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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 769 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.10–I.49.68.12
Ancient Greek
p. 153468.10
Ἔπειτα τούτους, ὦ τέκνον, ὑπὸ μίαν ῥοπὴν ἀπολυθῆναι τοῦ συσχετηρίου, ⟨οὐ⟩ πάντως τραπήσονται ὁ μὲν ἄνθρωπος εἴς τε ἀγορὰς καὶ στέγας; ὁ δὲ ἀετὸς εἰς τὸν αἰθέρα, ὅπου καὶ φύσιν ἔχει διαιτᾶσθαι; αἱ δὲ περιστεραὶ εἰς τὸν πλησίον ἀέρα; οἱ δὲ ἱέρακες ὑπεράνω τούτων;
68.11
Αἱ δὲ χελιδόνες οὐχὶ ὅπου ἂν οἰκῶσιν ἄνθρωποι; οἱ δὲ στρουθοὶ περὶ τὰ καρποφόρα τῶν δένδρων; οἱ δὲ κύκνοι ὅπου ἔξεστιν αὐτοῖς ᾄδειν, αἱ δὲ μυῖαι περὶ αὐτὴν τὴν γῆν, τοσοῦτον αὐτῆς ἀπέχουσαι ὅσον ἀναβῆναι δύνανται ἀνθρώπων τῇ ὀσμῇ (ἀνθρωπόλιχνον γὰρ ἰδίως, ὦ τέκνον, ἐστὶν ἡ μυῖα καὶ χαμαιπετές);
68.12
Οἱ δὲ λέοντες καὶ παρδάλεις οὐκ ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη; οἱ δὲ λύκοι ἐπὶ τὰς ἐρημίας; οἱ δὲ κύνες κατ᾽ ἴχνος ἀνθρώπων; ⟨οἱ⟩ λαγωοὶ δὲ ⟨εἰς⟩ δρυμοὺς καὶ ⟨οἱ⟩ βόες ⟨εἰς⟩ αὐλιστήρια καὶ πεδία; καὶ εἰς τὰς νομὰς τὰ ποίμνια; οἱ δὲ ὄφεις εἰς τὰ μύχια τῆς γῆς;
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 153568.10 · Release to their accustomed places
“Then suppose, my child, that they are released from the enclosure at a single stroke. Will they ⟨not⟩ surely turn to their places: the human being to marketplaces and houses; the eagle to the upper air, where it is naturally fitted to live; the doves to the air nearby; and the hawks above them?”1846
68.11 · Swallows, sparrows, swans, and flies
“Will the swallows not go wherever people live; the sparrows among the fruit-bearing trees; the swans wherever they can sing; and the flies close to the earth itself, rising only as far above it as they can in pursuit of the smell of human beings? For the fly, my child, is especially greedy for human beings and flies low.”1847
68.12 · The land animals
“Will lions and leopards not go to the mountains, wolves to deserted places, and dogs in the tracks of human beings? Will ⟨the⟩ hares go ⟨to⟩ the woods, and ⟨the⟩ oxen ⟨to⟩ their stalls and fields, and the sheep to their pastures, and the snakes to the earth’s recesses?”1848
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.10–I.49.68.12
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.