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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.8
Ancient Greek
p. 104613.8
Φέρε δή, ἔφη, πρὸς Διός· λέγεται ψυχὴ ἡ μὲν νοῦν τε ἔχειν καὶ ἀρετὴν καὶ εἶναι ἀγαθή, ἡ δὲ ἄνοιάν τε καὶ μοχθηρίαν καὶ εἶναι κακή; καὶ ταῦτα ἀληθῶς λέγεται; - Ἀληθῶς μέντοι. - Τῶν οὖν τιθεμένων ψυχὴν ἁρμονίαν εἶναι τί τις φήσει ταῦτα ὄντα εἶναι ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς, τήν τε ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν κακίαν; Πότερα ἁρμονίαν αὖ τιν᾽ ἄλλην καὶ ἀναρμοστίαν; καὶ τὴν μὲν ἡρμόσθαι, τὴν ἀγαθήν, καὶ ἔχειν ἐν αὑτῇ τῇ ἁρμονίᾳ οὔσῃ ἄλλην ἁρμονίαν, τὴν δὲ ἀνάρμοστον αὐτήν τε εἶναι καὶ οὐκ ἔχειν ἐν αὑτῇ ἄλλην; - Οὐκ ἔχω ἔγωγε, φησὶν ὁ Σιμμίας, εἰπεῖν· δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τοιαῦτ᾽ ἄττ᾽ ἂν λέγοι ὁ ἐκεῖνο ὑποθέμενος.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 104713.8 · Virtue as a second harmony?
“Come now, by Zeus,” he said. “Is one soul said to possess understanding and virtue and to be good, while another possesses folly and wickedness and is bad? And is this said truly?”
“Certainly it is true.”
“Then what will someone who maintains that soul is harmony say these things in souls are, virtue and vice? Another harmony and a lack of attunement? Will the good soul be attuned and, itself being a harmony, contain another harmony within itself, while the other is itself unattuned and has no further harmony within it?”
“I cannot say,” says Simmias, “but clearly someone who made that assumption would say something of the kind.”1318
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.8
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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.
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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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