Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 69 of 879
Book I Chapter 3 · I.3.53a–I.3.53b
Ancient Greek
p. 13453 Ἱεροκλέους (αʹ)
Ἱεροκλέους ἐκ τοῦ Τίνα τρόπον θεοῖς χρηστέον.
Ἔτι προσδιαληπτέον καὶ ταῦθ’ ὑπὲρ τῶν θεῶν, ὡς εἰσὶν ἄτρεπτοι καὶ ἀραρότες τοῖς κρίμασιν, ὥστε τοῦ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς δόξαντος μηδέποτε ἐξίστασθαι. Μία γάρ τις ἦν τῶν ἀρετῶν καὶ ἡ ἀμεταπτωσία καὶ βεβαιότης, ἣν εἰκὸς οὐχ ἥκιστα κἂν θεοῖς εἶναι παρέχουσαν τὸ ἱδρυμένον καὶ ἔμπεδον τῶν ἅπαξ αὐτοῖς δοξάντων. Ἐξ οὗ δῆλον, ὡς οὐδὲ τὰς κολάσεις, ἃς ἔκρινέ τισιν ἐπιθεῖναι τὸ δαιμόνιον, πιθανὸν παρίεσθαι.
Καὶ γὰρ αὖ λογίσασθαι ῥᾴδιον, ὡς εἰ μεταβάλλουσιν οἱ θεοὶ τὰς αὑτῶν κρίσεις καὶ ὃν ἔγνωσαν κολάσαι παρίασιν ἀκόλαστον, οὔτε καλῶς καὶ δικαίως ⟨ἂν⟩ διοικοῖεν τὰ κατὰ τὸν κόσμον, οὔτε ἀπολογισμὸν εἰκότα φέρειν ἂν δύναιντο μετανοίας.
53 Ἱεροκλέους (βʹ)
Καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἔοικεν αὐτοσχεδίως καὶ κατ’ οὐδενὸς λέγειν ἡ ποιητική·
Καὶ ⟨μὲν τοὺς⟩ θυσίαισι καὶ εὐχωλῇς ἀγανῇσι, λοιβῇ τε κνίση τε παρατρωπῶσ’ ἄνθρωποι λισσόμενοι, ὅτε κέν τις ὑπερβαίῃ καὶ ἁμάρτῃ,καὶ τὸ·
στρεπτοὶ δέ τε καὶ θεοὶ αὐτοί,συνόλως τε πᾶν εἴ τι τούτοις εἴρηται παραπλησίως.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 3
p. 13553 Hierocles (1)
Hierocles, from How One Should Deal with the Gods.
We must also understand this about the gods: they are unchanging and firm in their judgments, so that they never depart from what they decided at the outset. Constancy and steadfastness are themselves among the virtues; it is reasonable that these should be present above all in the gods, giving settled stability to what they have once decided. It follows that the punishments which the divine has judged fit to impose on particular people are unlikely to be remitted.
For it is also easy to reason that, if the gods change their judgments and release unpunished someone they decided to punish, they ⟨would⟩ neither govern the affairs of the cosmos well and justly nor be able to give a reasonable account of their change of mind.145
53 Hierocles (2)
Poetry seems to say such things offhand and with no real object in view:
“And ⟨indeed them⟩, with sacrifices and gentle prayers, with libation and the savor of burnt offerings, human beings turn aside by entreaty, whenever someone transgresses and does wrong”;146
and the line:
“Even the gods themselves can be turned,”
and, in general, anything said in a similar way.
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 3 · I.3.53a–I.3.53b
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
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.