Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 649 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.58–I.49.44.59
Ancient Greek
p. 129444.58
Ἐτέρπετο Μώμου ταῦτα λέγοντος Ἑρμῆς, ἐλέγετο γὰρ οἰκείως αὐτῷ τὰ εἰρημένα καὶ ταῦτα ἔπραττεν, ὅσα περ εἰρήκει, λέγων· “Μῶμε, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐναργὴς γενήσεται πνεύματος θείου φύσις ἡ τοῦ περιέχοντος; εἶπε γὰρ εἶναί με ταμίαν καὶ προνοητὴν ὁ τῶν συμπάντων δεσπότης.
44.59
ἐπόπτειρα τοίνυν ταγῆς ἔσται τῶν ὅλων ὀξυδερκὴς θεὸς Ἀδράστεια καί τι κρυπτὸν ὄργανον ἐγὼ τεχνάσομαι, ἀπλανοῦς καὶ ἀπαραβάτου θεωρίας ἐχόμενον, ᾧ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ἀναγκαίως δουλαγωγηθήσεται πάντα τὰ ἀπὸ γενέσεως ἄχρι φθορᾶς ἐσχάτης, ἔχον τὴν ⟨τῶν⟩ ἀποτελουμένων πῆξιν· πεισθήσεται δὲ τῷ ὀργάνῳ τούτῳ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ἄλλα πάντα.” Εἶπεν Ἑρμῆς [ἐγὼ] δὴ ταῦτα τῷ Μώμῳ καὶ ἤδη τὸ ὄργανον ἐκινεῖτο.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 129544.58 · Hermes accepts Momus’s proposal
Hermes took pleasure as Momus said this, for what had been said accorded with his own disposition, and he carried out everything Momus had proposed. He said: “Momus, will not the encompassing realm’s nature of divine breath become manifest? For the master of all things has declared me to be steward and provident guardian.1569
44.59 · Adrasteia and the hidden instrument
Therefore the keen-sighted goddess Adrasteia will watch over the ordering of the whole, and I shall fashion a hidden instrument, possessing unerring and inviolable oversight. By it everything on earth, from coming-to-be to final dissolution, will necessarily be brought into servitude. It will hold the fixed arrangement ⟨of the things⟩ brought to completion; and everything else on earth will also obey this instrument.” Hermes [I] said these things to Momus, and already the instrument was in motion.1570
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.58–I.49.44.59
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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.
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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.