Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §4.50.1

The Vanity of Longevity and the Infinite Span of Time

Passage 100 of 486 · Greek

Summary

As a means to overcome the fear of death, the author reflects that even those who clung to life and lived long eventually died and were buried, and that compared to infinite time, the difference in human lifespans is negligible.

§4.50.1Ἰδιωτικὸν μέν, ὅμως δὲ ἀνυστικὸν βοήθημα πρὸς θανάτου καταφρόνησιν ἡ ἀναπόλησις τῶν γλίσχρως ἐνδιατριψάντων τῷ ζῆν.
A humble but yet effective help towards the contempt of death is the recollection of those who have clung greedily to life.
τί οὖν αὐτοῖς πλέον ἢ τοῖς ἀώροις;
What more then have they than those who died prematurely?
πάντως πού ποτε κεῖνται, Καδικιανός, Φάβιος, Ἰουλιανός, Λέπιδος ἢ εἴ τις τοιοῦτος, οἳ πολλοὺς ἐξήνεγκαν, εἶτα ἐξηνέχθησαν·
They lie somewhere at last, Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus, Lepidus, or any other such men, who carried many to their graves, and then were carried out themselves.
ὅλον, μικρόν ἐστι τὸ διάστημα καὶ τοῦτο δι’ ὅσων καὶ μεθ’ οἵων ἐξαντλούμενον καὶ ἐν οἵῳ σωματίῳ;
The interval is small at best, and even this, through how many troubles, with what sort of people, and in what a puny body is it exhausted!
μὴ οὖν ὡς πρᾶγμα.
Do not then look upon it as a matter of importance.
βλέπε γὰρ ὀπίσω τὸ ἀχανὲς τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ τὸ πρόσω ἄλλο ἄπειρον.
For look behind at the yawning gulf of time, and ahead at another infinity.
ἐν δὴ τούτῳ τί διαφέρει ὁ τριήμερος τοῦ τριγερηνίου;
In this, then, what difference is there between him who lives three days and him who lives three generations?

Notes

  1. §4.50.1ἐνδιατριψάντων τῷ ζῆν — The verb ἐνδιατρίβω means 'to spend time in, busy oneself with'. Here, with the dative τῷ ζῆν ('living'), it refers to those who spent a long time in life. The adverb γλίσχρως ('greedily', 'clinging') intensifies the nuance of their attachment to life.
  2. §4.50.1οἳ πολλοὺς ἐξήνεγκαν, εἶτα ἐξηνέχθησαν — A contrast between the active voice of ἐκφέρω (to carry out a corpse for burial) and its passive voice (to be carried out for one's own burial). This concise wordplay highlights the transience of life and the universal fate where those who buried others are themselves eventually buried.
  3. §4.50.1μὴ οὖν ὡς πρᾶγμα — An elliptical construction. A verb (such as ὑπολάμβανε, 'do not regard') and an adjective (such as μέγα, 'great') are omitted. The phrase means 'Do not, therefore, look upon it as a matter of great importance'. Here, πρᾶγμα is used with the nuance of 'a serious matter' or 'a big deal'.
  4. §4.50.1τοῦ τριγερηνίου — A compound word derived from τρία ('three') and γέρων ('old man'), playfully echoing the Homeric epithet of the long-lived Gerenian Nestor, who was said to have lived through three generations. It means 'one who has lived three generations', here contrasted with the one who lives only three days (τριήμερος).

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §4.50.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.50.1

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