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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.13–I.49.68.15
Ancient Greek
p. 153668.13
⟨Αἱ⟩ φῶκαι δὲ καὶ χελώναι μετὰ τῶν ὁμοίων εἰς βάθη καὶ νάματα, ὡς μὴ πεδιάδος γῆς στεροῖντο μηδὲ τοῦ συγγενοῦς ἀπολειφθεῖεν ὕδατος, ἑκάστου εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν χώραν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔνδον κριτηρίου ἀνατρεπομένου;
68.14
Οὕτως ἑκάστη ψυχὴ καὶ ἀνθρωπευομένη καὶ ἄλλως ἐπιγειΐζουσα οἶδεν ὅπου πορευτέον αὐτῇ ἐστι, πλὴν εἰ μή τις τῶν Τυφωνίων, ὦ τέκνον, παρελθὼν λέγοι, ὅτι δυνατὸν ταῦρον μὲν ἐν βυθῷ, ἐν δὲ ἀέρι χελώνην διαζῆν.
68.15
Εἰ δὴ τοῦτο πάσχουσι σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματι βεβαπτισμέναι, ὡς μηδὲν παρὰ τάξιν πράσσειν κἂν κολάζωνται (κόλασις γὰρ αὐταῖς ἡ ἐνσωμάτωσις), πόσου πλέον βαπτισμοῦ καὶ κολάσεως * * καὶ ἐλευθερίας ἰδίας μετασχοῦσαι; Ἔχει δὲ ἡ διάταξις ἡ ἱερωτάτη οὕτως.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 153768.13 · Creatures of land and water
“And ⟨the⟩ seals and turtles, with creatures like them, to deep waters and streams, so that they are neither deprived of level ground nor separated from their kindred water, each being turned back to its proper region by its inner faculty of judgment?”1849
68.14 · The soul knows its destination
“In the same way, every soul, whether living as a human being or leading some other earthly life, knows where it must go. Unless, my child, one of the Typhonian company should step forward and say that a bull can live in the depths of the sea and a turtle in the air!”1850
68.15 · Embodiment and release
“If this is their condition while immersed in flesh and blood, so that they do nothing contrary to order even while punished, for embodiment is their punishment, how much more when, from immersion and punishment * *, they have partaken of their own freedom? The most sacred arrangement is as follows.”1851
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.13–I.49.68.15
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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.
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.