Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §8.58.1

Why Death Is Harmless: Loss or Change of Sensation

Passage 329 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The passage analyzes the fear of death through two possibilities: the complete loss of sensation or the acquisition of a different kind of sensation, arguing that in neither case is there cause for fear.

§8.58.1Ὁ τὸν θάνατον φοβούμενος ἤτοι ἀναισθησίαν φοβεῖται ἢ αἴσθησιν ἑτεροίαν.
He who fears death fears either the absence of sensation or a different kind of sensation.
ἀλλ’ εἴτε οὐκέτι αἴσθησιν, οὐδὲ κακοῦ τινος αἰσθήσῃ· εἴτε ἀλλοιοτέραν αἴσθησιν κτήσῃ, ἀλλοῖον ζῷον ἔσῃ καὶ τοῦ ζῆν οὐ παύσῃ.
But if indeed you will no longer have sensation, you will not feel any evil; and if you acquire a different kind of sensation, you will be a different kind of living being and will not cease to live.

Notes

  1. §8.58.1εἴτε οὐκέτι αἴσθησιν — A highly elliptical expression in the conditional clause, where a verb such as ἔσται or ἕξεις is omitted, meaning 'if there is no longer any sensation' or 'if you no longer have sensation'.
  2. §8.58.1τοῦ ζῆν — An articular infinitive in the genitive case, functioning as the complement of the verb παύομαι ('to cease from').

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §8.58.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.58.1

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