροῖς τοῖς ἐπαίνοις καὶ πολλοῖς τοῖς τε προσήκουσι· τούτους μόνους ζῇν ὅντως τὸν λογικοῖς προσήκοντα βίον, λέγων, τοὺς ὀρθῶς βιοῦν ἐπιτηδεύοντας, ἑαυτούς τε γινώσκοντας, πρῶτον οἴτινές εἰσι, κὰπειτα τὰ ὅντως ἀγαθὰ ἂ μεταδιώκειν ἄνθρωπον χρὴ καὶ τὰ ἀληθῶς κακὰ ὦν ἀποτρέχειν δεῖ ψέγωεν δὲ τὴν ἀμαθίαν, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀμαθεῖς· πολλοὶ δὲ οὖτοι ὅσοι θρεμμάτων δίκην τυφλώττοντες τὸν νοῦν, οὐδ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὅπερ εἰσὶν ἐγνωκότες, ὥσπερ ἄλογοι πεπλανημένοι, ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακὸν ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστιν, ὅλως οὔτε εἰδότες αὐτοὶ, οὐτε μαθεῖν θέλοντες, ὡς ἐπὶ ἀγαθὸν ᾄττουσι καὶ ἐπτόηνται, χρήματα καὶ δόξας καὶ τιμὰς τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν καὶ τὴν τοῦ σώματος εὐεξίαν· αὐτά τε περὶ πολλοῦ καὶ τοῦ παντὸς τιθέμενοι, καὶ τῶν τεχνῶν ὅσαι ταῦτα ἐκπορίζεσθαι δύνανται, καὶ ρῶν βίων ὅσοι ταῦτα παρέξονται, στρατιὰς καὶ τὴν δικανικὴν καὶ ἐκμάθησιν τὴν τῶν νόμων· ταῦθ' ἄπερ ἡμᾶς ἀνέσειε, μάλιστα λέγων καὶ μάλα τεχνικῶς, τοῦ κυριωτάτου, φησὶ, τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν λόγον ἀμελήσαντας. Οὐκ ἔχω νῦν ἐγὼ λέγειν, ὅσας τοιαύτας ἐξήχει φωνὰς, προτρέπων φιλοσοφεῖν· οὐ μιᾶς ἡμέρας μόνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλειόνων ὅσωεν αὐτῷ προσήειμεν τῶν πρώτων, βεβλημένοι μὲν ὥσπερ τινὶ βέλει τῷ παρ' αὐτοῦ λόγῳ καὶ ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας, ἥν γάρ πως καὶ ἡδείᾳ τινὶ χάριτι καὶ πειθοῖ καὶ τινι ἀναγκῃ μεμιγμένος, στρεφόμενοι δέ πως ἔτι καὶ λογιζόμενοι· καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν μὲν προσκαρτερήσαντες οὐδέπω πάντη πεπεισμένοι, ἀφίστασθαι δὲ πάλιν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως, οὐ δυνάμενοι· ἀεὶ δὲ ὥσπερ ὑπό τισιν ἀνάγκαις μείζοσι τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλκόμενοι.   Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ θαυματουργός, Εἰς Ὀριγένην Προσφώνητικος

He strove by all means to associate us with him, turning to all arguments, and putting every rope in motion, as the saying goes, and bringing all his powers to bear. He praised the lovers of philosophy with many long speeches, praising those only who live truly a reasonable life, those who pursue an upright life and knowledge of themselves, saying first what sort of persons they are and then the things that are truly good which man should pursue and then the the things that are truly evil which one should flee, and ignorance and all the unlearned, the many who are blind in their minds like cattle, not knowing who they are, like those who wander lacking reason,  knowing not what is good and what is evil, nor do they wish to know, but for their good they strive for riches and glory and glory and honour from the crowd, and the comforts of the body, for they place great value on all such things, or even deem them worth everything, and also the arts by which these things can be acquired, and the ways of life which bring them: the military, the juridical, and the study of law. With pressing and skilful words he said to us that such things would ruin us when we have no care for the reason which should be master of us. I cannot tell now all the speeches like this with which he inclined us to philosophy, nor was it only for a day but for many days that he dealt with us so, as often as we went to him from the first, and we were transfixed as by a shaft by his reasoning from the beginning, for he was possessed of a mix of sweetness and grace and persuasiveness and restraint, and though we still wavered and pondered the matter, not being fully persuaded to be attached to philosophy, yet we were not able to draw ourselves away, for we were always drawn towards him, as by some necessity, by the greatness of his reasons. Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, Oration to Origen