Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.27.5–I.49.27.6
Ancient Greek
p. 111827.5
Αἴ τε γὰρ τὰν ἴσαν ἐφέρετο μοῖραν καὶ δυνάμιος καὶ τιμᾶς, ἀνόμοια ἐόντα καὶ τὰ μὲν χερείονα τὰ δὲ κάρρονα τὰ δὲ μέσα, οὔ κα ἐδύνατο ἁ κατὰ ψυχὰν τῶν μερέων κοινωνία συναρμοσθῆμεν· αἴ τε ἀνίσας, μὴ τὰ κάρρονα δὲ τὰν μείζονα μοῖραν ἐφέρετο, ἀλλὰ τὰ χερείονα, πολλὰ ⟨κα⟩ ἀφροσύνα καὶ ἀταξία περὶ τὰν ψυχὰν ὑπάρχεν·
27.6
αἴ τε τὰ κάρρονα μὲν τὰν μείζονα, τὰ χερείονα δὲ τὰν μείονα, μὴ ποτὶ λόγον δὲ ἕκαστον τούτων, οὔ κα ἐδύνατο ὁμόνοια καὶ φιλία καὶ δικαιότας ἦμεν περὶ τὰν ψυχάν, ἐπεὶ ὧ ἕκαστον ἓν ποτὶ λόγον συντέτακται τὸν ἁρμόσδοντα, τὸ τοιοῦτον φαμὶ ἐγὼ δικαιότατα ἦμεν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 111927.5 · Equal shares and inverted rule
For if the members received an equal share of both power and honor, despite being unlike, some inferior, some superior, and some intermediate, the community of parts within the soul could not be fitted together. And if their shares were unequal, but the inferior members received the larger share instead of the superior, much folly and disorder ⟨would⟩ prevail in the soul;1388
27.6 · Justice requires fitting proportion
and if the superior received the larger share and the inferior the smaller, but each without due proportion, there could be no concord, friendship, or justice within the soul. For I call that condition justice whose every single part has been arranged according to its fitting proportion.1389
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.27.5–I.49.27.6
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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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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.