Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.9.1

Interconnection of All Things and the One Sacred Universe

Passage 205 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The passage explains that all things are interconnected to form a single, sacred universe, and that the truth and perfection of all intelligent beings sharing the same reason are also one.

§7.9.1Πάντα ἀλλήλοις ἐπιπλέκεται καὶ ἡ σύνὸεσις ἱερά, καὶ σχεδόν τι οὐδὲν ἀλλότριον ἄλλο ἄλλῳ·
All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and there is hardly anything remaining alien to any other thing.
συγκατατέτακται γὰρ καὶ συγκοσμεῖ τὸν αὐτὸν κόσμον.
For they have been coordinated together, and they combine to adorn the same universe.
κόσμος τε γὰρ εἷς ἐξ ἁπάντων καὶ θεὸς εἷς δι’ ἁπάντων καὶ οὐσία μία καὶ νόμος εἷς, λόγος κοινὸς πάντων τῶν νοερῶν ζῴων καὶ ἀλήθεια μία, εἴγε καὶ τελειότης μία τῶν ὁμογενῶν καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου μετεχόντων ζῴων.
For there is both one universe made up of all things, and one God immanent in all things, and one substance, and one law, and one reason common to all intelligent beings, and one truth; if indeed there is also one perfection for all beings which are of the same stock and participate in the same reason.

Notes

  1. §7.9.1ἄλλο ἄλλῳ — The nominative ἄλλο and the dative ἄλλῳ of the pronoun ἄλλος are placed together to express a reciprocal relationship ('one thing to another') concisely. The dative ἄλλῳ depends on the adjective ἀλλότριον ('alien'), while ἄλλο acts in apposition to the subject.
  2. §7.9.1συγκατατέτακται γὰρ καὶ συγκοσμεῖ — The subject is the neuter plural Πάντα from the beginning of the section, which takes singular verbs. The intransitive (or passive) συγκατατέτακται ('has been coordinated together') and the transitive συγκοσμεῖ ('co-adorns' or 'helps to order') are coordinated, with only the latter directly governing the object τὸν αὐτὸν κόσμον.
  3. §7.9.1εἴγε — A particle introducing a condition that is assumed to be true ('if indeed', 'insofar as'). Here, the premise that there is one perfection for all beings sharing the same reason serves as a ground reinforcing the unity of the universe and the oneness of truth.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.9.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.9.1

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