Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §8.21.1

The Reality of Things, Fleeting Fame, and the Earth

Passage 292 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author urges looking at the inner reality of things under aging, sickness, and decay, emphasizing the fleeting nature of fame and memory, and the insignificance of the earth as a mere point.

§8.21.1Ἔκστρεψον καὶ θέασαι οἷόν ἐστι, γηρᾶσαν δὲ οἷον γίνεται, νοσῆσαν δέ, πορνεῦσαν.
Turn it inside out and see what kind of thing it is, and what it becomes when it has grown old, and when it has fallen sick, and when it has played the harlot.
Βραχύβιον καὶ ὁ ἐπαινῶν καὶ ὁ ἐπαινούμενος καὶ ὁ μνημονεύων καὶ ὁ μνημονευόμενος.
Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, the rememberer and the remembered.
προσέτι δὲ καὶ ἐν γωνίᾳ τούτου τοῦ κλίματος καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα πάντες συμφωνοῦσι καὶ οὐδὲ αὐτός τις ἑαυτῷ· καὶ ὅλη δὲ ἡ γῆ στιγμή.
And that, too, in a corner of this region, and not even there do all agree, nor does anyone agree even with himself; and the whole earth is but a point.

Notes

  1. 8.21.1Ἔκστρεψον — The direct object of the verb is not explicitly stated, but it refers to 'the body' (σῶμα) or 'the object itself' implied by the context. The subsequent neuter singular participles (such as γηρᾶσαν) confirm that a neuter noun is understood.
  2. 8.21.1Βραχύβιον — Although the subject consists of coordinated masculine singulars (ὁ ἐπαινῶν...), the predicate adjective is in the neuter singular (βραχύβιον). This construction treats the subject as a general class or conceptual whole ('a short-lived thing').
  3. 8.21.1κλίματος — Originally meaning 'inclination', this term refers in astronomical and geographical contexts to 'latitudinal zones' or 'regions of the earth'. Here it is used in the sense of 'this particular corner or region of the world'.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §8.21.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.21.1

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