Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.25.1

Nature Changing All Things to Keep the Universe Ever Young

Passage 221 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author explains that the nature governing the whole will soon change all visible things, continuously creating new things from their substance to keep the universe forever young.

§7.25.1Πάντα ὅσα ὁρᾷς ὅσον οὔπω μεταβαλεῖ ἡ τὰ ὅλα διοικοῦσα φύσις καὶ ἄλλα ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτῶν ποιήσει καὶ πάλιν ἄλλα ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνων οὐσίας, ἵνα ἀεὶ νεαρὸς ᾖ ὁ κόσμος.
All things that you see, the nature which governs the whole will very soon change, and will make other things out of their substance, and again others out of the substance of those, so that the universe may ever be young.

Notes

  1. §7.25.1μεταβαλεῖ — The future tense of the verb μεταβάλλω (Attic future, third-person singular). Here it functions transitively meaning "will change", taking the opening phrase πάντα ὅσα ὁρᾷς ("all things that you see") as its direct object, with the following ἡ τὰ ὅλα διοικοῦσα φύσις ("the nature which governs the whole") as its subject.
  2. §7.25.1ὅσον οὔπω — An adverbial idiomatic expression meaning "very soon" or "all but now". Combining ὅσον with the negative οὔπω ("not yet") literally means "as much as not yet", indicating an imminent future.
  3. §7.25.1ἐκείνων — Genitive plural of the demonstrative pronoun ἐκεῖνος. While the preceding αὐτῶν refers to "all things now visible," this ἐκείνων refers to the "other things (ἄλλα)" newly created from them, illustrating the continuous, chain-like transformation of matter.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.25.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.25.1

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