Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §4.33.1

The Oblivion of Fame and the True Pursuit of Virtue

Passage 83 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author points out that words and the names of once-famous figures eventually fade into obsolete words and complete oblivion, emphasizing that the only things worthy of serious pursuit are a righteous mind, social actions, truthful speech, and acceptance of fate.

§4.33.1Αἱ πάλαι συνήθεις λέξεις νῦν γλωσσήματα·
Words that were once familiar are now obsolete.
οὕτως οὖν καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν πάλαι πολυυμνήτων νῦν τρόπον τινὰ γλωσσήματά ἐστι, Κάμιλλος, Καίσων, Οὐόλεσος, Δέντατος, κατ’ ὀλίγον δὲ καὶ Σκιπίων καὶ Κάτων, εἶτα καὶ Αὔγουστος, εἶτα καὶ Ἁδριανὸς καὶ Ἁντωνῖνος·
In the same way, the names of those who were once highly celebrated are now also, in a manner, obsolete: Camillus, Caeso, Volesus, Dentatus, and after a little while Scipio and Cato, then also Augustus, and then also Hadrian and Antoninus.
ἐξίτηλα γὰρ πάντα καὶ μυθώδη ταχὺ γίνεται, ταχὺ δὲ καὶ παντελὴς λήθη κατέχωσεν.
For all things quickly fade away and become mythical, and soon complete oblivion buries them.
καὶ ταῦτα λέγω ἐπὶ τῶν θαυμαστῶς πως λαμψάντων· οἱ γὰρ λοιποὶ ἅμα τῷ ἐκπνεῦσαι ʽἄιστοι, ἄπυστοιʼ. τί δὲ καὶ ἔστιν ὅλως τὸ ἀείμνηστον;
And I say this of those who shone with a kind of wondrous glory; for as for the rest, as soon as they have breathed their last, they are "unseen, unheard of." And what, after all, is eternal remembrance?
ὅλον κενόν.
Altogether vanity.
τί οὖν ἐστι περὶ ὃ δεῖ σπουδὴν εἰσφέρεσθαι;
What, then, is that about which we ought to employ our serious trouble?
ἓν τοῦτο, διάνοια δικαία καὶ πράξεις κοινωνικαὶ καὶ λόγος, οἷος μήποτε διαψεύσασθαι, καὶ διάθεσις ἀσπαζομένη πᾶν τὸ συμβαῖνον ὡς ἀναγκαῖον, ὡς γνώριμον, ὡς ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς τοιαύτης καὶ πηγῆς ῥέον.
This one thing: a righteous mind, social acts, speech that never deceives, and a disposition that welcomes everything that happens as necessary, as familiar, as flowing from such a source and spring.

Notes

  1. §4.33.1γλωσσήματα — Originally referring to rare, obsolete, or dialectal words that require explanation (glosses). The author compares the names of famous historical figures to these obsolete words, which over time become unfamiliar to later generations and require interpretation.
  2. §4.33.1κατέχωσεν — Aorist active indicative third person singular. Although parallel with the present tense γίζεται, this is a 'gnomic aorist' expressing a general truth, and is best translated in the present tense (e.g., 'buries' or 'covers over').
  3. §4.33.1ἄιστοι, ἄπυστοι — A quote from Homer's Odyssey (e.g., 1.242, 4.728), where it is said of the missing Odysseus that he is 'unseen, unheard of.' The author uses this epic tag to describe how ordinary people, upon death, immediately vanish without a trace and are forgotten.
  4. §4.33.1οἷος μήποτε διαψεύσασθαι — The relative pronoun of quality οἷος followed by the infinitive διαψεύσασθαι (middle, here meaning 'to deceive' or 'to prove false'). It expresses the nature or quality of the speech: 'such as never to deceive.'

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §4.33.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.33.1

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