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Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.24.1

Angry Countenance as Unnatural and Contrary to Reason

Passage 220 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author warns that an angry facial expression is contrary to nature and leads to the extinction of moral consciousness, urging the reader to recognize its irrationality.

§7.24.1Τὸ ἐπίκοτον τοῦ προσώπου λίαν παρὰ φύσιν, ὅταν πολλάκις ἐναποθνῄσκειν ᾖ πρόσχημα ἢ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀπεσβέσθη, ὥστε ὅλως ἐξαφθῆναι μὴ δύνασθαι.
An angry look is extremely contrary to nature, when the dying out of it is often its outward appearance, or it is finally extinguished so that it can never be rekindled at all.
αὐτῷ γε τούτῳ παρακολουθεῖν πειρῶ, ὅτι παρὰ τὸν λόγον.
Try to understand this very thing, that it is contrary to reason.
εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἡ συναίσθησις τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν οἰχήσεται, τίς ἔτι τοῦ ζῆν αἰτία;
For if even the consciousness of doing wrong shall be lost, what reason is there left for living?

Notes

  1. 7.24.1ἐναποθνῄσκειν ᾖ πρόσχημα — Taking the infinitive ἐναποθνῄσκειν (to die out) as the subject of the subjunctive ᾖ, with πρόσχημα (outward appearance) as its complement, describing a state where the loss of expression itself becomes the outward appearance.
  2. 7.24.1ἀπεσβέσθη — Although coordinated with the present subjunctive ᾖ within the ὅταν clause, this verb is in the aorist indicative, emphasizing the transition from a hypothetical situation to a definitive, completed state of being permanently extinguished.
  3. 7.24.1παρακολουθεῖν — Taking the dative αὐτῷ γε τούτῳ (this very thing) as its object, used in the sense of 'to follow intellectually', 'to comprehend', or 'to pay close attention to'.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.24.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.24.1

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