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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 529 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.13–I.49.13.15
Ancient Greek
p. 105413.13
Οὐκοῦν αὖ ὡμολογήσαμεν ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν μήποτε ταύτην, ἁρμονίαν γε οὖσαν, ἐναντία ᾄδειν οἷς ἐπιτείνοιτο καὶ χαλῷτο καὶ ψάλλοιτο καὶ ἄλλο ὁτιοῦν πάθος πάσχοι ἐκεῖνα ἐξ ὧν τυγχάνει οὖσα, ἀλλ᾽ ἕπεσθαι ἐκείνοις καὶ οὔποτ᾽ ἂν ἡγεμονεύειν; - Ὡμολογήσαμεν, ἔφη· πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
13.14
Τί οὖν νῦν; οὐ πᾶν τοὐναντίον φαίνεται ἡμῖν ἐργαζομένη, ἡγεμονεύουσά τε ἐκείνων πάντων, ἐξ ὧν φησί τις αὐτὴν εἶναι, καὶ ἐναντιουμένη ὀλίγου πάντα διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου καὶ δεσπόζουσα πάντας τρόπους, τὰ μὲν χαλεπώτερον κολάζουσα καὶ μετ᾽ ἀλγηδόνων, τά τε κατὰ τὴν γυμναστικὴν καὶ τὴν ἰατρικήν, τὰ δὲ πρᾳότερον, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀπειλοῦσα, τὰ δὲ νουθετοῦσα, ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις καὶ ὀργαῖς καὶ φόβοις ὡς ἄλλη οὖσα ἄλλῳ πράγματι διαλεγομένη; οἷον που καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ πεποίηκεν, οὗ λέγει τὸν Ὀδυσσέα·
13.15 · Ὁμήρου
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 105513.13 · A harmony cannot sing against its parts
“Yet did we not agree earlier that, if it were a harmony, it could never sing contrary to the tension, relaxation, plucking, or any other condition of the things of which it consists, but must follow them and could never lead?”
“We agreed,” he said. “Of course we did.”1323
13.14 · Command, correction, and persuasion
“What, then, do we find now? Does it not appear to do the very opposite, leading all those things of which someone says it consists, opposing them in almost everything throughout life, and exercising mastery in every way? Some it disciplines more harshly and painfully, as in physical training and medicine; others more gently. Sometimes it threatens, sometimes admonishes, addressing desires, anger, and fears as one thing speaking to another. Homer too has represented something like this in the Odyssey, where he says of Odysseus:”1324
13.15 · Homer: Odysseus addresses his heart
He struck his breast and rebuked his heart with words: “Endure, my heart: once you endured something still more dreadful.”1325
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.13–I.49.13.15
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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.