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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.9.6–I.49.9.7
Ancient Greek
p. 10209.6
Ὅταν δέ γε αὐτὴ καθ᾽ αὑτὴν σκοπῇ, ἐκεῖσε οἴχεται εἰς τὸ καθαρόν τε καὶ ἀεὶ ὂν καὶ ἀθάνατον καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχον, καὶ συγγενὴς αὐτοῦ οὖσα ἀεὶ μετ᾽ ἐκείνου τε γίγνεται, ὅτανπερ αὐτὴ καθ᾽ αὑτὴν γένηται καὶ ἐξῇ αὐτῇ, καὶ πέπαυταί τε τοῦ πλάνου καὶ περὶ ἐκεῖνα ἀεὶ κατὰ ταὐτὰ ὡσαύτως ἔχει, ἅτε τοιούτων ἐφαπτομένη· καὶ τοῦτο αὐτῆς τὸ πάθημα φρόνησις κέκληται; - Παντάπασιν, ἔφη, καλῶς καὶ ἀληθῆ λέγεις, ὦ Σώκρατες.
9.7
Ποτέρῳ οὖν αὖ σοι δοκεῖ τῷ εἴδει καὶ ἐκ τῶν πρόσθεν καὶ ἐκ τῶν νῦν λεγομένων ψυχὴ ὁμοιότερον εἶναι καὶ ξυγγενέστερον; - Πᾶς ἂν ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς, συγχωρήσαι, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐκ ταύτης τῆς μεθόδου καὶ ὁ δυσμαθέστατος, ὅτι ὅλῳ καὶ παντὶ ὁμοιότερόν ἐστι ψυχὴ τῷ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχοντι μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ μή. - Τί δὲ τὸ σῶμα; - Τῷ ἑτέρῳ.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 10219.6 · Thought in contact with the unchanging
“But when it examines things by itself, it goes toward what is pure, everlasting, immortal, and unchanging. Being akin to that, it is always in its company whenever it comes to be on its own and is able to do so. It has ceased its wandering and, in relation to those things, always remains in the same condition, because it is in contact with things of that kind. And is this condition of the soul called understanding?”
“What you say is entirely right and true, Socrates,” he said.1298
9.7 · Which kind is closer to soul?
“Then, from both the earlier discussion and what has now been said, to which kind does soul seem to you more similar and more closely akin?”
“From this line of inquiry, Socrates,” he said, “I think everyone, even the slowest learner, would agree that soul is altogether more like what always remains the same than what does not.”
“And the body?”
“The other kind.”1299
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.9.6–I.49.9.7
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.
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.