Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 49 · I.49.23.3–I.49.23.4

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.23.3–I.49.23.4

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Ancient Greek

p. 1086

23.3

I.49.23.3

Εἰ δ᾽ ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων, ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἡ ἑτερότης ἐκράτει μᾶλλον τῆς ταυτότητος, οὐδὲν ἐπεισελθὸν ἀσώματον διέκοψε τὴν ἕνωσιν, μένει δὲ πάντα ἡνωμένα μὲν κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν, ταῖς δὲ ποιότησι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις εἴδεσι διειλημμένα, τί χρὴ ὑπονοεῖν ἐπὶ τῆς εἰδικῆς ἀσωμάτου ζωῆς, ἐφ᾽ ἧς ἡ ταυτότης μᾶλλον κεκρατήκει τῆς ἑτερότητος, καὶ οὐδὲν ὑπόκειται ἀλλοῖον παρὰ τὸ εἶδος, ἀφ᾽ ἧς καὶ τοῖς σώμασιν ἡ ἑνότης, οὐδὲ σῶμα συμπεσὸν ἀποκόπτει τὴν ἕνωσιν, καίπερ πρὸς τὰς ἐνεργείας ἐν πολλοῖς ἐμποδίζον;

23.4

I.49.23.4

Αὐτὴ δι᾽ αὐτὴν ἡ ταυτότης αὐτῆς πάντα ποιεῖ καὶ εὑρίσκει διὰ τῆς ἐπ᾽ ἄπειρον εἰδικῆς ἐνεργείας, τοῦ τυχόντος μέρους πάντα δυναμένου, ὅταν σωμάτων καθαρεύῃ, ὡς τὸ τυχὸν μέρος τοῦ σπέρματος τὴν τοῦ παντὸς σπέρματος ἔχει δύναμιν.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1087

23.3 · Unity despite bodily involvement

I.49.23.3

If, in the case of bodies, where difference prevailed over identity, no intervening incorporeal thing severed their unity, and all remain united in substance though distinguished by qualities and other forms, what must we suppose of incorporeal life belonging to form? In it identity has prevailed over difference, and nothing other than form underlies it; from it bodies too receive their unity. Nor does a body joined to it cut off this unity, although it obstructs its activities in many respects.¹³⁵⁵

23.4 · The power of the whole in each part

I.49.23.4

Its identity itself, on account of itself, makes and discovers all things through its activity in forms extending without limit. Any given part is capable of all things when free of bodies, just as any given part of seed possesses the power of the whole seed.¹³⁵⁶

1355.The English divides the long question for readability while retaining its comparison. Eidikē, “belonging to form,” contrasts with differences of bodily bulk. The distinction at the end is between interrupting unity and obstructing activity: bodily involvement is allowed to do the latter without doing the former. The printed clause deriving bodily unity from this life is retained, although the apparatus records a proposal to delete it.

1356.The printed smooth-breathing αὐτήν is retained. “On account of itself” interprets the emphatic reference to identity in this awkward clause; the apparatus proposes alternative wording. The qualification “when free of bodies” is essential to the claim about the part’s power. Seed supplies the passage’s analogy for a whole productive capacity present in a part; this is the author’s explanatory image, not a claim added from modern biology.

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.