21–30 of 103 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Weren't they written in greek?
Definitely Latin. By the time Aurelius was emperor the Greeks had already been overtaken by the Romans. Edit: Incidentally, a simple Google would've shown it was written in Greek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations Never trust people on the internet, even yourself.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Weren't they written in greek?
Definitely Latin. By the time Aurelius was emperor the Greeks had already been overtaken by the Romans. Edit: Incidentally, a simple Google would've shown it was written in Greek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations Never trust people on the internet, even yourself.
If you really dig Meditations, I recommend reading a couple translations side by side. They're all subtly different, and I find it helps me get a better grasp on the ideas Marcus was expressing to see how different people translated. Here are some discussions on the different translations: http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/137knd/survey_best... http://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/jaqm1/whats_the_best_...
A better (if more time consuming) option is to learn Latin and read it in the original.
Then you'd only be getting one translation - yours. With the amount of context that goes into a good translation, I'm not actually certain it's better for something like this that's more philosophical than artistic.
It was easier for me to just load up in my mp3 player and digest.
I have read about half of the book. It's a really good and philosophically inspiring read, though he has some silly convictions, like that his uncle is very modest because he does not care about the beauty of his slaves. The stark contrast of the stoic philosophy and those silly convictions fascinates me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely Latin. By the time Aurelius was emperor the Greeks had already been overtaken by the Romans. Edit: Incidentally, a simple Google would've shown it was written in Greek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations Never trust people on the internet, even yourself.
The Romans conquered the Greeks politically, but culturally the influence went mainly in the other direction, and in fact the Meditations (per my comment at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8580261 ) were written in Greek.
Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes intulit agresti Latio. - Ep. II.i.156
"Greece, once conquered, herself conquered the artless victor, and planted the banner of civilization in the farmlands of Rome."
I have translated freely and taken considerable license.
By Aurelius' time, familiarity with Greek for the ruling classes was a given; as a matter of preference, it is a more supple language and probably more comfortable to use for putting abstract reasoning to words.
I have read about half of the book. It's a really good and philosophically inspiring read, though he has some silly convictions, like that his uncle is very modest because he does not care about the beauty of his slaves. The stark contrast of the stoic philosophy and those silly convictions fascinates me.
To be fair though, you have to keep in mind in what part of history this was written. That may have been very modest behavior in that era.
I would also assume that by "slaves" he means, legal status aside, what would be called "the help" in a different era, i.e., the most visible members of a wealthy person's household and retinue. I'm sure that nobody was socially shunned because their salt-miners and ice-cutters were hideous to behold.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Weren't they written in greek?
Definitely Latin. By the time Aurelius was emperor the Greeks had already been overtaken by the Romans. Edit: Incidentally, a simple Google would've shown it was written in Greek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations Never trust people on the internet, even yourself.
This has become my preferred translation. It's a great modern translation and uses very approachable language. To me it reads much more like a journal than the other available translations. http://amzn.to/1xy6LYZ