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Ascolo Parodites
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'Though rage befits a river, Tiber wait,' so goes Pedo Albinovanus's Consolation to Livia, as Mars continues in his praise of the simplicity of war, 'for country let the reason be revealed; what I could give, I gave, a victory gained- the workman dies, the workmanship remained.' Equally, reflection shows us that our image of agape, of true love, echoes in spite of its critical justification the De Reformatione of Zerbolt, 'dedit etiam vires appetitivas, voluntatem scilicet ut Deum super omnia amares, caetera vero propter ipsum et in ordine ad ipsum amando referres,' and is thoroughly steeped in the daemon, and in the poieisthai amas to which the course of our Eros has conferred upon us. 1 Coacta virtus similis hibernae rosae, diuturna non est. Cum nihil potuit amor, justas amoris sustinent partes timor. [Tragico-Comoedia parabolica Androphilus] Yet, the kind of agape which could arouse courage in us exists only in the Diana we might have defiled, in the children we could have killed. In other words, our image of true love is indissolubly bound up with the image of redeemed love. 2
EXPOSITION
1. In the book Inter Timorem Et Spem there are various expositions on the work of Zerbolt, and the Latin quote associates him with the following idea:
"Of the five irascible affections named by Aquinas, Zerbolt mentions only hope and courage; and they are necessary to overcome obstacles which block one's path to the attainment of the good. The will, the appetite of reason, was granted to man in order that he might love God, and all else for his sake. " Agape echoes in spite of this critical justification the same point point. For if Eros, the appetite of reason, was granted to man for the sake of the divine, then there must be something which separates it from a completely absorbed, an erotic infatuation. This kind of love is spoken of by John Climacus, who says that "Blessed is he who has obtained such love and yearning for God as a mad lover has for his beloved." For if it is not a characteristic of the saint's love, that he be wholly consumed with it, so shall he be exasperated in his search for the divine, and by too hard of laboring come to rest, and fall away from it. Yet, again, a truly divine love must not only be all-consuming, to prevent exasperation of the spirit, which I speak of in an aphorism: "Too much wine, the man is deceived; to little, he loses his interest in the good and the true," yet this love also must inspire courage, for without that there is nothing preventing Eros from wholly indulging in the carnal aspect of things, and thereby becoming meaningless, or what some otherwise call the belonging unto sin. This is the love that will be called for in the preceding theses: a divine love, agape - that is not only all consuming, and enlivening, but also inspires courage, and self-restraint within Eros itself.
The phraseology of the last sentences closely mirrors the jottings of Walter Benjamin in the theses on history, where he animates the 'image of happiness' with a radical philosophical energy. The same energy is at work in the following theses, which seek to invest Eros (born from Penia) with a truly philosophical life, with a true and redeemed love. Walter Benjamin says in those Theses on History,
"Reflection shows us that our image of happiness is thoroughly colored by the time to which the course of our own existence has assigned us. The kind of happiness that could arouse envy in us exists only in the air we have breathed, among people we could have talked to, women who could have given themselves to us. In other words, our image of happiness is indissolubly bound up with the image of redemption."
In these theses the same idea is being applied to Eros: True and philosophical love is seen to be indissolubly bound up in a redeemed love, a love that has with life and with courage not merely overcome or subdued its carnal nature, but has reinterpreted it and directed his eros towards it to, as Climacus says, 'have invested it with goodness.' The phrase ' poieisthai amas' further recalls the philosophy of John Climacus, who will be quoted in some detail.
"Eros is not merely an icon, a symbol or figure of speech. Above all, it is an energy, a way, a prototype, a specific mode of existence. John's words are typos and hypodeigma: "As an example of the fear of the lord, let us take the fear that we feel in the presence of rulers and wild beasts; and as an example (hypodeigma) of desire for God, let carnal love serve as a model (typos) for you. There is nothing against taking (poieisthai emas) examples of the virtues from what is contrary (enantion) The phrase poiesthai emas shows that carnal love is not good in itself but must be 'made' good as will be seen below. The word enation further shows clearly that, for John, there is a contrast as well as an analogy between carnal and divine love.....
Worldly love can be readily directed towards God. (metaphora) It is Climacus' firm conviction that 'if anyone is willing, it is possible and easy to graft a wild olive tree onto a good one." The Macarian Homilies say: "the soul is accepted not because of what it has done, but because of what it has despised. Because the prostitute in the Gospel account had "loved much" John claims that she could 'easily expel love by love.' Consequently, even corporeal, that is, worldly or allegedly corrupt love, must not be condemned out of hand or even censured. It, too, may be transfigured into spiritual love. "One love can retrieve another, just as spiritual fire can quench the material fire of the passions."
-- John Chryssavgis on St. John Climacus
2. " Coacta virtus similis hibernae rosae, diuturna non est. Cum nihil potuit amor, justas amoris sustinent partes timor. [Tragico-Comoedia parabolica Androphilus] 2 Yet, the kind of agape which could arouse courage in us exists only in the Diana we might have defiled, in the children we could have killed. In other words, our image of true love is indissolubly bound up with the image of redeemed love. "
The Latin quotation, in translation, reads "What force of valor, so similar to Eros, in the winter rose, which survives for no long while. When one stops loving, one cannot approach justice without fear, and the Good in Eros passes, like that rose. " The quote encapsulates the meaning of these first theses in a excellent poetic imagery: the all consuming and erotic love, and the love which inspires courage to, beyond all else, continue loving, and to not fall into the infatuated and orgiastic relationship with the world, in exasperation of spirit. The final sentence, nearly oracular in its utterance, echoes the sentence of Benjamin "The kind of happiness that could arouse envy in us exists only in the air we have breathed, among people we could have talked to, women who could have given themselves to us."
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