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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.16.3–I.49.16.4
Ancient Greek
p. 107016.3
Τί οὖν, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς, ὦ Κέβης; Εἰ τῷ ἀναρτίῳ ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἀνωλέθρῳ εἶναι, ἄλλο τι ἢ τὰ τρία ἀνώλεθρα ἂν ἦν; - Πῶς γὰρ οὔ; - Οὐκοῦν εἰ καὶ τὸ θερμὸν ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἀνώλεθρον εἶναι, ὁπότε τις ἐπὶ χιόνα θερμὸν ἐπάγει, ὑπεξῄει ἂν ἡ χιὼν μένουσα ἄτηκτος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἀπώλετό γε, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὑπομένουσα ἐδέξατ᾽ ἂν τὴν θερμότητα. - Ἀληθῆ, ἔφη, λέγεις. - Ὡσαύτως, οἶμαι, κἂν εἰ τὸ ψυχρὸν ἀνώλεθρον ἦν, ὁπότε ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ ψυχρόν τι ἐπῄει, οὔποτ᾽ ἂν ἀπεσβέννυτο οὐδ᾽ ἀπώλλυτο, ἀλλὰ σῶον ἂν ἀπελθὸν ᾤχετο. - Ἀνάγκη, ἔφη.
16.4
Οὐκοῦν καὶ ὧδε, ἔφη, ἀνάγκη περὶ τοῦ ἀθανάτου ⟨εἰπεῖν⟩; Εἰ μὲν τὸ ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀνώλεθρόν ἐστιν, ἀδύνατον ψυχῇ, ὅταν θάνατος ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ἴῃ, ἀπόλλυσθαι· θάνατον μὲν γὰρ δὴ ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων οὐ δέξεται οὐδ᾽ ἔσται τεθνηκυῖα, ὥσπερ τὰ τρία οὐκ ἔσται, ἔφαμεν, ἄρτιον, οὐδὲ γοῦν τὸ περιττόν, οὐδὲ δὴ τὸ πῦρ ψυχρόν, οὐδέ γε ἡ ἐν τῷ πυρὶ θερμότης.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 107116.3 · The examples of snow and fire
“What, then, Cebes?” he said. “If what is uneven had necessarily to be indestructible, surely three would be indestructible?”
“Of course.”
“Then, if the hot too had necessarily to be indestructible, whenever someone brings heat upon snow, the snow would withdraw, remaining unmelted. For it would not perish, nor would it remain and admit heat.”
“What you say is true,” he said.
“Likewise, I think, if the cold were indestructible, whenever something cold approached fire, the fire would never be extinguished or perish, but would go away intact.”
“Necessarily,” he said.1338
16.4 · The additional condition
“Then,” he said, “must we not also ⟨say⟩ this about what is immortal? If what is immortal is also indestructible, soul cannot perish when death approaches it. For, from what has already been said, it will not admit death or be dead, just as three, we said, will not be even, nor indeed will the odd; nor will fire be cold, nor the heat in fire.”1339
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.16.3–I.49.16.4
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.
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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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