(better late than never, my apologies to Garumm)
My personal favorite Aurelius is the George Long translation (available in hard copy and public domain on the web). As I promised Irene, here is some information on a book I recently purchased, for comparison. This one is (IMHO) a good starting point for anyone with no background in philosophy in general, or Stoicism in particular. Note that it is "selections" and does not include the entire text of the Meditations:
TITLE: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections annotated and explained
AUTHOR: Russell McNeill
PUBLISHER: Skylight Paths Publishing, Woodstock (Vermont, USA)
ISBN 978-1-59473-236-2
BACK COVER BLURB (not on Amazon link):
The timeless wisdom of an ancient Stoic can become a companion for your own spiritual journey.
Stoicism is often portrayed as a cheerless, stiff-upper-lip philosophy of suffering and doom. Yet as experienced through the thoughtful and penetrating writings of roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180 CE), the Stoic approach to life is surprisingly rich, nuanced, clear-eyed and friendly.
With facing-page commentary that explains the texts for you, Russell McNeil, PhD, guides you through key passages from Aurelius's Meditations, comprised of the emperor's collected personal journal entries, to uncover the startlingly modern relevance his words have today. From devotion to family and duty to country, to a near-prophetic view of the natural world that aligns with modern physics, Aurelius's words speak as potently today as they did two millennia ago.
Now you can discover the tenderness, intelligence and honesty of Aurelius's writings with no previous background in philosophy or the classics. This SkyLight Illuminations edition offers insightful and engaging commentary that explains the historical background of Stoicism, as well as the ways this ancient philosophical system can offer psychological and spiritual insight into you contemporary life. You will be encouraged to explore and challenge Aurelius's ides of what makes a fulfilling life -- and in so doing you may discover new ways of perceiving happiness.
The
Amazon link will allow you to see the format and sample the
language of the book.
NOTE: Selections NOT included in the book
are available online here: The Manual of the New
Stoicism.
McNeil's blog
AUTHOR
INTERVIEW: McNeil was a featured
guest on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's weekly radio hour
on spirituality.
Update: More
1. AURELIUS LECTURE ON YOUTUBE
I found this lecture on YouTube. The
video quality is awful, and the presenter's constant pacing is
distracting, but I did find the **content** really well presented,
thought-provoking. Very accessible to everyone in our group, I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
NOTE:
In full-screen mode, the YouTube video sometimes freezes (esp. part 3
and part 5), but the audio continutes uninterrupted. To unlock the
image, escape back to partial screen, then return to full screen.
2. AURELIUS DIALOGUES
Maybe of interest to those who already have
a grounding in Aurelius--a creative re-presentation of key Aurelian
concepts in dialogue form. http://www.amazon.com/Marcus-
This is a slim little book, with a preface explaining the author's
rationale for organizing and re-presenting Aurelius in dialog format.
3.
MOVIE: THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Picks up in the year 180 CE, so
the last two years of Aurelius's life. With Alec Guiness as Aurelius,
and Sophia Loren as his daughter Lucilla. Astounding cast and
production values.
I found the collector's edition of this remaindered in our local
Zellers store. Zellers is owned by the American chain store Target, so
that would be a good place to start looking for it. The epic movie on 2
discs, plus a third disc of shorter films about Rome, plus a
reproduction of the original souvenir program, and 6 jumbo-postcard size
stills from the movie--all for just $10.00 CDN. Looks like I got a
bargain, because both Amazon.ca and Amazon.com want over $35 for the
same package..
Internet Movie Database has a large file on this movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/
4.
OPEN CULTURE
Heard this mentioned on radio KIXI -- wow! This is the
web at its best. I haven't had time to more than skim the surface, but
it is majorly bookmarked:
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
Summary
page of key areas -- free audiobooks, courses, intelligent video, etc.
etc.
http://www.openculture.com/
Samples
of 2 free courses:
UCLA Berkeley History 4A: The ancient
Mediterranean World free MP3 downloads
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
UCLA Berkeley History 106B: The Roman Empire free MP3 downloads
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
