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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 106 of 879
Book I Chapter 6 · I.6.17c–I.6.18.1
Ancient Greek
p. 20817c ⟨Ἀετίου, Περὶ ἀρεσκόντων⟩
Θεόφραστος προσδιαρθροῖ ταῖς αἰτίαις τὴν κατὰ προαίρεσιν· φέρεται δέ πως εἰς τὸ εἱμαρμένην εἶναι τὴν ἑκάστου φύσιν· ἐν ᾗ τόπον τεττάρων αἰτιῶν ποικίλων, προαιρέσεως ⟨φύσεως⟩ τύχης καὶ ἀνάγκης. Ἐπίκουρος κατ’ ἀνάγκην, κατὰ προαίρεσιν, κατὰ τύχην.
18 Ἐκ τῶν Ἀριστοξένου Πυθαγορικῶν ἀποφάσεων
Περὶ δὲ τύχης τάδ’ ἔφασκον· εἶναι μέν τι καὶ δαιμόνιον μέρος αὐτῆς, γενέσθαι γὰρ ἐπίπνοιάν τινα παρὰ τοῦ δαιμονίου τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐνίοις ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον ἢ ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον, καὶ εἶναι φανερῶς κατ’ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τοὺς μὲν εὐτυχεῖς, τοὺς δὲ ἀτυχεῖς. καταφανέστατον δὲ εἶναι τοῦτο ⟨τῷ⟩ τοὺς μὲν ἀπροβούλως καὶ εἰκῇ τι πράττοντας πολλάκις κατατυγχάνειν, τοὺς δὲ προβουλευομένους καὶ προνοουμένους ὀρθῶς τι πράττειν ἀποτυγχάνειν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 6
p. 20917c ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩
Theophrastus further distinguishes, among the causes, the cause that operates through choice. He tends in some way toward the view that each thing’s nature is its fate; within it there is room for four different causes: choice, ⟨nature⟩, chance, and necessity.230 Epicurus: according to necessity, according to choice, according to chance.231
18 Aristoxenus, Pythagorean Statements
On fortune they used to say the following. There is also a certain divine element in it, since an influence from the divine comes upon some people, for better or for worse; and it is plainly on this very account that some are fortunate and others unfortunate. This is most evident ⟨from the fact that⟩ people acting without forethought and at random often succeed, while those who deliberate beforehand and take thought to act correctly fail.232
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 6 · I.6.17c–I.6.18.1
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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