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Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §11.34.1

Awareness of a Child's Mortality and Death as Nature

Passage 446 of 486 · Greek

Summary

Quoting Epictetus, the passage advises to remember the mortality of one's child even while kissing them, explaining that death is not of ill omen but merely a natural process like harvesting crops.

§11.34.1Καταφιλοῦντα τὸ παιδίον δεῖ, ἔλεγεν ὁ Ἐπίκτητος, ἔνδον ἐπιφθέγγεσθαι· αὔριον ἴσως ἀποθανῇ. —δύσφημα ταῦτα. —οὐδὲν δύσφημον, ἔφη, φυσικοῦ τινος ἔργου σημαντικόν· ἢ καὶ τὸ τοὺς στάχυας θερισθῆναι δύσφημον.
Epictetus used to say that when kissing your child, you should whisper within yourself: "Tomorrow, perhaps it will die." — "These are words of ill omen." — "Nothing is of ill omen," he replied, "which signifies any natural work; or is it also of ill omen for the ears of corn to be reaped?"

Notes

  1. §11.34.1Καταφιλοῦντα — A present participle (masculine accusative singular) modifying the implied subject of the impersonal verb δεῖ (an omitted τινά representing a general person).
  2. §11.34.1ἀποθανῇ — Third-person singular aorist active subjunctive of ἀποθνῄσκω. Used with the adverb ἴσως to express a future uncertainty or apprehension. The subject is contextually the preceding τὸ παιδίον (the child).
  3. §11.34.1τὸ τοὺς στάχυας θερισθῆναι — An articular infinitive clause in the accusative structure. The accusative noun τοὺς στάχυας acts as the subject of the passive infinitive θερισθῆναι, and the entire phrase functions as the subject of the omitted verb ἐστί.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §11.34.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.34.1

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