Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §8.34.1

Analogy of the Severed Limb and Rejoining the Whole

Passage 305 of 486 · Greek

Summary

Comparing a person who isolates himself from the whole to a severed limb, the author explains that by divine benevolence, humans are uniquely granted the ability to return and reintegrate into the whole.

§8.34.1Εἴ ποτε εἶδες χεῖρα ἀποκεκομμένην ἢ πόδα ἢ κεφαλὴν ἀποτετμημένην, χωρίς πού ποτε ἀπὸ τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος κειμένην· τοιοῦτον ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖ, ὅσον ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ, ὁ μὴ θέλων τὸ συμβαῖνον καὶ ἀποσχίζων ἑαυτὸν ἢ ὁ ἀκοινώνητόν τι πράσσων.
If you have ever seen a hand cut off, or a foot, or a head severed, lying somewhere far away from the rest of the body—such does a person make himself, as far as lies in his power, who does not accept what happens and cuts himself off, or who acts unsocially.
ἀπέρριψαί πού ποτε ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἑνώσεως· ἐπεφύκεις γὰρ μέρος· νῦν δὲ σεαυτὸν ἀπέκοψας.
You have cast yourself away from the natural unity; for you were by nature born a part; but now you have cut yourself off.
ἀλλ’ ὧδε κομψὸν ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι ἔξεστί σοι πάλιν ἑνῶσαι σεαυτόν.
Yet here is that beautiful thing: that it is permitted to you to unite yourself again.
τοῦτο ἄλλῳ μέρει οὐδενὶ θεὸς ἐπέτρεψεν, χωρισθέντι καὶ διακοπέντι πάλιν συνελθεῖν, ἀλλὰ σκέψαι τὴν χρηστότητα ᾗ τετίμηκε τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ γὰρ ἵνα τὴν ἀρχὴν μὴ ἀπορραγῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὅλου ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ἐποίησε, καὶ ἀπορραγέντι πάλιν ἐπανελθεῖν καὶ συμφῦναι καὶ τὴν τοῦ μέρους τάξιν ἀπολαβεῖν ἐποίησεν.
God has allowed this to no other part, to come together again after being separated and cut off; but consider the kindness with which he has honored man: for he made it depend on man not to be torn away from the whole in the first place, and, even if he has been torn away, he made it possible for him to return again, to grow together, and to resume his place as a part.

Notes

  1. §8.34.1ὅσον ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ — An idiomatic expression combining the limiting `ὅσον` with the preposition `ἐπί` and the dative `ἑαυτῷ`, meaning "as far as in him lies" or "as far as concerns himself". It highlights that through his own attitude, the individual renders himself like a severed limb.
  2. §8.34.1ἐπεφύκεις — The second-person singular pluperfect of `φύω`, using the intransitive perfect stem `πέφυκα` ("to be by nature"). It expresses the original, natural state of the addressee: "for you had been by nature born a part."
  3. §8.34.1ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ἐποίησε — The preposition `ἐπί` with the dative `αὐτῷ` (referring back to `τὸν ἄνθρωπον`) expresses power or control: "He [God] made it depend on him [man]" or "put it in his power" not to be torn away from the whole.
  4. §8.34.1ἀπορραγέντι — The second aorist passive participle dative singular of `ἀπορρήγνυμι` ("to break off"). It functions as the semantic subject of the subsequent infinitives (`ἐπανελθεῖν`, etc.), taking the dative case to agree with the implied recipient of the power granted by the main verb `ἐποίησεν` (used in a causative sense, "He made it possible for...").

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §8.34.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.34.1

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