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Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §11.22.1

The Fable of the Town and Country Mouse

Passage 434 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author briefly references Aesop's fable of the town mouse and the country mouse to evoke the fear and agitation that accompany a luxurious life.

§11.22.1Τὸν μῦν τὸν ὀρεινὸν καὶ τὸν κατοικίδιον καὶ τὴν πτοίαν τούτου καὶ διασόβησιν.
The mountain mouse and the house mouse, and the fright and flurry of the latter.

Notes

  1. 11.22.1Τὸν μῦν ... διασόβησιν — The entire sentence consists only of noun phrases in the accusative case, lacking a main verb. A verb like "remember" (μέμνησο) or "consider" is understood, or it serves as an accusative of exclamation to present an image. It is an elliptical reference to Aesop's fable of the country mouse and the city mouse.
  2. 11.22.1τούτου — The genitive singular of the demonstrative pronoun οὗτος. It refers to the immediately preceding τὸν κατοικίδιον (the house mouse), meaning "of the latter," since it is primarily the city-dwelling house mouse that experiences fright (πτοία) and flurry (διασόβησις) amidst luxury.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §11.22.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.22.1

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