Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §11.19.1

Four Aberrations of the Ruling Center and Superiority of Reason

Passage 431 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author outlines four aberrations of the ruling faculty to be guarded against, provides specific self-dialogue formulas to counter them, and emphasizes the soul's superiority over bodily movements.

§11.19.1Τέσσαρας μάλιστα τροπὰς τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ παραφυλακτέον διηνεκῶς καὶ ἐπειδὰν φωράσῃς ἀπαλειπτέον, ἐπιλέγοντα ἐφ’ ἑκάστου οὕτως· τοῦτο τὸ φάντασμα οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον· τοῦτο λυτικὸν κοινωνίας· τοῦτο οὐκ ἀπὸ σαυτοῦ μέλλεις λέγειν· τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ λέγειν ἐν τοῖς ἀτοπωτάτοις νόμιζε. τέταρτον δέ ἐστι, καθὸ σεαυτῷ ὀνειδιεῖς, ὅτι τοῦτο ἡττωμένου ἐστὶ καὶ ὑποκατακλινομένου τοῦ ἐν σοὶ θειοτέρου μέρους τῇ ἀτιμοτέρᾳ καὶ θνητῇ μοίρᾳ, τῇ τοῦ σώματος καὶ ταῖς τούτου τραχείαις ἢ λείαις κινήσεσιν.
Four aberrations of the ruling faculty especially must be constantly guarded against, and when you detect them, they must be wiped out, saying of each as follows: "This representation is not necessary; this is destructive of community; this is not what you are going to say from yourself (for to speak not from oneself you must consider among the most absurd things)." And the fourth is that whereby you will reproach yourself, namely, that this is the defeat and submission of the more divine part in you to the less honorable and mortal portion—that of the body and its rough or smooth movements.

Notes

  1. 11.19.1ἐπιλέγοντα — The accusative masculine singular participle ἐπιλέγοντα agrees with the implied subject (in the accusative, σέ) of the impersonal verbal adjectives παραφυλακτέον and ἀπαλειπτέον.
  2. 11.19.1ἡττωμένου ἐστὶ καὶ ὑποκατακλινομένου τοῦ ἐν σοὶ θειοτέρου μέρους — The genitive τοῦ ... μέρους functions as a predicative genitive with the copula ἐστί ("it is characteristic of...", "it indicates the defeat of..."), and the participles ἡττωμένου and ὑποκατακλινομένου agree with it in gender, number, and case.
  3. 11.19.1ταῖς τούτου τραχείαις ἢ λείαις κινήσεσιν — The dative phrase ταῖς ... κινήσεσιν is coordinate with or appositive to the preceding τῇ ἀτιμοτέρᾳ καὶ θνητῇ μοίρᾳ (and its appositive τῇ τοῦ σώματος).

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §11.19.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.19.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.