_Chapter IX_ THE GREEK HYMNODY I. EARLY GREEK HYMNS The reaction of the Greek Church to the hymnic attack of Arians interests us because of its influence on the general development of the Christian hymn. Of the earliest hymn writers we know little, and their work has not come down to us. We have a hymn of Methodius (311) based on the parable of the ten virgins, of considerable vigor and merit. The most prominent figure that greets us is that of Gregory of Nazianzus (327-389). He was called to Constantinople by the Emperor Theodosius to lead the orthodox forces against the Arian enemy. He was appointed court preacher, Patriarch of the Eastern Church, and president of the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople; but the pious, gentle monk, while a great preacher and a fertile hymn writer (it is said that he wrote thirty thousand hymns), was not fitted for the strife and intrigue rampant in the Capital; within a few years he returned to his cell at Nazianzus in Cappadocia. His hymns are ranked very high. Dr. Brownlee has given an excellent version of his “Evening Hymn”: “O word of truth! In devious paths My wayward feet have trod; I have not kept the day serene I gave at morn to God. And now ’tis night, and night within, O God, the light hath fled! I have not kept the vow I made When morn its glories shed. For clouds of gloom from nether world Obscured my upward way; O Christ, the Light, thy light bestow, And turn my night to day!” Synesius (375-430), Bishop of Cyrene, was a brilliant man, a friend of Hypatia, whom most general readers know as the heroine of Charles Kingsley’s great historical romance. He wrote some very tender hymns and poems that have been widely appreciated. He is best known by his hymn, “Lord Jesus, think on me,” a free paraphrase of which (by Allen W. Chatfield) is found in some of our hymnals. Anatolius (d. 458) is known to us, not as the able and noble Byzantine pontiff, but as the original writer of two quite different hymns, translated by Dr. Mason Neale: the evening hymn, “The day is past and over,” and the descriptive hymn, “Fierce was the wild billow.” He was one of the first to forsake the classical forms and to put his thoughts into harmonious prose. He wrote few hymns, but all of great excellence. II. THE LATER GREEK HYMNS The earlier Greek hymn writers wrote in the classical measures and evinced an admirable sense of form; but the later hymnists, following the example of Anatolius, wrote in rhythmical prose and not by any means as felicitously. Moreover, the later Greek language greatly degenerated, losing its lucidity and subtlety of expression.[1]