Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.40.1

The Fate of Life and Death Likened to the Harvest

Passage 236 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The passage compares human life to the reaping of a fruitful ear of grain, describing the inevitable destiny of life and death where some exist and others do not.

§7.40.1Βίον θερίζειν ὥστε κάρπιμον στάχυν καὶ τὸν μὲν εἶναι, τὸν δὲ μή.
To reap life like a fruitful ear of grain, and for one to exist, and another not to exist.

Notes

  1. §7.40.1θερίζειν — An absolute infinitive (infinitivus absolutus) expressing destiny, universal truth, or the necessity that 'one must' do so.
  2. §7.40.1ὥστε — Used not as a conjunction introducing a result clause, but in the sense of ὥσπερ ('like', 'just as') to express a comparison.
  3. §7.40.1τὸν μὲν εἶναι, τὸν δὲ μή — τὸν μὲν and τὸν δὲ serve as the subject accusatives of the infinitive εἶναι, functioning as demonstrative pronouns meaning 'the one... the other...'. μή negates the omitted infinitive εἶναι.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.40.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.40.1

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