What Marcus Aurelius prays for

Focal author: Marcus Aurelius, To Himself (eul_wid: qpy-aa). Lemma: εὐχή (euchḗ, noun), εὔχομαι (eúchomai, verb). Corpus frequency: εὔχομαι 5,622; εὐχή 2,965 (combined ~8,587). Earliest attestation: Homer, Iliad (8th c. BCE).

The corpus question looks lexical: which word does Marcus use for prayer? The answer is plain, and the interest lies one step further on. Marcus keeps Homer's ordinary verb εὔχομαι and its cognate noun εὐχή; he omits the three alternatives δέησις (déēsis, entreaty), προσκύνησις (proskýnēsis, prostration), and προσεύχομαι / προσευχή (proseúchomai / proseuchḗ, directed prayer). What he changes is not the word but its object: he redirects prayer from external outcomes to what is within us.

Attested forms in Marcus:

Four occurrences across three passages (Book 5 §7, Book 9 §40, Book 11 §39). The word is conservative; the content is not.

Etymology and archaic root

The stem is εὔχ- (euch-). In Homer the verb already carries two related senses on one stem: (a) a public declaration of identity or status (“boast, claim to be”) and (b) a petition directed to a god (“pray, vow”). Both share the structure of a public utterance before a witness: in the boast, the human audience; in the prayer, the god. When Marcus keeps this word, he keeps that architecture of utterance and witness; the passages below show what he puts into it.

Homer, Iliad: the boast sense.

Homer, Iliad, Eulogikon: abe-ac, ref. 1.91

ὃς νῦν πολλὸν ἄριστος Ἀχαιῶν εὔχεται εἶναι.

hòs nŷn pollòn áristos Achaiôn eúchetai eînai.

He who now claims to be far the best of the Achaeans.

Homer, Iliad: the prayer sense.

Homer, Iliad, Eulogikon: abe-ac, ref. 1.450

τοῖσιν δὲ Χρύσης μεγάλ' εὔχετο χεῖρας ἀνασχών·

toîsin dè Chrýsēs megál' eúcheto cheîras anaschṓn.

Then Chryses prayed loudly among them, raising his hands.

Homer, Odyssey: both senses.

Homer, Odyssey, Eulogikon: abe-ab, ref. 3.54

αὐτίκα δ' εὔχετο πολλὰ Ποσειδάωνι ἄνακτι

autíka d' eúcheto pollà Poseidáōni ánakti

Straightaway he prayed much to lord Poseidon.

Homer, Odyssey, Eulogikon: abe-ab, ref. 24.269

εὔχετο δ' ἐξ Ἰθάκης γένος ἔμμεναι

eúcheto d' ex Ithákēs génos émmenai

He claimed his lineage was from Ithaca.

The archaic noun εὐχή covers the same range: the content of a vow, the object of a boast, or the prayer itself.

Aesop, Fables: prayer as conditional vow.

Aesop, Fables, Eulogikon: aqo-ap, ref. 28.2

ἀνὴρ πένης νοσῶν εὔξατο τοῖς θεοῖς, εἰ διασωθείη, βοῦς ἑκατὸν εἰς θυσίαν προσοίσειν.

anḕr pénēs nosôn eúxato toîs theoîs, ei diasōtheíē, boûs hekatòn eis thysían prosoísein.

A poor man, being sick, prayed to the gods that if he were saved, he would offer a hundred oxen in sacrifice.

The man later makes wax oxen, saying ἰδοὺ τὴν εὐχὴν ἀπετέλεσα (idoù tḕn euchḕn apetélesa): “behold, I have fulfilled my vow.” The εὐχή is a contractual promise to the god.

Classical period: the philosophical turn

Herodotus, Histories: the transactional vow.

Herodotus, Histories, Eulogikon: elu-aa, ref. 2.181

εὔχεται ἐν τῷ νόῳ τῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ, ἤν οἱ ὑπ' ἐκείνην τὴν νύκτα μιχθῇ ὁ Ἄμασις, ἄγαλμά οἱ ἀποπέμψειν ἐς Κυρήνην. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν εὐχὴν αὐτίκα οἱ ἐμίχθη ὁ Ἄμασις.

eúchetai en tōi nóōi tēi Aphrodítēi, ḗn hoi hyp' ekeínēn tḕn nýkta michthêi ho Ámasis, ágalmá hoi apopémsein es Kyrḗnēn. Metà dè tḕn euchḕn autíka hoi emíchthē ho Ámasis.

She prayed in her nóos to Aphrodite that if Amasis lay with her that night, she would send a statue to Cyrene. And after the prayer, immediately Amasis lay with her.

Euripides, Andromacha: first attestation of προσεύχομαι.

Euripides, Andromacha, Eulogikon: cbm-aj, ref. 1115.3

χὠ μὲν κατ' ὄμμα στὰς προσεύχεται θεῶι

chṓ mèn kat' ómma stàs proseúchetai theōi

And one, standing before the eye [of the statue], prays to the god.

The prefix προς- adds directional force: prayer directed toward a specific cult image. This is the earliest corpus attestation of προσεύχομαι (classical period, 3 total occurrences in that period). Marcus never uses this term.

Plato, Alcibiades B: the first philosophical critique of prayer's content.

Plato, Alcibiades B, Eulogikon: ffk-af, ref. 150b

παραπλησίαν εὐχὴν εὔχονται, τὰ καλὰ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς τοὺς θεοὺς διδόναι κελεύοντες.

paraplēsían euchḕn eúchontai, tà kalà epì toîs agathoîs toùs theoùs didónai keleúontes.

They pray a similar prayer, bidding the gods to give them beautiful things together with good things.

Socrates argues that most people pray for things that are actually harmful (wealth, power, victory) without knowing whether these are good. The philosophical problem is now: what should one pray for?

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics: prayer as the gap between what is good simply and what is good for me.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Eulogikon: hgw-aw, ref. 1129b

εὔχεσθαι μὲν τὰ ἁπλῶς ἀγαθὰ καὶ αὑτοῖς ἀγαθὰ εἶναι, αἱρεῖσθαι δὲ τὰ αὑτοῖς ἀγαθά.

eúchesthai mèn tà haplôs agathà kaì hautoîs agathà eînai, haireîsthai dè tà hautoîs agathá.

One should pray that the things good simply are also good for oneself, but should take for oneself the things good for oneself.

The passage pairs εὔχεσθαι with αἱρεῖσθαι (haireîsthai): prayer for the simply good to become one's own good, and αἵρεσις (haíresis) for what is already taken as one's own.

Callisthenes of Olynthus: προσκύνησις as political-religious gesture.

Callisthenes of Olynthus, Testimonies, Eulogikon: fsw-ab, ref. T7

τήν γε προσκύνησιν ἰσχυρῶς ἀπωσάμενος καὶ φιλοσόφως καὶ μόνος ἐν φανερῶι διελθὼν … Ἕλληνας αἰσχύνης ἀπήλλαξε μεγάλης.

tḗn ge proskýnēsin ischyrôs apōsámenos kaì philosóphōs kaì mónos en phanerôi dielthṑn … Héllēnas aischýnēs apḗllaxe megálēs.

Having forcefully rejected the proskýnēsis, philosophically and alone in public, he freed the Greeks from great shame.

προσκύνησις never means “prayer” in Greek. It is the physical gesture of prostration before a ruler claiming divine status. Marcus never uses this term.

Hellenistic period: semantic divergence

Theophrastus, Characters: προσεύχομαι in everyday religious practice.

Theophrastus, Characters, Eulogikon: ljk-am, ref. 16.11

πρὸς τοὺς ὀρνιθοσκόπους, ἐρωτήσων, τίνι θεῶν (ἢ θεᾷ) προσεύχεσθαι δεῖ.

pros toùs ornithoskópous, erōtḗsōn, tíni theôn (ḕ theâi) proseúchesthai deî.

[He goes] to the bird-diviners, to ask which god (or goddess) he ought to pray to.

Cleanthes of Assos: the Stoic critique of προσεύχεσθαι.

Cleanthes of Assos, Testimonies and Fragments, Eulogikon: jew-aa, ref. 510

πολὺς ἂν οὖν εἴη γέλως ἡμᾶς περὶ σωτηρίας αὐτοῖς προσεύχεσθαι καὶ σωτῆρας ἀνθρώπων νομίζειν, οἷς κατὰ φύσιν ἐστὶ τὸ σπεύδειν ἐπὶ τὴν αὑτῶν φθορὰν καὶ ἀναίρεσιν.

polỳs àn oûn eíē gélōs hēmâs perì sōtērías autoîs proseúchesthai kaì sōtêras anthrṓpōn nomízein, hoîs katà phýsin estì tò speúdein epì tḕn hautôn phthoràn kaì anaíresin.

There would be much laughter if we prayed to them for safety and considered them saviours of men, when by nature they hasten toward their own destruction and annihilation.

Cleanthes uses προσεύχεσθαι for the conventional religious practice that Stoic cosmology allegedly undermines. Marcus, by contrast, does not use this term at all; he stays with the classical εὔχομαι.

Roman period: the Stoic internalisation of prayer

Epictetus, Discourses: prayer redirected from external to internal.

Epictetus, Discourses, Eulogikon: ojw-ac, ref. 2.22

τὸ παιδίον ταχέως κατορύξαι θέλει καὶ σὺ τὸ παιδίον εὔχῃ ἀποθανεῖν.

tò paidíon tachéōs katorýxai thélei kaì sỳ tò paidíon eúchēi apothaneîn.

He wants to bury the child quickly, and you pray that the child die.

The parent's “prayer” is a wish for what he mistakenly thinks is good: the end of his own distress. The proper prayer is different:

Epictetus, Gnomology, Eulogikon: ojw-ad, ref. 3

Μὴ ὧν ἐπιθυμεῖς ταῦτα παρὰ θεῶν αἴτει, ἀλλ' ὅπως αὐτῆς ἀπαλλαγῇς τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, τοῦτο ζήτει παρὰ θεῶν. τότε σου εἰσακούουσιν οἱ θεοί, ἡνίκα ἂν μὴ περὶ τῶν ἡδέων, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν καλῶν εὔχῃ.

Mḕ hôn epithymeîs taûta parà theôn aítei, all' hópōs autês apallagêis tês epithymías, toûto zḗtei parà theôn. tóte sou eisakoúousin hoi theoí, hēníka àn mḕ perì tôn hēdéōn, allà perì tôn kalôn eúchēi.

Do not ask the gods for the things you desire, but ask them to be released from desire itself. Then the gods hear you, when you pray not for pleasant things but for beautiful things.

Marcus Aurelius: prayer redirected

Marcus does not innovate terminologically. He uses the same εὔχομαι / εὐχή that Homer used for boast and petition alike. The passages below show where he redirects the content.

Book 5 §7 pairs abstention with a manner of prayer:

Marcus Aurelius, To Himself, Eulogikon: qpy-aa, ref. 5.7

ἤτοι οὐ δεῖ εὔχεσθαι ἢ οὕτως ἁπλῶς καὶ ἐλευθέρως.

ḗtoi ou deî eúchesthai ḕ hoútōs haplôs kaì eleutherṓs.

Either one ought not to pray at all, or [one ought to pray] in this simple and free manner.

Marcus compares prayer to a doctor's prescription: just as Asclepius prescribed horse-riding or cold baths, the nature of the whole prescribes illness or loss. Prayer, if done at all, is acceptance of what nature assigns, not a petition for a different outcome.

Book 9 §40 puts the alternatives as two questions. If the gods cannot grant the externals you ask for, why pray? If they can, why not rather ask for a change in how you meet those externals:

Marcus Aurelius, To Himself, Eulogikon: qpy-aa, ref. 9.40

εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ δύνανται, τί εὔχῃ; εἰ δὲ δύνανται, διὰ τί οὐχὶ μᾶλλον εὔχῃ διδόναι αὐτοὺς τὸ μήτε φοβεῖσθαί τι τούτων μήτε ἐπιθυμεῖν τινος τούτων μήτε λυπεῖσθαι ἐπί τινι τούτων;

Ei mèn oûn mḕ dýnantai, tí eúchēi; ei dè dýnantai, dià tí ouchì mâllon eúchēi didónai autoùs tò mḗte phobeîsthai ti toútōn mḗte epithymeîn tinos toútōn mḗte lypeîsthai epí tini toútōn;

If then they cannot [grant what you ask], why do you pray? But if they can, why do you not rather pray that they grant you not to fear any of these things, not to desire any of them, not to be distressed by any of them?

The object of prayer is named as three refusals: μήτε φοβεῖσθαι, μήτε ἐπιθυμεῖν, μήτε λυπεῖσθαι (mḗte phobeîsthai, mḗte epithymeîn, mḗte lypeîsthai): not to fear, not to desire, not to be distressed. These are states of the ἡγεμονικόν (hēgemonikón, the ruling part): what is within us, not rearrangements of the outer world. The passage then states the turn as an imperative:

Marcus Aurelius, To Himself, Eulogikon: qpy-aa, ref. 9.40

ὅλως ὧδε ἐπίστρεψον τὰς εὐχὰς καὶ θεώρει τί γίνεται.

hólōs hōde epístrepson tàs euchàs kaì theṓrei tí gínetai.

Turn your prayers around entirely in this direction and see what happens.

The noun εὐχάς (accusative plural of εὐχή) appears here: Marcus uses the noun as well as the verb. Prayer is not abolished; ἐπίστρεψον (epístrepson) says what to do with it: turn it around.

Book 11 §39 marks the same redirect from postponed outcomes to what is already available:

Marcus Aurelius, To Himself, Eulogikon: qpy-aa, ref. 11.39

Πάντα ἐκεῖνα, ἐφ' ἃ διὰ περιόδου εὔχῃ ἐλθεῖν, ἤδη ἔχειν δύνασαι, ἐὰν μὴ σαυτῷ φθονῇς.

Pánta ekeîna, eph' hà dià períodou eúchēi eltheîn, ḗdē échein dýnasai, eàn mḕ sautôi phthonêis.

All those things which you pray to reach in the course of time, you can have already, if you do not begrudge yourself.

Diachronic shape: the four-term field

The diachronic evidence shows a clear layering:

• eúchomai / euchḗ is the oldest and most persistent term, continuous from Homer through late antiquity. Its root sense (a public utterance before a witness) remains active throughout.
• déēsis is a general term for entreaty or request, not specifically religious. It is rare in archaic and classical periods (3 and 39 occurrences) and rises in Roman and late-antique periods, largely through Septuagint and Christian use. Marcus does not use it.
• proseúchomai / proseuchḗ appears first in Euripides (5th c. BCE), remains relatively rare through the Hellenistic period (22 occurrences), and grows sharply in Roman and late-antique periods (125 and 291), where it becomes the dominant term in Christian Greek. Marcus does not use it.
• proskýnēsis is almost entirely absent from archaic and classical periods (3 occurrences total). It means prostration (the physical gesture of obeisance, directed at human rulers claiming divine status), not verbal prayer. Marcus does not use it.