Seneca · c. 4 BCE – 65 CE
To Marcia, on Consolation 17 ¶1–2 — Seneca
Translation by Aubrey Stewart (1889)
Seneca, To Marcia, on Consolation 17 ¶1–2
“Still, it is a sad thing to lose a young man whom you have brought up, just as he was becoming a defence and a pride both to his mother and to his country.” No one denies that it is sad: but it is the common lot of mortals. You were born to lose others, to be lost, to hope, to fear, to destroy your own peace and that of others, to fear and yet to long for death, and, worst of all, never to know what your real position is. If you were about to journey to Syracuse, and someone were to say:—“Learn beforehand all the discomforts, and all the pleasures of your coming voyage, and then set sail. The sights which you will enjoy will be as follows: first, you will see the island itself, now separated from Italy by a narrow strait, but which, we know, once formed part of the mainland. The sea suddenly broke through, and ‘Sever’d Sicilia from the western shore.’
Cite this passage
Seneca, To Marcia, on Consolation 17 ¶1–2, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1889)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/to-marcia-on-consolation/17.1
Seneca, Dialogues, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887–1889). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesLosing a young person who was a source of pride is sad, but it is the common lot of mortals, who are born to lose others, hope, fear and never know their real position. The passage begins an analogy: if you were briefed in advance on the delights and the dangers of a trip to Syracuse, you could blame only yourself for what you found there.
Themes and situations
- Acceptance and fate
- Grief and mourning
- Preparing for difficulty
- Change and impermanence
- Death and mortality
- Bereavement
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