The Martyrdom of Polycarp · §2 · Origen of Alexandria

Tortured believers endure with Christ beside them

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The letter writers from Smyrna praise the Christians already tortured before they describe Germanicus and Polycarp.

Every martyrdom that happens according to God's will is blessed and noble. We must revere God more deeply and ascribe to Him authority over all things. Who could fail to admire their nobility, their endurance, and their love for the Master?

Torn with whips until the inner design of their flesh lay open to view, down to the veins and arteries, they endured, so that the bystanders pitied them and mourned. Some reached such nobility that not one of them groaned or sighed. They showed us all that in that hour of bodily torture, Christ's martyrs were absent from the flesh. Or rather, the Lord stood beside them and spoke with them.

Fixed on the grace of Christ, they despised the tortures of this world, buying off eternal punishment with a single hour. The fire of their inhuman torturers felt cold to them. They kept before their eyes escape from the eternal fire that is never quenched, and with the eyes of the heart they looked up to the good things kept for those who endure, which no ear has heard, and no eye has seen, and no human heart has imagined (1 Corinthians 2:9). The Lord showed these things to them, for they were no longer men but already angels.

In the same way, those condemned to the beasts endured dreadful punishments. They were laid on sharp shells and punished with many other kinds of varied tortures, so that if possible, persistent torment might turn them to denial. The devil devised many schemes against them.

Greek

II. Μακάρια μὲν οὖν καὶ γενναῖα τὰ μαρτύρια πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ γεγονότα. Δεῖ γὰρ εὐλαβεστέρους ἡμᾶς ὑπάρχοντας τῷ θεῷ τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἐξουσίαν ἀνατιθέναι. Τὸ γὰρ γενναῖον αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπομονητικὸν καὶ φιλοδέσποτον τίς οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσειεν; Οἳ μάστιξι μὲν καταξανθέντες, ὥστε μέχρι τῶν ἔσω φλεβῶν καὶ ἀρτηριῶν τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς οἰκονομίαν μίαν θεωρεῖσθαι, ὑπέμειναν, ὡς καὶ τοὺς περιεστῶτας ἐλεεῖν καὶ ὀδύρεσθαι· τοὺς δὲ καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον γενναιότητος ἐλθεῖν, ὥστε μήτε γρύξαι μήτε στενάξαι τινά αὐτῶν, ἐπιδεικνυμένους ἅπασιν ἡμῖν ὅτι ἐκείνη τῇ ὥρᾳ βασανιζόμενοι τῆς σαρκὸς ἀπεδήμουν οἱ μάρτυρες τοῦ Χριστοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅτι παρεστὼς ὁ κύριος ὡμίλει αὐτοῖς. Καὶ προσέχοντες τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ χάριτι τῶν κοσμικῶν κατεφρόνουν βασάνων, διὰ μιᾶς ὥρας τὴν αἰώνιον κόλασιν ἐξαγοραζόμενοι. Καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἦν αὐτοῖς ψυχρὸν τὸ τῶν ἀπανθρώπων βασανιστῶν. Πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν γὰρ εἶχον φυγεῖν τὸ αἰώνιον καὶ μηδέποτε σβεννύμενον πῦρ, καὶ τοῖς τῆς καρδίας ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀνέβλεπον τὰ τηρούμενα τοῖς ὑπομείνασιν ἀγαθά, ἃ οὔτε οὖς ἤκουσεν, οὔτε ὀφθαλμὸς εἶδεν, οὔτε ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου ἀνέβη, ἐκείνοις δὲ ὑπεδείκνυτο ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου, οἵπερ μηκέτι ἄνθρωποι, ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη ἄγγελοι ἦσαν. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οἱ εἰς τὰ θηρία κριθέντες ὑπέμειναν δεινὰς κολάσεις, κήρυκας ὑποστρωννύμενοι καὶ ἄλλαις ποικίλων βασάνων ἰδέαις κολαζόμενοι, ἵνα, εἰ δυνηθείη, διὰ τῆς ἐπιμόνου κολάσεως εἰς ἄρνησιν αὐτοὺς τρέψωσιν. Πολλὰ γὰρ ἐμηχανᾶτο κατ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ διάβολος.

About this text

They wanted the report shared with other Christians so that God would be glorified and Polycarp would be remembered and imitated.

This letter was written by the Church of Smyrna (c. 156) to the church of God at Philomelium and to all congregations of the holy and universal church everywhere. The Smyrnaeans were answering a request from Philomelium for a fuller account of their recent martyrs, especially bishop Polycarp, whose death closed the persecution. They wanted the report shared with other Christians so that God would be glorified and Polycarp would be remembered and imitated.

The letter argues that true martyrdom happens according to God's will and the gospel, when the martyr waits to be handed over like Christ, endures torture patiently with Christ present, and seeks the salvation of others. It therefore praises the tortured Christians and Germanicus, who provoked the beast, but blames Quintus the Phrygian and other volunteers whose self offering ended in denial, and presents Polycarp as the model who withdrew, prayed, accepted betrayal and arrest, fed his captors, refused to swear by Caesar, revile Christ or deny he was a Christian, and accepted burning in fulfilment of his vision. A reader will meet Polycarp, Germanicus, Quintus, Herod and his father Nicetes with Alce, the provincial official Philip, the proconsul, and later transmitters such as Irenaeus, Gaius, Socrates or Isocrates, Pionius, Marcian and the scribe Evarestus, and will hear quoted speech from Polycarp, the proconsul, Herod and Nicetes, the crowd, the herald, a heavenly voice and Nicetes petitioning about the body, with argument against Quintus and against the heretical teacher Marcion.

As rendered here, martyr means one who confesses himself a Christian under trial and dies rather than deny him, martyrdom means faithful suffering unto death, confess means to declare oneself a Christian before authority and denial means denying Christ by swearing, sacrificing or reviling him, while universal means worldwide, proconsul means the Roman governor, police chief means the local arresting officer, provincial official means the leader in charge of festivals and beast shows, crown means the reward for enduring, anniversary means the yearly celebration of a martyr death, and worship is owed to Christ alone. Godless people renders the crowd insult against Christians for rejecting pagan gods. There are no formal book citations, only unattributed gospel like phrases given as modern allusions. Evarestus is the scribe who wrote with his household, Marcion is the heretical teacher Polycarp rebuked, and Herod and Philip of Tralles appear as names in the closing date formula.

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.