ABSTRACT
Gregory of Nyssa and Synesius of Cyrene do not form a traditional pair in the history of Neoplatonism and Christianity, but they are, nevertheless, two representatives of Christian thought in the Greek-speaking world of the late fourth and the early h century. Both of them received a good, if not excellent, education. As Christians, they were sometimes attacked for their alleged inclination towards Hellenic culture and style, and furthermore were accused of abandoning the grace from above in favour of secular learning. Both were regarded as elitarian in a sense, although they became, willingly or not, shepherds of the souls in their bishoprics, the Cappadocian Nyssa and Cyrenaican Ptolemais, respectively. As bishops, they also passed through turbulent times. Why, then, are they rarely, if ever, juxtaposed together?
