Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §9.37.1

Ending Complaints and Analyzing Cause and Matter

Passage 369 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author urges himself to end his miserable life, complaints, and hypocrisy, advising to analyze everything into cause and matter, to remain simple and good before the gods, and asserting that contemplating these truths is the same whether for a hundred years or three.

§9.37.1Ἅλις τοῦ ἀθλίου βίου καὶ γογγυσμοῦ καὶ πιθηκισμοῦ.

Enough of this miserable life, and murmuring, and apishness.

—τί ταράσσῃ;

Why are you disquieted?

τί τούτων καινόν;

What is new in these things?

τί σε ἐξίστησι;

What puts you out of your mind?

τὸ αἴτιον;

The cause?

ἴδε αὐτό.

Look at it.

ἀλλ’ ἡ ὕλη;

Or is it the matter?

ἴδε αὐτήν.

Look at it.

ἔξω δὲ τούτων οὐδέν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς ἤδη ποτὲ ἁπλούστερος καὶ χρηστότερος γενοῦ.

And besides these things there is nothing; but even towards the gods now at length become simpler and better.

Ἴσον τὸ ἑκατὸν ἔτεσι καὶ τὸ τρισὶ ταῦτα ἱστορῆσαι.

To contemplate these things for a hundred years is the same as for three.

Notes

§9.37.1Ἅλις — The adverb ἅλις ('enough') is used substantively here as a predicate governing the genitive (τοῦ ἀθλίου βίου...), meaning 'enough of...'.
§9.37.1Ἴσον τὸ ἑκατὸν ἔτεσι καὶ τὸ τρισὶ ταῦτα ἱστορῆσαι — With the neuter adjective ἴσον as the predicate, the articular infinitive phrase τὸ ... ἱστορῆσαι serves as the subject. This is a coordination of two contrastive infinitive phrases, τὸ ἑκατὸν ἔτεσι [ταῦτα ἱστορῆσαι] and τὸ τρισὶ [ταῦτα ἱστορῆσαι], with the repeated elements omitted in the second part. The datives ἑκατὸν ἔτεσι and τρισί express the duration or standard of 'in how many years'.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §9.37.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.37.1

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