Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §2.17.1-2.17.2

The Transience of Life and Philosophy as the Only Guide

Passage 34 of 486 · Greek

Summary

Contrasts the transience of human life and body with the emptiness of posthumous fame, declaring that philosophy is the sole guide that can escort us through such an unstable existence.

§2.17.1Τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου ὁ μὲν χρόνος στιγμή, ἡ δὲ οὐσία ῥέουσα, ἡ δὲ αἴσθησις ἀμυδρά, ἡ δὲ ὅλου τοῦ σώματος σύγκρισις εὔσηπτος, ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ ῥόμβος, ἡ δὲ τύχη δυστέκμαρτον, ἡ δὲ φήμη ἄκριτον·
Of human life, time is a point, substance is flowing, perception is dim, the composition of the whole body is corruptible, the soul is a spinning top, fortune is hard to divine, and fame is a matter of no judgment.
συνελόντι δὲ εἰπεῖν, πάντα τὰ μὲν τοῦ σώματος ποταμός, τὰ δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ὄνειρος καὶ τῦφος, ὁ δὲ βίος πόλεμος καὶ ξένου ἐπιδημία, ἡ δὲ ὑστεροφημία λήθη.
In a word, all things of the body are a river, those of the soul are a dream and smoke, life is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and posthumous fame is oblivion.
§2.17.2τί οὖν τὸ παραπέμψαι δυνάμενον;
What then is that which can escort us?
ἓν καὶ μόνον φιλοσοφία·
One thing and one only, philosophy.
τοῦτο δὲ ἐν τῷ τηρεῖν τὸν ἔνδον δαίμονα ἀνύβριστον καὶ ἀσινῆ, ἡδονῶν καὶ πόνων κρείσσονα, μηδὲν εἰκῇ ποιοῦντα μηδὲ διεψευσμένως καὶ μεθ̓ ὑποκρίσεως, ἀνενδεῆ τοῦ ἄλλον ποιῆσαί τι ἢ μὴ ποιῆσαι· ἔτι δὲ τὰ συμβαίνοντα καὶ ἀπονεμόμενα δεχόμενον ὡς ἐκεῖθέν ποθεν ἐρχόμενα, ὅθεν αὐτὸς ἦλθεν· ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τὸν θάνατον ἵλεῳ τῇ γνώμῃ περιμένοντα ὡς οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ λύσιν τῶν στοιχείων, ἐξ ὧν ἕκαστον ζῷον συγκρίνεται.
And this consists in keeping the daemon within free from violence and unharmed, superior to pleasures and pains, doing nothing at random, nor falsely and with hypocrisy, not needing that another should do or not do anything; and furthermore, accepting what happens and what is allotted as coming from some place whence he himself came; and above all, waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements of which every living being is composed.
εἰ δὲ αὐτοῖς τοῖς στοιχείοις μηδὲν δεινὸν ἐν τῷ ἕκαστον διηνεκῶς εἰς ἕτερον μεταβάλλειν, διὰ τί ὑπίδηταί τις τὴν πάντων μεταβολὴν καὶ διάλυσιν;
But if there is no evil to the elements themselves in each continually changing into another, why should anyone suspect with fear the change and dissolution of all things?
κατὰ φύσιν γάρ· οὐδὲν δὲ κακὸν κατὰ φύσιν.
For it is according to nature; and nothing which is according to nature is evil.
Τὰ ἐν Καρνούντῳ.
Written at Carnuntum.

Notes

  1. §2.17.1συνελόντι δὲ εἰπεῖν — An idiomatic absolute construction meaning 'to put it briefly' or 'in a word'. The participle συνελόντι is the dative aorist of συναιρέω (to contract, summarize), functioning as a dative of reference indicating the person making the judgment.
  2. §2.17.2τοῦ ἄλλον ποιῆσαί τι ἢ μὴ ποιῆσαι — The articular infinitives τοῦ ποιῆσαι and μὴ ποιῆσαι form a genitive construction governed by the adjective ἀνενδεῆ (having no need of, independent of). ἄλλον (another person) is in the accusative case as the subject of these infinitives.
  3. §2.17.2ἐν τῷ ἕκαστον διηνεκῶς εἰς ἕτερον μεταβάλλειν — An articular infinitive construction τῷ... μεταβάλλειν governed by the preposition ἐν. ἕκαστον (each element) acts as the subject of the infinitive in the accusative case, meaning 'in each continually changing into another.'

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §2.17.1-2.17.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.17.1-2.17.2

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