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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.29.3
Ancient Greek
p. 113229.3
Ἀλλ᾽, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, μήτε τοῦτο οἰώμεθα, ὁ γὰρ λόγος οὐκ ἐάσει, μήτε γε αὖ τῇ ἀληθεστάτῃ φύσει τοιοῦτον εἶναι ψυχήν, ὥστε πολλῆς ποικιλίας καὶ ἀνομοιότητός τε καὶ διαφορᾶς γέμειν αὐτὸ πρὸς αὑτό. - Πῶς λέγεις; ἔφη. - Οὐ ῥᾴδιον, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, ἀΐδιον εἶναι σύνθετόν τε ἐκ πολλῶν καὶ μὴ τῇ καλλίστῃ κεχρημένον συνθέσει, ὡς νῦν ἡμῖν ἐφάνη ἡ ψυχή. - Οὔκουν εἰκός γε. - Ὅτι μὲν τοίνυν ἀθάνατον ψυχή, καὶ ὁ ἄρτι λόγος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἀναγκάσειαν ἄν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 113329.3 · Immortality and the soul’s true nature
“But,” I said, “let us believe neither that, since the argument will not allow it, nor that soul in its truest nature is such as to be full of great diversity, unlikeness, and difference within itself.”
“What do you mean?” he said.
“It is not easy,” I said, “for something to be everlasting if it is compounded of many things and has not been put together in the finest way, as soul has now appeared to us.”
“Certainly not likely.”
“That soul is immortal, then, both the argument just given and the others would compel us to accept.”1402
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.29.3
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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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