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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.2–I.49.13.3
Ancient Greek
p. 103813.2
Καὶ ὁ Σωκράτης· Ἀλλ᾽ ἀνάγκη σοι, ἔφη, ὦ ξένε Θηβαῖε, ἄλλο δόξαι, ἄνπερ μείνῃ ἥδε ἡ οἴησις, τὸ ἁρμονίαν μὲν εἶναι σύνθετον πρᾶγμα, ψυχὴν δὲ ἁρμονίαν τινὰ ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὸ σῶμα ἐντεταμένων συγκεῖσθαι. Οὐ γάρ που ἀποδέξῃ γε σαυτοῦ λέγοντος, ὡς πρότερον ἦν ἁρμονία ξυγκειμένη, πρὶν ἐκεῖνο εἶναι ἐξ ὧν ἔδει αὐτὴν συντεθῆναι· ἢ ἀποδέξῃ; - Οὐδαμοῦ, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες.
13.3
Αἰσθάνῃ οὖν, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς, ὅτι ταῦτά σοι ξυμβαίνει λέγειν, ὅταν φῇς μὲν εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν πρὶν καὶ εἰς ἀνθρώπου εἶδος καὶ σῶμα ἀφικέσθαι, εἶναι δ᾽ αὐτὴν συγκειμένην ἐκ τῶν οὐδέπω ὄντων; οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἁρμονία γέ σοι τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν ᾧ ἀπεικάζεις· ἀλλὰ πρότερον καὶ ἡ λύρα καὶ αἱ χορδαὶ καὶ οἱ φθόγγοι ἔτι ἀνάρμοστοι ὄντες γίγνονται, τελευταῖον δὲ πάντων ξυνίσταται ἡ ἁρμονία καὶ πρῶτον ἀπόλλυται. Οὗτος οὖν σοι ὁ λόγος ἐκείνῳ τῷ λόγῳ πῶς ξυναινέσεται; - Οὐδαμῶς, ἔφη ὁ Σιμμίας.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 103913.2 · Harmony requires its constituents
And Socrates said: “But, my Theban friend, you must think differently if this opinion remains: that harmony is a composite thing, and soul is a kind of harmony composed of the things held in tension throughout the body. Surely you will not accept your own assertion that a harmony was already composed before there existed that from which it had to be composed. Or will you?”
“By no means, Socrates,” he said.1312
13.3 · The lyre comes before its harmony
“Do you realize, then,” he said, “that you are saying just this when you say that soul exists before even arriving in human form and body, yet is composed of things that do not yet exist? For harmony is not like the thing to which you compare it. The lyre, the strings, and the notes, still unattuned, come into being first; harmony is formed last of all and perishes first. How, then, will this argument of yours agree with the other?”
“In no way,” said Simmias.1313
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.2–I.49.13.3
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.
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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.