Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §5.33.1

The Vanity of Worldly Things and How to Live Until Death

Passage 134 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author explains the vanity of worldly things and the inevitability of death, emphasizing what is truly sufficient in life: to worship the gods, do good to others, and endure fate.

§5.33.1Ὅσον οὐδέπω σποδὸς ἢ σκελετὸς καὶ ἤτοι ὄνομα ἢ οὐδὲ ὄνομα, τὸ δὲ ὄνομα ψόφος καὶ ἀπήχημα.
Before long you will be ashes or a skeleton, and either a name or not even a name; and the name is but a sound and an echo.
τὰ δὲ ἐν τῷ βίῳ πολυτίμητα κενὰ καὶ σαπρὰ καὶ μικρὰ καὶ κυνίδια διαδακνόμενα καὶ παιδία φιλόνεικα, γελῶντα, εἶτα εὐθὺς κλαίοντα·
The things which are much valued in life are empty and rotten and trivial, like little dogs biting one another, or quarrelsome children who laugh and then immediately weep.
πίστις δὲ καὶ αἰδὼς καὶ δίκη καὶ ἀλήθεια "πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἀπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης. " τί οὖν ἔτι τὸ ἐνταῦθα κατέχον, εἴ γε τὰ μὲν αἰσθητὰ εὐμετάβλητα καὶ οὐχ ἑστῶτα, τὰ δὲ αἰσθητήρια ἀμυδρὰ καὶ εὐπαρατύπωτα, αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ψυχάριον ἀναθυμίασις ἀφ’ αἵματος, τὸ δὲ εὐδοκιμεῖν παρὰ τοιούτοις κενόν;
But faith and modesty and justice and truth have fled "to Olympus from the wide-wayed earth." What is it, then, that still detains you here, if indeed sensible things are easily changed and unstable, and the senses are dim and easily deceived, and the poor soul itself is but an exhalation from blood, and to be well regarded among such people is empty?
τί οὖν;
What then?
περιμένεις ἵλεως τὴν εἴτε σβέσιν εἴτε μετάστασιν·
Wait with a gracious mind for either your extinction or your removal.
ἕως δὲ ἐκείνης ὁ καιρὸς ἐφίσταται, τί ἀρκεῖ;
And until that time comes, what is sufficient?
τί δὲ ἄλλο ἢ θεοὺς μὲν σέβειν καὶ εὐφημεῖν, ἀνθρώπους δὲ εὖ ποιεῖν καὶ ἀνέχεσθαι αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπέχεσθαι· ὅσα δὲ ἐντὸς ὅρων τοῦ κρεᾳδίου καὶ τοῦ πνευματίου, ταῦτα μεμνῆσθαι μήτε σὰ ὄντα μήτε ἐπὶ σοί.
What else than to worship and praise the gods, and to do good to men, and to tolerate them and abstain from them, and to remember that all which is within the limits of this wretched flesh and breath is neither yours nor in your power?

Notes

  1. §5.33.1Ὅσον οὐδέπω — An idiomatic expression meaning "almost immediately" or "before long." A verb in the second person singular future, such as ἔσῃ ("you will be"), is understood to be omitted after this phrase.
  2. §5.33.1πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἀπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης — A quotation from Hesiod, Works and Days, line 197. In the original context, the subjects are Aidōs (shame/modesty) and Nemesis (indignation) leaving the earth, but here the virtues like πίστις are the subjects, and the verb (such as ᾔτην or ἔβησαν) is omitted.
  3. §5.33.1ἀνέχεσθαι αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπέχεσθαι — A reflection of the famous Stoic maxim, particularly associated with Epictetus: "bear and forbear" (sustine et abstine). Both infinitives, ἀνέχεσθαι and ἀπέχεσθαι, govern the genitive pronoun αὐτῶν (referring to "men").
  4. §5.33.1μεμνῆσθαι μήτε σὰ ὄντα μήτε ἐπὶ σοί — μεμνῆσθαι is an infinitive used as an imperative (imperative infinitive). The preceding relative clause ὅσα... is resumed by the demonstrative pronoun ταῦτα (neuter plural accusative), which functions as the subject of the participle ὄντα. The phrase ἐπὶ σοί (under your control / in your power) is a prepositional phrase with ἐπί + dative, reflecting a key Stoic concept.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §5.33.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.33.1

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