Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §8.56.1

Autonomy of the Ruling Center and Indifference to Others

Passage 327 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The faculty of choice and actions of others are indifferent to one's own ruling center; although humans exist for one another, each person's ruling center remains autonomous. God has ensured that one's own unhappiness does not depend on another.

§8.56.1Τῷ ἐμῷ προαιρετικῷ τὸ τοῦ πλησίον προαιρετικὸν ἐπίσης ἀδιάφορόν ἐστιν, ὡς καὶ τὸ πνευμάτιον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ σαρκίδιον.
To my own faculty of choice, the faculty of choice of my neighbor is equally indifferent, just as his breath and his flesh are.
καὶ γὰρ εἰ ὅτι μάλιστα ἀλλήλων ἕνεκεν γεγόναμεν, ὅμως τὰ ἡγεμονικὰ ἡμῶν ἕκαστον τὴν ἰδίαν κυρίαν ἔχει·
For even if we have been made especially for one another, nevertheless each of our ruling centers has its own domain of sovereignty.
ἐπεί τοι ἔμελλεν ἡ τοῦ πλησίον κακία ἐμοῦ κακὸν εἶναι, ὅπερ οὐκ ἔδοξε τῷ θεῷ, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ’ ἄλλῳ ᾖ τὸ ἐμὲ ἀτυχεῖν.
Otherwise, the wickedness of my neighbor would have been my own evil, which did not seem good to God, in order that my being unhappy might not depend on another.

Notes

  1. §8.56.1εἰ ὅτι μάλιστα — The combination of εἰ with ὅτι μάλιστα (superlative intensive) expresses a concessive assumption meaning "even if... ever so much" or "although in the highest degree."
  2. §8.56.1ἐπεί τοι — A conjunctional phrase meaning "otherwise" or "for else," introducing a counterfactual hypothesis (i.e., if the previous statement about the autonomy of the ruling centers were not true), which corresponds with the following ἔμελλεν.
  3. §8.56.1ἔμελλεν — The imperfect of μέλλω, expressing past necessity or destiny, but here used to indicate a counterfactual result ("would have been") that did not actually occur in reality.
  4. §8.56.1τὸ ἐμὲ ἀτυχεῖν — An articular infinitive accompanied by its subject accusative ἐμέ, functioning as a noun clause which acts as the subject of the subjunctive verb ᾖ.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §8.56.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.56.1

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