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Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §9.15.1

External Things and the Ruling Center That Judges Them

Passage 347 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The text explains that things themselves remain external and silent, while it is the ruling center (hegemonikon) that forms judgments and makes declarations about them.

§9.15.1Τὰ πράγματα ἔξω θυρῶν ἕστηκεν αὐτὰ ἐφ’ ἑαυτῶν, μηδὲν μήτε εἰδότα περὶ αὑτῶν μήτε ἀποφαινόμενα.
Things stand outside the doors by themselves, knowing nothing about themselves and declaring nothing.
τί οὖν ἀποφαίνεται περὶ αὐτῶν;
What is it then that declares concerning them?
τὸ ἡγεμονικόν.
The ruling center.

Notes

  1. §9.15.1ἕστηκεν — Third-person singular perfect of the verb ἵστημι. It agrees with the neuter plural subject τὰ πράγματα, following the classical Greek rule that a neuter plural subject takes a singular verb.
  2. §9.15.1αὐτὰ ἐφ’ ἑαυτῶν — The combination of the pronoun αὐτά (neuter plural nominative, agreeing appositively with τὰ πράγματα) and the prepositional phrase ἐφ’ ἑαυτῶν (meaning 'by themselves' or 'independently') emphasizes that things exist 'in themselves', independent of the subject's perception.
  3. §9.15.1τὸ ἡγεμονικόν — A key Stoic technical term referring to the 'ruling center' or 'governing principle' of the soul. It functions as the central faculty that assents to or makes judgments (declarations) about impressions received from external things, which themselves are value-neutral.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §9.15.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.15.1

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