Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.10.1

Swift Absorption of Matter, Cause, and Memory into the Whole

Passage 206 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The passage contrastively describes how material things, causes, and memories are swiftly absorbed back into the universal substance, reason, and eternity.

§7.10.1Πᾶν τὸ ἔνυλον ἐναφανίζεται τάχιστα τῇ τῶν ὅλων οὐσίᾳ καὶ πᾶν αἴτιον εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων λόγον τάχιστα ἀναλαμβάνεται καὶ παντὸς μνήμη τάχιστα ἐγκαταχώννυται τῷ αἰῶνι.
Every material thing vanishes most quickly into the substance of the universe, and every cause is most quickly taken back into the reason of the universe, and the memory of all things is most quickly buried in eternity.

Notes

  1. 7.10.1τῇ τῶν ὅλων οὐσίᾳ — The neuter plural genitive with article τῶν ὅλων refers to 'the whole' or 'the universe', modifying οὐσίᾳ (substance). The entire phrase is in the dative, serving as the complement to the verb ἐναφανίζεται (vanishes into).
  2. 7.10.1ἀναλαμβάνεται — Present indicative passive of ἀναλαμβάνω (to take back, reabsorb). In Stoic cosmology, it denotes the process where individual 'causes' (active or formal principles) flow back into the universal reason (λόγος) that governs the cosmos.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.10.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.10.1

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