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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 4 · I.4.2d–I.4.5

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 80 of 879

Book I Chapter 4 · I.4.2d–I.4.5

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Ancient Greek

p. 156

2d ⟨Ἀδήλου τραγικοῦ ποιητοῦ⟩

I.4.2d
Ὁσίᾳ δ’ ἀνάγκη πολεμιωτάτη θεός.

2e ⟨Ἀδήλου τραγικοῦ ποιητοῦ⟩

I.4.2e
Οὐδεὶς ἀνάγκης μεῖζον ἰσχύει νόμος.

3 ⟨Εὐριπίδου⟩

I.4.3
Ἐγὼ καὶ διὰ Μούσας καὶ μετάρσιος ᾖξα καὶ πλείστων ἁψάμενος λόγων κρεῖσσον οὐδὲν Ἀνάγκας εὗρον, οὐδέ τι φάρμακον.

4 Φιλήτα Ἑρμοῦ

I.4.4
Ἰσχυρὰ γὰρ ἐπικρατεῖ ἀνδρὸς Ἀνάγκη, ἥ ῥ’ οὐδ’ ἀθανάτους ὑποδείδιεν, οἵ τ’ ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ ἔκτοσθεν χαλεπῶν ἀχέων οἴκους ἐκάμοντο.

5 Σοφοκλῆς Θυέστῃ

I.4.5
Πρὸς τὴν ἀνάγκην οὐδ’ Ἄρης ἀνίσταται.
156

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 4

p. 157

2d ⟨An unidentified tragic poet⟩

I.4.2d

Yet Necessity is a goddess most hostile to piety.165

2e ⟨An unidentified tragic poet⟩

I.4.2e

No law has greater strength than necessity.

3 ⟨Euripides⟩

I.4.3

Through the Muses I soared aloft, and, after touching upon countless teachings, I found nothing stronger than Necessity, nor any remedy.166

4 Philetas, Hermes

I.4.4

For mighty Necessity holds sway over man; she fears not even the immortals, who on Olympus built their homes beyond the reach of grievous pains.167

5 Sophocles, Thyestes

I.4.5

Not even Ares rises up against necessity.168

157

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.