Beauty and the Soul

Τὸ θεωρητικών τε καὶ διακριτικὸν ἴδιον ἐστι τοῦ θεοειδοῦς τῆς ψυχῆς, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ Θεῖον ἐν τούτοις καταλαμβάνομεν. Εἰ τοίνυν εἴτε ἐκ τῆς νῦν έπιιμελείας, εἰτε ἐκ τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα καθάρσεως ελευθέρα γένοιτο ἡμῖν ἡ ψυχὴ τῆς πρὸς τὰ ἄλογα τῶν παθῶν συμφυΐας, οὐδέν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ θεωρίαν ἐναποδισθήσεται. Τὸ γὰρ καλὸν ἑλκτικόν πως κατὰ τὴν ἐαυτοῦ φύσιν παντὸς τοῦ πρὸς ἐκεῖνο βλέποντος. Εἰ οὖν πάσης κακίας ἡ ψυχὴ καθαρεύσειεν, έν τῷ καλῷ πάντως ἔσται. Καλὸν δὲ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ φύσει τὸ θεῖον πρὸς ὅ διὰ τῆς καθαρότητος τὴν συνάφειαν ἔξει τῷ οἴκείῷ συναπτομένη. Εἴ οὖν τοῦτο γένοιτο, οὐκέτι ἔσται χρεία τῆς κατ' ἐπιθυμίαν κινήσεως, ἢ πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ἡγεμονεύσει. Ὁ γὰρ ἐν σκότει τὴν διαγωγὴν ἔχων, οὔτος έν ἐπιθυμίᾳ τοῦ φωτὸς ἔσται· εἰ δὲ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ γένοιτο, τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐκδέξεται ἡ ἀπόλαυσις, ἡ δὲ ἐξουσία τῆς ἀπολαύσεως ἀργὴν καὶ ἕωλον τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐργάζεται. Ούκοῦν οὐδεμία τις ἔσται διὰ τούτων ζημία πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μετουσίαν, εἰ τοιούτων ἡ ψυχὴ κινημάτων ἐλευθέρα γένοιτο, πρὸς ἑαυτήν πάλιν ἐπανελθοῦσα, καὶ ἑαυτὴν ἀκριβῶς εἰδοῦσα, οἰα τῇ φύσει ἐστὶ, καὶ οἶον ἐν κατὸπτρῳ καὶ εἰκόνι διὰ τοῠ οἰκείου κάλλους πρὸς τὸ ἀρχέτυπον βλέπουσα. Ἀληθώς γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν τὴν ἀκριβῆ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εἶναι ὁμοίωσιν, ἐν τῷ μιμεῖσθαί πως τὴν ἡμετέραν ζωὴν τὴν ὑπερκείμενη οὐσίαν. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Περὶ Ψψχης Και Ἀναστασεως Ὁ Λογος

The speculative and critical faculty, Macrina said, is of the soul's godlike part, for it is by these that we grasp the Divine also. If, then, whether by forethought now, or by cleansing after, the soul becomes free from any emotional connection with things irrational, there will be nothing to obstruct its contemplation of the Beautiful. For the beautiful by its own nature is attractive in a certain manner to everything that looks towards it. If, then, the soul is purified of every evil, it will most certainly be with Beauty. The Divine is in His own nature beautiful and the soul in its state of purity will have likeness with the Divine and will be linked to it. If then this happens, there will be no longer need of the movement of Desire to lead to the Beautiful. Whoever has passed time in darkness, he will have a desire for light, but when he comes into the light then enjoyment removes desire and the reality of enjoyment renders desire useless and stale. It will therefore be no loss in participation in the Good if the soul is free from such movements, and again returning to itself it knows itself accurately, what its true nature is, seeing in the mirror and in the figure of its own beauty the original beauty. For truly in this is the real likeness to the Divine, our own life being in some degree an imitation of the Higher Being. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection