Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.45.1

Duty to Hold One's Post and Fear Disgrace Above Death

Passage 241 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The speaker asserts that a person must remain at the post where he has stationed himself or been stationed by a commander, facing danger without prioritizing death or any other threat over disgrace.

§7.45.1Ὁὕτω γὰρ ἔχει, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· οὗ ἄν τις αὑτὸν τάξῃ ἡγησάμενος βέλτιστον εἶναι ἢ ὑπ̓ ἄρχοντος ταχθῇ, ἐνταῦθα δεῖ, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, μένοντα κινδυνεύειν, μηδὲν ὑπολογιζόμενον μήτε θάνατον μήτε ἄλλο μηδὲν πρὸ τοῦ αἰσχροῦ. ʼ
'For this, men of Athens, is how it is in truth: wherever someone has stationed himself, believing it to be best, or has been stationed by a commander, there, as it seems to me, he must remain and face danger, calculating neither death nor anything else before disgrace.'

Notes

  1. §7.45.1μένουτα — The participle is in the accusative because it agrees with the implied subject (`the accusative pronoun τινά`) of the infinitive `κινδυνεύειν` governed by the impersonal verb `δεῖ`.
  2. §7.45.1πρὸ τοῦ αἰσχροῦ — The preposition `πρό` with the genitive here expresses preference ("in preference to", "before"). It indicates that one must not value or calculate death or any other danger above avoiding disgrace.
  3. §7.45.1ἡγησάμενος — Aorist middle participle in the nominative, agreeing with the subject `τις` of the relative clause `οὗ ἄν τις αὑτὸν τάξῃ`. It takes the infinitive `εἶναι` to mean "believing [it] to be best".

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.45.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.45.1

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