Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §8.28.1

Pain and the Autonomous Judgment of the Soul

Passage 299 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author argues that if pain is an evil to the body, the body should declare it, but if it is to the soul, the soul can maintain its calm and refuse to judge it as evil, since all mental activities reside within and nothing external can reach there.

§8.28.1Ὁ πόνος ἤτοι τῷ σώματι κακόν· οὐκοῦν ἀποφαινέσθω· ἢ τῇ ψυχῇ·
Pain is either an evil to the body—so let the body declare it—or to the soul.
ἀλλ’ ἔξεστιν αὐτῇ τὴν ἰδίαν αἰθρίαν καὶ γαλήνην διαφυλάσσειν καὶ μὴ ὑπολαμβάνειν ὅτι κακόν.
But it is possible for the soul to preserve its own serenity and calm, and not to suppose that pain is an evil.
πᾶσα γὰρ κρίσις καὶ ὁρμὴ καὶ ὄρεξις καὶ ἔκκλισις ἔνδον καὶ οὐδὲν ὧδε ἀναβαίνει.
For every judgment, impulse, desire, and aversion is within, and nothing climbs up to here.

Notes

  1. §8.28.1ἀποφαινέσθω — Third-person singular present middle imperative. Although the subject is not explicitly stated, it is contextually most natural to supply "the body" (τὸ σῶμα) from the preceding τῷ σώματι: "let the body declare (that it is suffering)." This is supported by parallel passages such as 7.16.
  2. §8.28.1ὧδε — A demonstrative adverb meaning "hither" or "to this place," referring here to the inner chamber of the soul (ἔνδον), specifically the seat of the ruling center (the hegemonikon). It expresses the idea that external physical stimuli cannot automatically invade the soul's autonomous judgment.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §8.28.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.28.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.