Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.17.1

Happiness as a Good Ruling Center and Banishing Phantasiai

Passage 213 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author defines happiness as a good ruling center and urges the unnecessary imagination (phantasia) to go away without provoking anger.

§7.17.1Εὐδαιμονία ἐστὶ δαίμων ἀγαθὸς ἢ ἡγεμονικὸν ἀγαθόν.
Happiness is a good daemon, or a good ruling center.
τί οὖν ὧδε ποιεῖς, ὦ φαντασία;
What, then, are you doing here, O imagination?
ἀπέρχου, τοὺς θεούς σοι, ὡς ἦλθες· οὐ γὰρ χρῄζω σου.
Go away, in the name of the gods, as you came; for I have no need of you.
ἐλήλυθας δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἔθος.
But you have come according to your old habit.
οὐκ ὀργίζομαί σοι· μόνον ἄπιθι.
I am not angry with you; only go away.

Notes

  1. 7.17.1Εὐδαιμονία ... δαίμων ἀγαθὸς — A wordplay based on the etymology of εὐδαιμονία ('happiness'), which is composed of εὖ ('good') and δαίμων ('daemon' or the divine spark within the soul), thus defining happiness as 'a good daemon'.
  2. 7.17.1τοὺς θεούς σοι — An idiomatic formula for oath or entreaty, where a verb (such as ὄμνυμι 'swear' or ἱκετεύω 'entreat') is omitted. It means 'by the gods, I entreat you.'

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.17.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.17.1

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