Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.34.1

The Minds of Praise-Seekers and the Oblivion of the Past

Passage 230 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author urges observing the minds of those who seek reputation and notes that, just like shifting sand-dunes, past events in life are quickly covered and forgotten by subsequent ones.

§7.34.1Περὶ δόξης· ἴδε τὰς διανοίας αὐτῶν, οἷαι καὶ οἷα μὲν φεύγουσαι. οἷα δὲ διώκουσαι.
On reputation: look at their minds, what they are like, and what sort of things they avoid and what sort of things they pursue.
καὶ ὅτι, ὡς αἱ θῖνες ἄλλαι ἐπ’ ἄλλαις ἐπιφορούμεναι κρύπτουσι τὰς προτέρας, οὕτως ἐν τῷ βίῳ τὰ πρότερα ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπενεχθέντων τάχιστα ἐκαλύφθη.
And look at this also, that just as sand-dunes heaped up one upon another hide the previous ones, so in life the previous things are very quickly covered over by those that are heaped upon them.

Notes

  1. §7.34.1ἴδε τὰς διανοίας αὐτῶν, οἷαι — This is a proleptic construction where τὰς διανοίας αὐτῶν is placed as the direct object of ἴδε, followed by the indirect question containing the adjective οἷαι.
  2. §7.34.1οἷα μὲν φεύγουσαι. οἷα δὲ διώκουσαι. — The participles φεύγουσαι and διώκουσαι are nominative feminine plural agreeing with the subject of the clause. The preceding words οἷα are accusative neuter plural, serving as the direct objects of the respective participles.
  3. §7.34.1καὶ ὅτι — The conjunction ὅτι introduces a noun clause functioning as the object of the initial verb ἴδε, meaning 'and [observe] that...'.
  4. §7.34.1ἐκαλύφθη — An aorist indicative passive. This is a 'gnomic aorist' used to express a general or universal truth, equivalent to a present tense in English indicating what typically happens.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.34.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.34.1

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