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The tomb cannot darken Anna's lesson
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Arethas is concluding his praise of Anna, arguing that her grave cannot hide the virtue her life taught.
The tomb will not be able to darken these things. For the beautiful mouth that carries a lesson for life could never escape notice. And if it should, the inscription placed beside the tomb itself will speak more than all.
Greek ἀμαυροῦν οὐ δυνήσεται τάφος· πάντων γὰρ αὐτῆς οὐδαμῶς λάθοι στόμα καλὸν
φερούσης νουθέτημα τῷ βίῳ· εἰ δ' οὖν, λαλήσει καὶ γραφὴ πάντων πλέον αὕτη παρ'
αὐτὸν τὸν τάφον τεθειμένη.
About this text Verse epitaphs by Arethas: a young widow named Anna mourns her early death and is praised, and a woman named Febronia is remembered for her kindness to the poor.
Arethas of Caesarea, a deacon and later archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, wrote these three short commemorative pieces. He lived from about 860 to about 940, was born at Patrae in Greece, and was a disciple of Photius. The epigrams were preserved as fragments in a manuscript of his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.
The pieces commemorate two deceased women, Anna and Febronia. The first is a first-person lament spoken by Anna herself, who died at twenty-three, leaving her aged parents and noble brothers to mourn her. She was made a widow while still a girl and was childless, never seeing a child of her own at play. The second epigram praises Anna's character, her obedience to parents, her noble lineage, and her distinction as a woman married to one husband, arguing that her grave cannot obscure these because her life was a lesson and the inscription will speak if all else is silent. The third epigram praises Febronia for her compassion to the poor and her consecration as a bride of Christ, and suggests that even the dead remember her beneficence.
A reader should know that 'married to one husband' reflects a virtue praised in Anna, and 'widowhood' describes her faithful state before her own death. The 'bridal chamber' is used metaphorically for Febronia's consecration as a bride of Christ, and the 'lamp of purity' is a symbol of life and of the virginal lamp kept burning for Christ. The epigrams contain no direct scriptural citations.
This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.
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