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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.11.4–I.49.11.5
Ancient Greek
p. 103211.4
Ἀθανάτου δὲ πεφασμένου τοῦ ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ κινουμένου, ψυχῆς οὐσίαν τε καὶ λόγον τοῦτον αὐτόν τις λέγων οὐκ αἰσχυνεῖται. Πᾶν γὰρ σῶμα, ᾧ μὲν ἔξωθεν τὸ κινεῖσθαι, ἄψυχον· ᾧ δὲ ἔνδοθεν αὐτὸ ἐξ αὑτοῦ, ἔμψυχον, ὡς ταύτης οὔσης φύσεως ψυχῆς. Εἰ δ᾽ ἐστὶ τοῦτο οὕτως, μὴ ἄλλο τι εἶναι τὸ αὐτὸ αὑτὸ κινοῦν ἢ ψυχήν, ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀθάνατον ψυχὴ ἂν εἴη.
11.5
Περὶ μὲν οὖν ἀθανασίας αὐτῆς ἱκανῶς. Περὶ δὲ τῆς ἰδέας αὐτῆς ὧδε λεκτέον· οἷον μὲν ἐστί, πάντῃ πάντως θείας εἶναι καὶ μακρᾶς διηγήσεως, ᾧ δὲ ἔοικεν, ἀνθρωπίνης τε καὶ ἐλάττονος. Ταύτῃ οὖν λέγωμεν. Ἐοικέτω δὴ ξυμφύτῳ δυνάμει ὑποπτέρου ζεύγους τε καὶ ἡνιόχου.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 103311.4 · Self-motion as the nature of soul
Since what moves itself has been shown to be immortal, one need feel no shame in saying that this very thing is the essence and account of soul. For every body whose motion comes from outside is soulless, while a body whose motion itself comes from within, from itself, is ensouled, since this is the nature of soul. If this is so, if what itself moves itself is nothing other than soul, then soul must necessarily be both ungenerated and immortal.1308
11.5 · The winged team and charioteer
Enough, then, about its immortality. Concerning its form, we must speak in this way: to describe what it is would require an account wholly divine and lengthy; to say what it resembles requires a human and shorter one. Let us therefore speak in the latter way. Let it resemble the combined power of a winged team and a charioteer, grown together as one.1309
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.11.4–I.49.11.5
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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.