Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §5.4.1

Resolving to Walk with Nature until Rest in the Earth

Passage 105 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author expresses his resolve to continue walking in accordance with nature until the moment he falls and finds rest, expiring into the air he breathes and falling upon the earth that generated, nourishes, and supports him.

§5.4.1Πορεύομαι διὰ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν, μέχρι πεσὼν ἀναπαύσομαι ἐναποπνεύσας μὲν τούτῳ, ἐξ οὖ καθ’ ἡμέραν ἀναπνέω, πεσὼν δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὸ σπερμάτιον ὁ πατήρ μου συνέλεξε καὶ τὸ αἱμάτιον ἡ μήτηρ καὶ τὸ γαλάκτιον ἡ τροφός· ἐξ οὗ καθ’ ἡμέραν τοσούτοις ἔτεσι βόσκομαι καὶ ἀρδεύομαι· ὃ φέρει με πατοῦντα καὶ εἰς τοσαῦτα ἀποχρώμενον αὐτῷ.
I go through the things that are in accordance with nature, until I shall fall and find rest, expiring into this from which I daily breathe, and falling upon this from which my father gathered my little seed, and my mother my little blood, and my nurse my little milk; from which for so many years I am daily fed and watered; which bears me as I tread upon it and abuse it for so many purposes.

Notes

  1. 5.4.1ἐναποπνεύσας — The aorist participle ἐναποπνεύσας (from ἐναποπνέω, "to expire into, breathe out into") along with the parallel participle πεσὼν describes the manner or attendant circumstances of the future verb ἀναπαύσομαι ("I shall find rest").
  2. 5.4.1σπερμάτιον... αἱμάτιον... γαλάκτιον — Diminutive forms of σπέρμα (seed), αἷμα (blood), and γάλα (milk), characteristically used in Stoic reflection to emphasize the physical insignificance and fragility of human bodily origins.
  3. 5.4.1ἀποχρώμενον — Present participle of ἀποχράομαι ("to use to the full, consume, abuse"), governing the dative αὐτῷ (referring to the earth). It highlights how humans selfishly utilize and consume natural resources.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §5.4.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.4.1

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