In the controversy betweenBasil the Great and his brother Gregory of Nyssa on one side, and Eunomius, the Bishop of Cyzicus, on theother, the teaching on the ἐπίνοιαι, which comesfrom anOrigenist background, emerges to light in the writings ofthe Cappadocians. In this paper, the author analyzes the historical and theological development of the teaching, as well as how itcame fromOrigen to Gregory of Nyssa.