Final answer:
In 'Meditation 17,' afflictions refer to various hardships, including illness and emotional distress. These are understood differently across various traditions and cultures, like in Buddhism which sees suffering ubiquitously and offers the Middle Way as a path of moderation to overcome it. Literature also uses afflictions metaphorically to underscore deep emotional experiences.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Meditation 17, the speaker refers to afflictions as a range of life's challenges and hardships, including illness, loss, and emotional struggles such as depressions and exaltations. These very difficulties are also seen in the context of broader spiritual and philosophical traditions, where suffering and afflictions are recognized for their universal nature and potential for insightful transformation, aiming at a path leading towards understanding and internal peace.
From the various texts, we can infer that afflictions are not regarded simply as personal misfortunes but are also seen through a communal lens. For example, the Buddhist perspective embraces suffering as something shared among all beings and proposes the Middle Way as a path to alleviating that suffering through the detachment of desires and following the Noble Eightfold Path, highlighting the impermanence of all things and the nature of human attachment.
In a more literary context, these afflictions or sufferings can take on metaphorical meanings deepening the narrative of a poem, as seen in excerpts describing the emotional torment of characters facing poverty and moral dilemmas. In all, the concept of affliction encompasses a diverse range of human experiences, drawing on both the physical and the metaphysical.