Meditations: (with Introduction, Appendix, Notes and Glossary) - Softcover

Aurelius, Marcus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 178139718X ISBN 13: 9781781397183

Publisher: Benediction Classics, 2016

Synopsis

The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius composed his now famous Meditations as a personal diary while he struggled to understand himself and the world.  It is one of the greatest works of philosophy, being uniquely accessible and wide ranging because he wrote not as emperor, but as a man among other men.  The reflections cover most human concerns including the spectre of death, one’s role in society, emotions, human rationality, virtue, and the gods.  This edition is complete and unabridged and contains Introduction, Notes, Glossary and an Appendix containing correspondence with this tutor Fronto.

About this title

Review

One measure, perhaps, of a book's worth, is its intergenerational pliancy: do new readers acquire it and interpret it afresh down through the ages? The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, translated and introduced by Gregory Hays, by that standard, is very worthwhile, indeed. Hays suggests that its most recent incarnation--as a self-help book--is not only valid, but may be close to the author's intent. The book, which Hays calls, fondly, a "haphazard set of notes," is indicative of the role of philosophy among the ancients in that it is "expected to provide a 'design for living.'" And it does, both aphoristically ("Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly.") and rhetorically ("What is it in ourselves that we should prize?"). Whether these, and other entries ("Enough of this wretched, whining monkey life.") sound life-changing or like entries in a teenager's diary is up to the individual reader, as it should be. Hays's introduction, which sketches the life of Marcus Aurelius (emperor of Rome A.D. 161-180) as well as the basic tenets of stoicism, is accessible and jaunty. --H. O'Billovich

From the Back Cover

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus embodied in his person that deeply cherished, ideal figure of antiquity, the philosopher-king. His Meditations, written in moments snatched from military campaigns and the rigors of politics, reveal a mind of exceptional clarity and originality, and a spirit attuned to both the particulars of human destiny and the vast patterns which underlie it.

Edition details

• Publisher: Benediction Classics
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 178139718X
• ISBN 13: 9781781397183
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 140