EVAGRIUS believed that one of the principal tasks of the Christian ascetic is the proper use of thumos/θυμός , indignation - the energy of the thumikon/θυμικόν, or irascible faculty of the soul.  Indeed, he believed that psalmody, one of the chief occupations of the Christian ascetic, has the power to calm misdirected or excessive thumos. For the Christian ascetic, anger (orgē/ὀργή), indignation (thumos/θυμός), and even hatred (misos/μῖσος) are not merely passions to be extinguished: they describe a psychic power which is frequently present in excess or misdirected, but which plays an important role in spiritual life. Evagrius employs these three terms to describe the action of the thumikon/θυμικόν, the spiritual wellspring of the soul’s ability to respond to threat, which since Plato had been associated with feelings in the chest and with the heart.

IN the Praktikos Evagrius incorporates elements from a variety of classical sources into his own definition of anger:

HERE Evagrius follows the physician Galen’s definition, stating that it is thumos which boils, rather than orgē/ὀργή, as Aristotle claimed. For Evagrius orgē/ὀργή is a species of boiling, moving thumos. Like Aristotle, however, Evagrius offers a twofold definition: anger is both an inwardly-sensed boiling up (zesis/ζέσις) of indignation and an outward movement (kinēsis/κίνησις) directed against a perceived wrong. This definition of anger recurs throughout Evagrius’ writings.

THE role of psalmody in calming or healing thumos when it begins to ‘boil’ and ‘move’ contrary to nature is best appreciated in light of Evagrius’ conviction that the struggle with anger lasts until death. Whereas gluttony and lust, the ‘passions of the body’ predominate during the early years of spiritual growth, the inner struggle against misdirected anger (thumos) is one of the ‘passions of the soul’)^[3] is a particular characteristic of those who are more advanced. Thus Evagrius advises the gnostikos:

HE particularly emphasizes the importance of aorgēsia/ ἀοργησία, ‘freedom from anger’ for the gnostikos, the Christian who is firm in his ascetical practice and is growing in his capacity for contemplation:

IN in the same work Evagrius expostulates: ‘If only the gnostikos could, at the time when he explicates [the Scriptures], be free from anger, hatred, sadness, bodily suffering and anxieties!’^[6] In two chapters of the Praktikos Evagrius explains that the chanting of psalms helps to calm the inner boiling or churning of thumos. In chapter 71 he writes:

IN chapter 15 he uses kukaō/κυκάω ‘to stir or churn’ rather than zeō/ ζέω to describe frothing thumos, but the meaning is the same:

THE third text is very similar to the preceding one and is found in Evagrius’ Institutio ad Monachos; here, however, thumos is characterized as ‘attacking’, or even ‘laying waste:’

IN two other places Evagrius mentions the effect of psalmody on indignation, but he does not specify which part of thumos he considers to be affected. In Ad monachos he writes: ‘The indignation (thumos) of the one singing psalms is quieted,’ (Ψάλλοντος ἡσυχάζει θυμὸς).^[10] In Malignis cogitationibus the hermit is advised to ‘to keep the heart completely guarded, quieting indignation (thumos) with gentleness and psalms,’ (πάσῃ φυλακῇ τηρεῖν τὴν καρδίαν, πραΰτι μὲν καὶ ψαλμοῖς τὸν θυμὸν καταπαύοντας).^[11]

GIVEN his interest in physiological explanations it is not surprising that Evagrius attempts to explain the underlying means by which psalmody affects the body. In the fourth chapter of Antirrhetikos Evagrius recommends specific scripture verses for those who are tempted by gloominess and dejection, and he invokes King David as an example of one who made use of the power of psalmody to change human physiology:

EVAGRIUS here claims that singing the psalms (literally ‘singing joined with the psalms’^[13]) changes the κρᾶσις,^[14] that is the complex and delicate balance of humors thought to be responsible for health and illness. In Praktikos 69-71 Evagrius suggests that ‘undistracted’ psalmody contributes to the establishment of a new krasis/κρᾶσις, an anakrasis/ ἀνάκρασις, a commingling or ‘complete blending’^[15] of the self with the virtues.

IN claiming that singing the psalms could have a beneficial effect on the temperament of the body Evagrius articulates a tradition at least as old as Plato. In Timaeus Plato claims that music ‘adapted to the sound of the voice’ was given by the muses for the sake of harmonia/ἁρμονία). The true purpose of music does not lie in its common use to ‘provoke irrational pleasure’, but rather in its power to restore order and harmony in the soul afflicted with disharmony (ἀνάρμοστον).^[16] The restoration of interior harmony enables the soul to more easily perceive that celestial harmony of which the soul is herself a reflection.^[17] Not all types of music are suitable for this purpose. In book 3 of the Republic Plato explains that only song or chanting, that is music which accompanies and highlights speech, will do; unaccompanied instrumental solos are to be banned, as should certain ‘inappropriate’ instruments, modes, and rhythms.^[18] And in Book 4 Plato describes the particular power of music (‘harmony and rhythm’) to quiet and regulate the θυμοειδής, the ‘high-spirited’ or irascible part of the soul. He recommends a mixture of music and gymnastics in order to maintain harmony between the logistikon and the thumikon, nourishing the former with beautiful words while ‘relaxing, soothing, and taming’ the latter with harmony and rhythm.^[19]

ARISTOTLE agreed with Plato that melody and rhythm have the ability to create inner ‘simulations’ (homiōmata/ὁμοιώματα) of virtues and vices, thus ‘changing our souls by our listening to them’.^[20] However he believed Plato had been too severe in his wholesale proscription of certain modes and musical instruments.^[21] Aristotle was less opposed than Plato to the use of unaccompanied instrumental solos and he believed that even those melodies which excite some individuals to religious frenzy can have a restorative healing and purging effect.^[22] Belief in the therapeutic value of music is later attested by Galen, who recommends the prescription of ‘music therapy’ to certain classes of patients, the music being suitably adapted to the temperament of each.^[23] Thus through Plato’s influence music came to be regarded as a valuable therapeutic modality, particularly useful for calming thumos.

THE antecedents of Evagrius’ remedies for the logistikon/ λογιστικόν and thumikon/ θυμικόν are clearly to be found in Plato’s recommendation in Book 3 of the Republic. For the soul’s highest principle Plato suggests ‘beautiful words and teaching’ (λόγοις τε καλοῖς καὶ μαθήμασιν), while Evagrius recommends reading the divine oracles (ἀνάγνωσις λογίων Θεοῦ): for soothing of thumos Plato counsels harmony and rhythm, for which Evagrius recommends psalmody. Thus in recommending psalmody as a therapeutic remedy Evagrius articulates an ancient philosophical and medical tradition which had become almost commonplace among Christian theologians.^[24]

THE reason Evagrius describes both the degeneration and the healing of thumos in such detail is that thumos is not simply an evil which ought to be extinguished; it is, rather, an essential weapon in the spiritual arsenal which must be properly controlled and employed against the enemy:

THE demons chiefly tempt human beings to direct the energy of thumos ‘contrary to nature’ against other human beings, rather than ‘in accordance with nature’ against temptations and the demons themselves. In explaining the proper use of anger ‘according to nature’ in this passage from Malignis cogitationibus Evagrius does not hesitate to employ the word ‘hatred’ (misos/μῖσος) to describe what should be directed against the demons. The delicate task of distinguishing between the demonic enemy and the enemy’s human dupes is greatly facilitated by familiarity with passages from the scriptures which can be employed to confound the former and convert the latter. In Evagrius’ model of spiritual life this comprises in large measure the art of antirrhesis, or ‘contradiction’ of the logismos with an appropriate verse from the Scriptures.

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