Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §9.14.1

The Transience of All Things and Their Sameness with the Past

Passage 346 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author defines the nature of all things through experience, time, and substance, noting that everything today is identical to how it was in the days of those who are now buried.

§9.14.1Πάντα ταῦτα συνήθη μὲν τῇ πείρᾳ, ἐφήμερα δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ, ῥυπαρὰ δὲ τῇ ὕλῃ· πάντα νῦν οἷα ἐπ’ ἐκείνων οὓς κατεθάψαμεν.
All these things are familiar in experience, ephemeral in time, and sordid in substance; everything now is just as it was in the time of those whom we have buried.

Notes

  1. §9.14.1τῇ πείρᾳ — Along with the parallel phrases τῷ χρόνῳ and τῇ ὕλῃ, this is a dative of respect (dativus respectus). It specifies the respect in which the three preceding adjectives (συνήθη, ἐφήμερα, ῥυπαρὰ) apply to 'all these things'.
  2. §9.14.1ἐπ’ ἐκείνων — The preposition ἐπί with the genitive. Interpreting this temporally as 'in the time of' is most natural given the temporal contrast with the past generation referred to by the relative clause οὓς κατεθάψαμεν ('whom we have buried'). Although it could be interpreted more generally as 'in the case of', the temporal nuance of unchanging reality over time remains paramount.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §9.14.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.14.1

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