Ciceros On the Republic, Marcus Aurelius Meditations - Essay Example

s Cicero “On the Republic, Marcus Aurelius “Meditations”, St. Augustine “The of God” and Job`s book from Holy Scriptures descriptive analysis Cicero wrote his work “On the Republic” in the form of a dialogue following Plato`s example. The action takes place in the Scipio`s estate during the holidays. The main character of the dialogues is Scipio Aemilianus Africanus himself, who serves the role of an old wise man. Apart from Scipio his friend and relatives Laelius, Manilius, Mucius Scaevola, Rutilius Rufus, Fannius, Mummius, and Tubero take part in the dialogues. Working on his books Cicero used to change its plot and conception often, and the first choice of the participants he wanted to enlarge by introducing himself and his brother Quintius in order to make the work more modern. General structure of the treatise is the following: it consists of six books – each two books are dedicated to each day of conversation. Every day is devoted to the discussion of a certain question: books I and II debate over the best state system , reveal the development of constitution, and give outline of Roman history. Books III and IV discuss philosophical justification of concept of the state (proceeding from idea of justice). And, at last, books of V and VI question the qualities of the best statesman. Extensive parts of the text were lost, only fragments have remained from books V and VI. The treatise comes to an end with a certain deification – a dream vision of Scipio Aemilianus in which he meets Scipio Africanus. The last predicts brilliant fortune to the adopted grandsonand, at the same time, explains to him that people who truly serve the fatherland, deserve immortality and eternal pleasure. This part of the whole treatise became the most famous due to the fact that it was commented by Macrobius who excreted the large parties.Cicero speaks about such sources, as Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastos (and in general the school of peripatetics) besides repeated name of Plato, it is possible to find references on Polibio. “Meditations” of Marcus Aurelius can be considered the culmination of ancient philosophy with its constant reflections about the nature of human soul, God, and destiny. Marcus Aurelius, one of the greatest Roman Emperors, had passion for philosophy, which, in his opinion, allowed revealing the sense of real life. His famous work was written in the last days of his life in continuous process of thinking, and has a form of personal notebook. There is no particular order of the entries, and occasional groups of quotes are used randomly. The topics of reflections may simply be repeated throughout the book. Therefore, taking into account that it is impossible to follow any particular plot of Marcus Aurelius`s work, it is logical to concentrate on the main issues reflected by the author. The big subject of "Meditations" is a sense and value of life. To come to it, Marcus Aurelius began with reasoning on God and destiny. He considered that God exists and in each person and is presented as a part of human soul. The destiny of everything is revealed through God. The philosopher described the concept of destiny, which is offered to each of us, thus, all people have to develop their own way. Thus, he presumed that it does not matter, whether you believe in God, whether you believe in destiny and a good and evil role on the vital road. In his opinion, this belief, existence of opinion on an atomic order or chaos absolutely does not change anything. The person can believe that there is order - a basis of existence of the Universe or that the Universe is purely chaotic.All in all that belief doesnt change anything and does not prevent from living properly. And the understanding of a right way is based, according to Marcus Aurelius, on understanding by the person of that he is able to control the thoughts and the actions on the base of the thoughts. Marcus Aurelius positioned consciousness of the person as something that nobody can change. Thoughts of the person is his fortress, can be protected from any evil influence. Consciousness training is the absolute necessity of any wise person. Meditation and contemplation, instead of books and their simple mechanical reading, lead to understanding of quintessence of life. As nobody can initially control mind of another person, actions of other people do not do any harm to the personality. Another issue is important here: the opinion of the person regarding this external influence. The individual to whom the damage was caused, by definition believes that this damage took place. Thus, God controls external events, but your consciousness is in your hands. So, it is God, who operates events. And, according to Marcus Aurelius, he is similar to the captain of a big vessel who gave a man some time ashore, but he has to return on the ship at specific time nevertheless. Marcus Aurelis also mentioned another important idea- predetermination of good events. In other words, God would not allow something bad to happen. Each person has duties, which are assigned to him by God. Marcus believed that he could become philosopher, but God obliged him to become Emperor. Marcus`s role was defined by an imperial debt: to protect the Roman Empire, to preserve the rights and the law. In his opinion a human body and soul dissolve after death, leaving nothing.. Thus, any person is just a particle of the Universe. The soul departs, and the glory does not matter. The most valuable turns out to be whether the person has executed the duties appointed by God using all potential. Education in every sense, in every respect eventually is capable to lead to release: from concern of this world and fromfear of death. According to Marcus Aurelius, fear of death means ignorance by people. The death is as it is natural, as life. For Marcus Aurelius everything could be understood from the point of view of God, destiny, and values. Justice was an essence of its role of the Emperor. The power, honor, and ambitions are false ideas, which bring people into delusion. The power eventually is unimportant. The desire to have it - is false as after death the power disappears by itself. Marcus Aurelius`s “Meditations” have survived over centuries and did not lost their meaning due to deep understanding of life received as a result of reflections and experience of one of the greatest men in world history. “The city of God” is one of Augustine of Hippo`s most important compositions. The work consists of 22 books which can be divided into two parts: books from I to X, and the books from XI to XXII. Nonconventional development of a problem of a periodization of historical process was carried out in the work. Augustine describes two different cities: the City of Man and the City of God, which live according to different moral principles. The people of God City dedicate themselves to eternal worship of God and his truths, while the citizens of the City of Man immersed themselves in pleasures of life. Now citizens of both cities live together, but wish a miscellaneous, in day of Court will be put differently. The people living with God, form "the Gods Hail", or "A hail heavenly"; the other - "The Hail Terrestrial". According to Augustine (184), "two kinds of love generate two hails: the terrestrial hail is created by love to itself brought to contempt for God, heavenly - the love for God brought to a full self-forgetfulness. The first uplifts herself, the second - God. The first looks for the human glory, the second is directed to the highest glory of God". Both hails have the envoys in the sky: the risen angels and those who remained faithful to God. On the earth they differ as descendants Cain and Avel, these two Bible characters act as symbols of two communities. ("The founder of a terrestrial hail was the fratricide Cain; to it there corresponds also the fratricide Romul - the founder of Rome). Thus the citizen "A hail terrestrial" on this earth makes impression of the master and mister of the world, the citizen of "the Gods Hail" - assimilates to the wanderer and the pilgrim. The first is defined to the eternal damnation, the second - to eternal rescue. It is considered that in the first part of the work Augustine the Hippo tried to criticize the pagan beliefs and the general state system of Rome, while in the second part he concentrated on depicting morals and destinies of two cities. One of the best-known Bible books is Job`s book. It significantly differs from other antiquated writings both in genre and in the contents. It is a parable, reflection about human life as it is, without direct link to the context of the Bible. At some point Job`s story can be considered historical and there were attempts to define precisely time and a place of its action. It is impossible to exclude that the legend subjected by the unknown author to serious literary processing really has historical basis. However, from the point of view of contents of the book it is important that her hero symbolizes the man in general rather than epitomizes specific historical figure. The plot of the book is rather simple: it is told about the successful righteous person, Job, who leads loyal, pious life. The God in the attempt to check Job`s loyalty makes deal with Satan. The Satan takes away all precious that Job has -his seven sons and three daughters, his house, his health. Job feels devastated and desperate but still worships God. Job`s wife asks him to forget God and to meet death, but Job appeals to the fact that pleasures and suffering are equal gifts of God. Finally the Creator interferes with events and Job relieves: he rewards him with all he had lost for fidelity and patience. The main, poetic part of the book contains Jobs conversations with friends and Job`s reflections about God`s justice. Works Cited: Agustine of Hippo. The City of God.Trans. Dods, Marcus.Peabody:Hendrickson Publisher`s Inc., 2009. Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. Trans. Long, George. London: Penguin, 2003. Cicero, Mark Tulius. On the Republic.Trans. Featherstonhaugh, George . New York: C&C Carnwell, 1829. The Book of Job. Trans. Mitchell, Stephen. New York: Harpers Collins Publisher, 1979. Read More