Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §9.33.1

Rapid Perishing of Things and Equality in Death

Passage 365 of 486 · Greek

Summary

Points out the rapid perishing of all visible things, noting that both those who witness this and those who die in extreme old age will end up in the same state as those who die prematurely.

§9.33.1Πάντα ὅσα ὁρᾷς τάχιστα φθαρήσεται καὶ οἱ φθειρόμενα αὐτὰ ἐπιδόντες τάχιστα καὶ αὐτοὶ φθαρήσονται καὶ ὁ ἐσχατόγηρως ἀποθανὼν εἰς ἴσον καταστήσεται τῷ προώρῳ.
All things that you see will very quickly perish, and those who witness them perishing will themselves also very quickly perish; and he who dies in extreme old age will be brought to the same condition as he who dies prematurely.

Notes

  1. §9.33.1φθειρόμενα αὐτὰ ἐπιδόντες — ἐπιδόντες is the aorist active participle (masculine nominative plural) of ἐφοράω (to witness, live to see). φθειρόμενα is the present participle (neuter accusative plural) acting predicatively with αὐτά (neuter accusative plural referring back to πάντα), indicating the state of the objects being witnessed: "those who witness them perishing."
  2. §9.33.1τῷ προώρῳ — The masculine dative singular of the adjective πρόωρος (premature, untimely) used substantively, meaning "he who dies prematurely." It corresponds to the preceding subject ὁ ἐσχατόγηρως ἀποθανών (he who dies in extreme old age) and functions as the dative of comparison required by εἰς ἴσον (equal to).

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §9.33.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.33.1

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