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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 9 · I.9.5–I.9.7

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 138 of 879

Book I Chapter 9 · I.9.5–I.9.7

Ancient Greek

p. 272

5 Ἡσιόδου

I.9.5
Ἤτοι μὲν πρώτιστα χάος γένετ’, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα ⟨γαῖ’ εὐρύστερνος, πάντων ἕδος ἀσφαλὲς αἰεί,⟩ ἠδ’ Ἔρος, ὃς κάλλιστος ἐν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι.

6 Παρμενίδου

I.9.6
Πρώτιστον μὲν Ἔρωτα θεῶν μητίσατο πάντων.

7 ⟨Ἀδήλου συγγραφέως⟩

I.9.7

Οὐχ ἡ ἀνάγκη μόνον καὶ τὸ δόγμα ἀγαθοὺς εἶναι ἐξορμᾷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅπερ ἐξεργάζεται τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, ἔρως· οὗτος καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν τελεσίδρομον εἶναι ποιεῖ.

272

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 9

p. 273

5 Hesiod, Theogony (116, 117, 120)

I.9.5

First of all Chaos came to be; then ⟨broad-breasted Earth, the ever-secure seat of all,⟩ and Love, most beautiful among the immortal gods.306

6 Parmenides

I.9.6

Love was devised first of all the gods.307

7 ⟨An unidentified writer⟩

I.9.7

It is not only necessity and conviction that spur us to be good, but also what accomplishes the greatest things in human life: love. Love also makes virtue run its course to the finish.308

273

About This Reading Edition

Stobaeus gathered Greek philosophy and poetry for his son Septimius. Volume I presents the dedication testimony, On Arithmetic, Book I through chapter 60, and the ancient contents of all four books. This complete bilingual edition includes an introduction and 2,117 explanatory notes.

Historical Text and Translation

The Greek follows Curt Wachsmuth’s 1884 Volume I, checked against the supplied scan. Gaps, lost-chapter headings, and uncertain attributions remain visible. Chapter 2 includes a labeled proposed reconstruction. The appendix outlines Books I–IV; the full texts of Books II–IV are outside this volume. Reader pages preserve the companion PDF’s numbering.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Prose and verse retain their distinct forms, with mixed passages preserving their quoted verse. Every passage is paired with its Greek and identified by the edition’s reference number. All 2,117 notes remain linked to their passages, with continuous numbering across the introduction and text.

Rights

Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 printing are in the public domain. The independent English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The complete supplied edition is available as PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown. The PDF retains the fixed page locations used by the companion lexicon.