Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §12.36.1

Citizenship in the Great City and a Peaceful Departure

Passage 486 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author compares a human being to a citizen of the great city of the universe and life to a drama, arguing that one should accept death peacefully in accordance with nature, even if the play is only three acts.

§12.36.1Ἄνθρωπε, ἐπολιτεύσω ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ ταύτῃ πόλει·
Man, you have lived as a citizen in this great city.
τί σοι διαφέρει, εἰ πέντε ἔτεσιν ἢ τρισί;
What difference does it make to you, whether for five years or three?
τὸ γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἴσον ἑκάστῳ.
For that which is in accordance with the laws is equal for everyone.
τί οὖν δεινόν, εἰ τῆς πόλεως ἀποπέμπει σε οὐ τύραννος οὐδὲ δικαστὴς ἄδικος, ἀλλ’ ἡ φύσις ἡ εἰσαγαγοῦσα, οἷον εἰ κωμῳδὸν ἀπολύοι τῆς σκηνῆς ὁ παραλαβὼν στρατηγός;
What is there to dread then, if you are sent away from the city, not by a tyrant or an unjust judge, but by nature who brought you into it?
—ἀλλ’ οὐκ εἶπον τὰ πέντε μέρη, ἀλλὰ τὰ τρία. —καλῶς εἶπας· ἐν μέντοι τῷ βίῳ τὰ τρία ὅλον τὸ δρᾶμά ἐστι.
Just as if the magistrate who engaged a comic actor were to dismiss him from the stage. —"But I have not played the five acts, but only three."— You say well; but in life, three acts are the whole drama.
τὸ γὰρ τέλειον ἐκεῖνος ὁρίζει ὁ τότε μὲν τῆς συγκρίσεως. νῦν δὲ τῆς διαλύσεως αἴτιος· σὺ δὲ ἀναίτιος ἀμφοτέρων.
For the completion is defined by him who was then the cause of your composition, and now of your dissolution; but you are the cause of neither.
ἄπιθι οὖν ἵλεως· καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἀπολύων ἵλεως.
Depart then satisfied; for he also who dismisses you is satisfied.

Notes

  1. 12.36.1ἔτεσιν ἢ τρισί; — The datives ἔτεσιν and τρισί are used here to express duration of time (equivalent to the accusative of duration) or can be interpreted as datives of measure of difference ("by five years or by three").
  2. 12.36.1ὁ παραλαβὼν στρατηγός — The noun στρατηγός (literally "general") is used here to translate the Roman praetor, who was responsible for producing and managing public games and theatrical performances. The aorist participle παραλαβών (having engaged or taken on) refers to hiring the actor, corresponding to Nature bringing human beings into the world.
  3. 12.36.1ὁ τότε μὲν τῆς συγκρίσεως, νῦν δὲ τῆς διαλύσεως αἴτιος — The conjunctions μὲν... δέ... contrast two phases (then vs. now). The adjective αἴτιος (responsible for, cause of) is omitted in the first clause ("τότε μὲν [sc. αἴτιος]") and expressed only in the second. The genitives συγκρίσεως and διαλύσεως are objective genitives governed by αἴτιος.
  4. 12.36.1ἄπιθι οὖν ἵλεως· καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἀπολύων ἵλεως — The adjective ἵλεως (gracious, propitious, satisfied) is used predicatively with the imperative ἄπιθι (depart) and the participle ὁ ἀπολύων (he who dismisses), describing the peaceful inner state of both the departer and the dismisser.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §12.36.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.36.1

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