DiotimosReading Desk

Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

Explore the Lexicon
Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 7 · I.7.8–I.7.9b

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Ancient Greek Page · Branch 111 of 879

Book I Chapter 7 · I.7.8–I.7.9b

Ancient Greek

p. 218

8 Εὐριπίδου Δανάης

I.7.8
Ἐς ταὐτὸν ἥκειν φημὶ τὰς βροτῶν τύχας, τὸν θ’ ὃν καλοῦσιν αἰθέρ’, ὅστις ἐστὶ δή. οὗτος θέρους τε λαμπρὸν ἐκλάμπει σέλας, χειμῶνά τ’ αὔξει, συντιθεὶς πυκνὸν νέφος· θάλλειν τε καὶ μή, ζῆν τε καὶ φθίνειν ποιεῖ· οὕτω δὲ θνητῶν σπέρμα τῶν μὲν εὐτυχεῖ λαμπρᾷ γαλήνῃ, τῶν δὲ συννέφει πάλιν· ζῶσίν τε σὺν κακοῖσιν, οἱ δ’ ὄλβου μέτα φθίνουσ’ ἐτείοις προσφερῶς μεταλλαγαῖς.

9a ⟨Ἀετίου, Περὶ ἀρεσκόντων⟩

I.7.9a

Ἐπίκουρος ἄστατον αἰτίαν προσώποις, χρόνοις, τόποις. Ἀναξαγόρας καὶ οἱ Στωικοὶ ἄδηλον αἰτίαν ἀνθρωπίνῳ λογισμῷ· ἃ μὲν γὰρ εἶναι κατ’ ἀνάγκην, ἃ δὲ καθ’ εἱμαρμένην, ἃ δὲ κατὰ προαίρεσιν, ἃ δὲ κατὰ τύχην, ἃ δὲ κατὰ τὸ αὐτόματον.

9b ⟨Ἀνωνύμου⟩

I.7.9b

Τύχη ἀτάκτου ἐνεργείας ἐστὶ προσηγορία.

218

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 7

p. 219

8 Euripides, Danaë

I.7.8

I say that mortals’ fortunes come to the same thing as the one they call Aether, whoever he may be. He shines with the bright radiance of summer and raises winter storms, gathering thick cloud; he makes things flourish or not, live or die away. So the stock of some mortals prospers in bright calm, while for others it clouds over again. Some live amid troubles, while others with wealth fade away, much like the changes of the year.243

9a ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩

I.7.9a

Epicurus calls chance a cause that varies with persons, times, and places. Anaxagoras and the Stoics call it a cause obscure to human calculation. For some things occur according to necessity, others according to fate, others according to choice, others according to chance, and others according to spontaneous occurrence.244

9b ⟨Anonymous⟩

I.7.9b

Chance is a name for disorderly activity.245

219

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.