Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 466 of 879
Book I Chapter 47 · I.47.9.1–I.47.9.2
Ancient Greek
p. 9289.1 · Ἑρμοῦ
Ἑρμοῦ ἐκ τῶν πρὸς Τάτ.
Ὁ μὲν ἄνθρωπος τὸ δεύτερον ζῷον μετὰ τὸν κόσμον, πρῶτον δὲ τῶν θνητῶν.
Ψυχὴ δὲ ἀνθρώπου ὀχεῖται τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· ὁ νοῦς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ, ὁ λόγος ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ, ἡ [δὲ] ψυχὴ ἐν τῷ πνεύματι, τὸ πνεῦμα ⟨ἐν τῷ σώματι. Τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα⟩ διῆκον διὰ φλεβῶν καὶ ἀρτηριῶν καὶ αἵματος κινεῖ τὸ ζῷον καὶ ὥσπερ τρόπον τινὰ βαστάζει.
9.2
Διὸ καί τινες τὴν ψυχὴν αἷμα νομίζουσιν εἶναι, σφαλλόμενοι τὴν φύσιν, οὐκ εἰδότες, ὅτι πρῶτον δεῖ τοῦ πνεύματος ἀναχωρήσαντος εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν τὸ αἷμα παγῆναι καὶ τὰς φλέβας καὶ τὰς ἀρτηρίας κενωθῆναι, ⟨καὶ τότε⟩ τὸ ζῷον ἐκλείπειν· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ θάνατος τοῦ σώματος.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 47
p. 9299.1 · Hermes: the vehicles of the soul
From Hermes, from the discourses To Tat.
The human being is the second living creature after the cosmos, but the first among mortals.
The human soul is carried in this way: intellect in reason, reason in soul, [and] soul in spirit, spirit ⟨in body. Spirit⟩, passing through veins, arteries, and blood, moves the living creature and, as it were, in a certain way sustains it.1197
9.2 · Blood, spirit, and bodily death
That is why some suppose the soul to be blood, mistaking its nature. They do not know that, once spirit has withdrawn into the soul, the blood must first coagulate and the veins and arteries be emptied, ⟨and only then⟩ must the living creature cease to live. This is the death of the body.1198
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 47 · I.47.9.1–I.47.9.2
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.
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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.
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