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Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §11.20.1-11.20.2

Obedience of the Elements and the Absurdity of Disobedient Reason

Passage 432 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The text points out that physical elements like fire and earth obey the order of the whole, staying in the body despite their natural tendencies. In contrast, it highlights the absurdity of the intellectual part alone being disobedient and resisting its natural role.

§11.20.1Τὸ μὲν πνευμάτιόν σου καὶ τὸ πυρῶδες πᾶν, ὅσον ἐγκέκραται, καίτοι φύσει ἀνωφερῆ ὄντα, ὅμως πειθόμενα τῇ τῶν ὅλων διατάξει παρακρατεῖται ἐνταῦθα ἐπὶ τοῦ συγκρίματος.
Your breath and all the fiery part, as much as is mingled in you, though by nature tending upwards, nevertheless, in obedience to the disposition of the whole, are held back here in the compound body.
καὶ τὸ γεῶδες δὲ τὸ ἐν σοὶ πᾶν καὶ τὸ ὑγρόν, καίτοι κατωφερῆ ὄντα, ὅμως ἐγήγερται καὶ ἕστηκε τὴν οὐχ ἑαυτῶν φυσικὴν στάσιν.
And all the earthy part in you and the liquid, though tending downwards, nevertheless are raised up and stand in a position that is not their natural one.
οὕτως ἄρα καὶ τὰ στοιχεῖα ὑπακούει τοῖς ὅλοις, ἐπειδάν που καταταχθῇ σὺν βίᾳ, μένοντα μέχρις ἂν ἐκεῖθεν πάλιν τὸ ἐνδόσιμον τῆς διαλύσεως σημήνῃ.
In this way, then, the elements also obey the whole, whenever they are anywhere forcibly arranged, remaining there until the signal for dissolution is given from thence.
§11.20.2οὐ δεινὸν οὖν μόνον τὸ νοερόν σου μέρος ἀπειθὲς εἶναι καὶ ἀγανακτεῖν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ χώρᾳ;
Is it not dreadful, then, that only your intellectual part should be disobedient and dissatisfied with its own place?
καίτοι οὐδέν γε βίαιον τούτῳ ἐπιτάσσεται, ἀλλὰ μόνα ὅσα κατὰ φύσιν ἐστὶν αὐτῷ· οὐ μέντοι ἀνέχεται, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐναντίαν φέρεται.
And yet nothing violent is enjoined upon it, but only what is according to its nature; nevertheless, it does not tolerate this, but moves in the opposite direction.
ἡ γὰρ ἐπὶ τὰ ἀδικήματα καὶ τὰ ἀκολαστήματα καὶ τὰς ὀργὰς καὶ τὰς λύπας καὶ τοὺς φόβους κίνησις οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ ἀφισταμένου τῆς φύσεως.
For movement towards acts of injustice, licentiousness, anger, grief, and fear is nothing other than the movement of one who departs from nature.
καὶ ὅταν δέ τινι τῶν συμβαινόντων δυσχεραίνῃ τὸ ἡγεμονικόν, καταλείπει καὶ τότε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ χώραν· πρὸς ὁσιότητα γὰρ καὶ θεοσέβειαν κατεσκεύασται οὐχ ἧττον ἢ πρὸς δικαιοσύνην.
And when the ruling faculty is dissatisfied with anything that happens, then too it deserts its own place; for it has been constituted for piety and reverence towards the gods no less than for justice.
καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα ἐν εἴδει ἐστὶ τῆς εὐκοινωνησίας, μᾶλλον δὲ πρεσβύτερα τῶν δικαιοπραγημάτων.
For these also are species of social communion, or rather, prior to just deeds.

Notes

  1. §11.20.1τὴν οὐχ ἑαυτῶν φυσικὴν στάσιν — Cognate accusative (or accusative of state/manner) with ἕστηκε. οὐχ ἑαυτῶν means "not their own," referring to the state wherein elements that naturally tend downward are raised up and held in a position (or state, στάσις) that is unnatural to them.
  2. §11.20.2ἀφισταμένου τῆς φύσεως — Present middle participle in the genitive from ἀφίσταμαι (to depart from). It functions as a possessive/descriptive genitive modifying κίνησις ("movement of one who departs..."). The implied subject of the participle is either the "intellectual part" (τὸ νοερὸν μέρος) or a generic subject turning away from nature.
  3. §11.20.2πρεσβύτερα — Comparative neuter plural of πρέσβυς (older, elder). Here it means not only "prior in time" but also "more fundamental" or "prior in importance." Piety and reverence toward the gods are viewed as a more primary form of social communion than justice among humans (δικαιοπραγημάτων).

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §11.20.1-11.20.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.20.1-11.20.2

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