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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.69.4–I.49.69.6
Ancient Greek
p. 154869.4
ἅσπερ ἡ ἄνω πρόνοια πρὸς μέτρον τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων εἰς τὰς ὑποκάτω χώρας ἐξορίζει, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰς ὑποδεεστέρας δυνάμει τε καὶ ἀξίᾳ * * ἐκ γὰρ κατωτέρων ἐπὶ μείζονας καὶ ὑψηλοτέρας ἀνάγει.
69.5
Εἰσὶ γὰρ ἄνωθεν οἱ δορυφόροι ⟨δύο⟩ ὄντες τῆς καθόλου προνοίας, ὧν ὁ μὲν ψυχοταμίας, ὁ δὲ ψυχοπομπός· καὶ ὁ μὲν ψυχοταμίας ψυχῶν * *, ὁ δὲ ψυχοπομπὸς ἀποστολεὺς τε καὶ διατάκτης τῶν ἐνσεσωματωμένων ψυχῶν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν τηρεῖ, ὁ δὲ προΐησι κατὰ γνώμην τοῦ θεοῦ.
69.6
Τῷ οὖν λόγῳ τούτῳ, ὦ παῖ, καὶ τῇ ἄνω τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξαλλαγῇ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ἐστιν ἡ Φύσις· πλάστρια γὰρ οὖσα καὶ σκηνοποιὸς ἀγγείῳ εἰσβάλλει τὰς ψυχάς.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 154969.4 · Demotion and advancement
“Such souls providence above banishes to lower regions in proportion to their offenses, just as it also deals with those inferior in power and worth * * for it leads them up from lower regions to greater and higher ones.”1865
69.5 · The steward and guide of souls
“For above there are ⟨two⟩ attendants of universal providence, one the steward of souls, the other their guide. The steward of souls * *, while the guide sends forth and assigns the embodied souls. The one keeps them, the other sends them onward according to the god’s purpose.”1866
69.6 · Nature fashions a dwelling
“Corresponding to this account, my child, and to the changes in things above, Nature is present on earth also. As a fashioner and maker of a dwelling, she puts souls into a vessel.”1867
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.69.4–I.49.69.6
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.