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St. Methodius of Olympus
The Symposium (Banquet of the Ten Virgins)

VirtueAsceticismScripture

The Symposium (Banquet of the Ten Virgins)

St. Methodius of Olympus · c. 290 AD

6h 6m read

Ante-Nicene

A dialogue in imitation of Plato's Symposium, with ten virgins discoursing on the excellence of virginity and the nature of chastity.

Table of Contents

1The Difficulty and Excellence of Virginity; The Study of Doctrine Necessary for Virgins 2Virginity a Plant from Heaven, Introduced Late; The Advancement of Mankind to Perfection, How Arranged 3By the Circumcision of Abraham, Marriage with Sisters Forbidden; In the Times of the Prophets Polygamy Put a Stop To; Conjugal Purity Itself by Degrees Enforced 4Christ Alone Taught Virginity, Openly Preaching the Kingdom of Heaven; The Likeness of God to Be Attained in the Light of the Divine Virtues 5Christ, by Preserving His Flesh Incorrupt in Virginity, Draws to the Exercise of Virginity; The Small Number of Virgins in Proportion to the Number of Saints 6Marriage Not Abolished by the Commendation of Virginity 7Generation Something Akin to the First Formation of Eve from the Side and Nature of Adam; God the Creator of Men in Ordinary Generation 8An Ambiguous Passage of Scripture; Not Only the Faithful But Even Prelates Sometimes Illegitimate 9Human Generation, and the Work of God Therein Set Forth 10The Holy Father Follows Up the Same Argument 11God Cares Even for Adulterous Births; Angels Given to Them as Guardians 12The Rational Soul from God Himself; Chastity Not the Only Good, Although the Best and Most Honoured 13Passages of Holy Scripture Compared 14The Digressions of the Apostle Paul; The Character of His Doctrine: Nothing in It Contradictory; Condemnation of Origen, Who Wrongly Turns Everything into Allegory 15Comparison Instituted Between the First and Second Adam 16Some Things Here Hard and Too Slightly Treated, and Apparently Not Sufficiently Brought Out According to the Rule of Theology 17A Passage of Jeremiah Examined 18The Whole Number of Spiritual Sheep; Man a Second Choir, After the Angels, to the Praise of God; The Parable of the Lost Sheep Explained 19The Works of Christ, Proper to God and to Man, the Works of Him Who is One 20The Bones and Flesh of Wisdom; The Side Out of Which the Spiritual Eve is Formed, the Holy Spirit; The Woman the Help-Meet of Adam; Virgins Betrothed to Christ 21The Dispensation of Grace in Paul the Apostle 22The Doctrine of the Same Apostle Concerning Purity 23The Same Argument 24Paul an Example to Widows, and to Those Who Do Not Live with Their Wives 25The Doctrine of Paul Concerning Virginity Explained 26Virginity a Gift of God: the Purpose of Virginity Not Rashly to Be Adopted by Any One 27The Necessity of Praising Virtue, for Those Who Have the Power 28The Protection of Chastity and Virginity Divinely Given to Men, that They May Emerge from the Mire of Vices 29That Passage of David Explained; What the Harps Hung Upon the Willows Signify; The Willow a Symbol of Chastity; The Willows Watered by Streams 30The Author Goes on with the Interpretation of the Same Passage 31The Gifts of Virgins, Adorned with Which They are Presented to One Husband, Christ 32Virginity to Be Cultivated and Commended in Every Place and Time 33The Offering of Chastity a Great Gift 34Abraham's Sacrifice of a Heifer Three Years Old, of a Goat, and of a Ram Also Three Years Old: Its Meaning; Every Age to Be Consecrated to God; The Threefold Watch and Our Age 35Far Best to Cultivate Virtue from Boyhood 36Perfect Consecration and Devotion to God: What It is 37The Vow of Chastity, and Its Rites in the Law; Vines, Christ, and the Devil 38Sikera, a Manufactured and Spurious Wine, Yet Intoxicating; Things Which are Akin to Sins are to Be Avoided by a Virgin; The Altar of Incense (a Symbol Of) Virgins 39The Church Intermediate Between the Shadows of the Law and the Realities of Heaven 40The Double Altar, Widows and Virgins; Gold the Symbol of Virginity 41The Excellence of the Abiding Glory of Virginity; The Soul Made in the Image of the Image of God, that is of His Son; The Devil a Suitor for the Soul 42The Parable of the Ten Virgins 43The Same Endeavour and Effort After Virginity, with a Different Result 44What the Oil in the Lamps Means 45The Reward of Virginity 46What the True and Seemly Manner of Praising; The Father Greater Than the Son, Not in Substance, But in Order; Virginity the Lily; Faithful Souls and Virgins, the One Bride of the One Christ 47The Interpretation of that Passage of the Canticles 48Virgins Being Martyrs First Among the Companions of Christ 49The Passage Explained; The Queens, the Holy Souls Before the Deluge; The Concubines, the Souls of the Prophets; The Divine Seed for Spiritual Offspring in the Books of the Prophets; The Nuptials of the Word in the Prophets as Though Clandestine 50The Sixty Queens: Why Sixty, and Why Queens; The Excellence of the Saints of the First Age 51The Eighty Concubines, What; The Knowledge of the Incarnation Communicated to the Prophets 52The Virgins, the Righteous Ancients; The Church, the One Only Spouse, More Excellent Than the Others 53The Human Nature of Christ His One Dove 54The Virgins Immediately After the Queen and Spouse 55Methodius' Derivation of the Word Virginity: Wholly Divine; Virtue, in Greek--ἀρετή, Whence So Called 56The Lofty Mind and Constancy of the Sacred Virgins; The Introduction of Virgins into the Blessed Abodes Before Others 57The Lot and Inheritance of Virginity 58Exhortation to the Cultivation of Virginity; A Passage from the Apocalypse is Proposed to Be Examined 59The Woman Who Brings Forth, to Whom the Dragon is Opposed, the Church; Her Adornment and Grace 60The Works of the Church, the Bringing Forth of Children in Baptism; The Moon in Baptism, the Full Moon of Christ's Passion 61The Child of the Woman in the Apocalypse Not Christ, But the Faithful Who are Born in the Laver 62The Faithful in Baptism Males, Configured to Christ; The Saints Themselves Christs 63The Son of God, Who Ever Is, is To-Day Begotten in the Minds and Sense of the Faithful 64The Dragon, the Devil; The Stars Struck from Heaven by the Tail of the Dragon, Heretics; The Numbers of the Trinity, that Is, the Persons Numbered; Errors Concerning Them 65The Woman with the Male Child in the Wilderness the Church; The Wilderness Belongs to Virgins and Saints; The Perfection of Numbers and Mysteries; The Equality and Perfection of the Number Six; The Number Six Related to Christ; From This Number, Too, the Creation and Harmony of the World Completed 66Virgins are Called to the Imitation of the Church in the Wilderness Overcoming the Dragon 67The Seven Crowns of the Beast to Be Taken Away by Victorious Chastity; The Ten Crowns of the Dragon, the Vices Opposed to the Decalogue; The Opinion of Fate the Greatest Evil 68The Doctrine of Mathematicians Not Wholly to Be Despised, When They are Concerned About the Knowledge of the Stars; The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac Mythical Names 69Arguments from the Novelty of Fate and Generation; That Golden Age, Early Men; Solid Arguments Against the Mathematicians 70Several Other Things Turned Against the Same Mathematicians 71The Lust of the Flesh and Spirit: Vice and Virtue 72Chastity the Chief Ornament of the True Tabernacle; Seven Days Appointed to the Jews for Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles: What They Signify; The Sum of This Septenary Uncertain; Not Clear to Any One When the Consummation of the World Will Be; Even Now the Fabric of the World Completed 73Figure, Image, Truth: Law, Grace, Glory; Man Created Immortal: Death Brought in by Destructive Sin 74How Each One Ought to Prepare Himself for the Future Resurrection 75The Mind Clearer When Cleansed from Sin; The Ornaments of the Mind and the Order of Virtue; Charity Deep and Full; Chastity the Last Ornament of All; The Very Use of Matrimony to Be Restrained 76The Mystery of the Tabernacles 77Chastity Alone Aids and Effects the Most Praiseworthy Government of the Soul 78The Allegory of the Trees Demanding a King, in the Book of Judges, Explained 79The Bramble and the Agnos the Symbol of Chastity; The Four Gospels, that Is, Teachings or Laws, Instructing to Salvation 80The Law Useless for Salvation; The Last Law of Chastity Under the Figure of the Bramble 81The Malignity of the Devil as an Imitator in All Things; Two Kinds of Fig-Trees and Vines 82The Mystery of the Vision of Zechariah 83The True and Chaste Virgins Few; Chastity a Contest; Thekla Chief of Virgins 84Thekla Singing Decorously a Hymn, the Rest of the Virgins Sing with Her; John the Baptist a Martyr to Chastity; The Church the Spouse of God, Pure and Virgin 85Which are the Better, the Continent, or Those Who Delight in Tranquillity of Life? Contests the Peril of Chastity: the Felicity of Tranquillity; Purified and Tranquil Minds Gods: They Who Shall See God; Virtue Disciplined by Temptations