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.49.42.1–I.49.42a.1

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.42.1–I.49.42a.1

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Ancient Greek

p. 1226

42.1 · ⟨Ἐν ταὐτῷ⟩

I.49.42.1

⟨Ἐν ταὐτῷ.⟩

Περὶ τῆς κοινωνίας τῆς πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς τῶν ψυχῶν γέγονέ τις διαμφισβήτησις τῶν μὲν λεγόντων ἀδύνατον μίγνυσθαι θεοὺς ταῖς κατεχομέναις ψυχαῖς ἐν τῷ σώματι, τῶν δὲ διατεινομένων μίαν εἶναι κοινὴν πολιτείαν τῶν καθαρῶν ψυχῶν πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ εἰ ὅτι μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς σώμασι διατρίβουσιν· οἱ δὲ μόνοις δαίμοσιν ἢ καὶ ἥρωσιν ὑποτιθέασιν αὐτὰς εἰς κοινὴν συνουσίαν.

42a.1

I.49.42a.1

* * ἄλλοι μὲν οἱ βελτίονες κρινόμενοι κατὰ Πλάτωνα καθάρσει καὶ ἀναγωγῇ καὶ τελειώσει τῆς ψυχῆς· ἄλλοι δὲ οἱ χείρονες τοῖς ἐναντίοις τούτων ἀντιδιαστελλόμενοι· κατὰ δὲ τοὺς Στωικοὺς τῇ κοινωνίᾳ καὶ τῷ καλῷ τῷ τῆς φύσεως ἐξηρτημένῳ· κατὰ δὲ τοὺς Περιπατητικοὺς τῇ κατὰ φύσιν τε συμμετρίᾳ καὶ τῇ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν νοερᾷ ζωῇ προτιμώμενοι·

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1227

42.1 · Souls’ association with the gods

I.49.42.1

⟨In the same work.⟩

There has been some dispute about souls’ association with the gods. Some say that gods cannot mingle with souls confined in the body; others maintain that pure souls share a single common civic life with the gods, even while they dwell fully in bodies. Others assign souls to a shared association only with divine spirits, or with heroes as well.¹⁵⁰⁰

42a.1 · Criteria for the better life

I.49.42a.1

* * some are the better, judged according to Plato by purification, elevation, and perfection of soul; others are the worse, distinguished in contrast by the opposites of these. According to the Stoics, the criterion is fellowship and the nobility dependent on nature. According to the Peripatetics, they are preferred for proportion in accordance with nature and for intellectual life above human nature;¹⁵⁰¹

1500.The short heading is supplied by Wachsmuth, who separates this material from the preceding passage. Politeia evokes citizenship or a common civic order; it is not merely the fact of occupying the same place. Three positions are kept distinct, including the restricted association with divine spirits and possibly heroes. The emphatic kai ei hoti malista is rendered “even while ... fully.”

1501.The opening gap is marked by the edition, which establishes this as a separate excerpt numbered 42a. The antecedent of the masculine descriptions is lost; the English keeps “some” and “others,” without inserting a definite class absent from the surviving text. “The criterion is” completes an elliptical English clause. Anagōgē is a leading or raising upward; kalon can signify nobility or moral beauty.

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.