Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §3.3.1

The Inevitability of Death and Disembarking from the Voyage

Passage 37 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author lists historical figures who, despite their greatness, could not escape death, and compares life to a voyage where dying is simply stepping ashore, requiring no fear whether there is a next life or insensibility.

§3.3.1Ἱπποκράτης πολλὰς νόσους ἰασάμενος αὐτὸς νοσήσας ἀπέθανεν.
Hippocrates, after curing many diseases, himself fell sick and died.
οἱ Χαλδαῖοι πολλῶν θανάτους προηγόρευσαν, εἶτα καὶ αὐτοὺς τὸ πεπρωμένον κατέλαβεν.
The Chaldaeans foretold the deaths of many, and then fate caught them too.
Ἀλέξανδρος καὶ Πομπήιος καὶ Γάιος Καῖσαρ, ὅλας πόλεις ἄρδην τοσαυτάκις ἀνελόντες καὶ ἐν παρατάξει πολλὰς μυριάδας ἱππέων καὶ πεζῶν κατακόψαντες, καὶ αὐτοί ποτε ἐξῆλθον τοῦ βίου.
Alexander, Pompey, and Gaius Caesar, after so often utterly destroying whole cities and slaughtering many tens of thousands of cavalry and infantry in battle, themselves also at last departed from life.
Ἡράκλειτος περὶ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ἐκπυρώσεως τοσαῦτα φυσιολογήσας, ὕδατος τὰ ἐντὸς πληρωθείς, βολβίτῳ κατακεχρισμένος ἀπέθανε.
Heraclitus, after speculating so much on the conflagration of the universe, died covered with cow dung, his insides filled with water.
Δημόκριτον δὲ οἱ φθεῖρες, Σωκράτην δὲ ἄλλοι φθεῖρες ἀπέκτειναν.
Democritus was killed by lice, and Socrates by other lice.
τί ταῦτα;
What of this?
ἐνέβης, ἔπλευσας, κατήχθης· ἔκβηθι.
You have embarked, you have made the voyage, you have come to port; step ashore.
εἰ μὲν ἐφ’ ἕτερον βίον, οὐδὲν θεῶν κενὸν οὐδὲ ἐκεῖ· εἰ δὲ ἐν ἀναισθησίᾳ, παύσῃ πόνων καὶ ἡδονῶν ἀνεχόμενος καὶ λατρεύων τοσούτῳ χείρονι τῷ ἀγγείῳ ἤπερ ἐστὶ τὸ ὑπηρετοῦν·
If to another life, there is nothing empty of gods even there; but if to insensibility, you will cease from bearing pains and pleasures, and from serving a vessel which is so much inferior to that which serves it.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ νοῦς καὶ δαίμων, τὸ δὲ γῆ καὶ λύθρος.
For the former is mind and a divine spirit, while the latter is clay and gore.

Notes

  1. 3.3.1ὕδατος τὰ ἐντὸς πληρωθείς — The passive participle `πληρωθείς` ("having been filled") of the verb `πληρόω` takes both the genitive of material/contents `ὕδατος` ("with water") and the accusative of respect/part affected `τὰ ἐντός` ("the inner parts"). This refers to the tradition that Heraclitus died of dropsy.
  2. 3.3.1παύσῃ πόνων καὶ ἡδονῶν ἀνεχόμενος — The verb `παύομαι` ("cease") takes supplementary participles (here `ἀνεχόμενος` and `λατρεύων`) to mean "cease doing something." The participle `ἀνεχόμενος` is from `ἀνέχομαι` ("endure"), which governs the genitive case, making `πόνων καὶ ἡδονῶν` ("pains and pleasures") its genitive objects.
  3. 3.3.1ἤπερ ἐστὶ τὸ ὑπηρετοῦν — A clause introduced by the comparative conjunction `ἤπερ` ("than") following the comparative `χείρονι` ("inferior"). The neuter present participle `τὸ ὑπηρετοῦν` ("that which serves/renders service") refers to the rational mind or guiding spirit (the inner daemon), contrasted with the bodily vessel (`τὸ ἀγγεῖον`). Although the body is the "vessel" served by life, the soul is the noble agent that actually animates and serves the physical frame. This corresponds to `τὸ μὲν` ("the former") in the following sentence.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §3.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.3.1

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