Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 144 of 879
Book I Chapter 9 · I.9.16.3–I.9.17.1
Ancient Greek
p. 28416 Ἐν ταὐτῷ · γʹ
Οὕτω πολλὴν καὶ μεγάλην, μᾶλλον δὲ πᾶσαν δύναμιν ἔχει ξυλλήβδην μὲν ὁ πᾶς ἔρως· ὁ δὲ περὶ τἀγαθὰ μετὰ σωφροσύνης καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἀποτελούμενος καὶ παρ’ ἡμῖν καὶ παρὰ θεοῖς, οὗτος τὴν μεγίστην δύναμιν ἔχει καὶ πᾶσαν ἡμῖν εὐδαιμονίαν παρασκευάζει καὶ ἀλλήλοις δυναμένους ὁμιλεῖν καὶ φίλους εἶναι καὶ τοῖς κρείττοσιν ἡμῶν θεοῖς.
17 Ἐν ταὐτῷ · αʹ
Εὐδαίμονας λέγεις οὐ τοὺς τἀγαθὰ καὶ καλὰ κεκτημένους; - Πάνυ γε. - Ἀλλὰ μὴν ἔρωτά γε ὡμολόγηκας δι’ ἔνδειαν τῶν καλῶν καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐπιθυμεῖν αὐτῶν τούτων ὧν ἐνδεής ἐστι; - Ὡμολόγηκα γάρ. - Πῶς ἂν οὖν θεὸς εἴη ὅ γε τῶν καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἄμοιρος; - Οὐδαμῶς, ὡς γ’ ἔοικεν. - Ὁρᾷς οὖν, ἔφη, ὅτι καὶ σὺ Ἔρωτα οὐ θεὸν νομίζεις; - Τί οὖν ἄν, ἔφην, ὁ Ἔρως εἴη; θνητός; - Ἥκιστα γε. - Ἀλλὰ τί μήν; - Ὥσπερ τὰ πρότερα ἔφην, μεταξὺ θνητοῦ καὶ ἀθανάτου. - Τί οὖν, ὦ Διοτίμα; - Δαίμων μέγας, ὦ Σώκρατες· καὶ γὰρ πᾶν τὸ δαιμόνιον μεταξὺ ἐστὶ θεοῦ καὶ θνητοῦ.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 9
p. 28516 In the same work, part 3
Thus Love taken as a whole has vast and mighty power, or rather all power. But the love fulfilled in good things with self-restraint and justice, both among us and among the gods, has the greatest power. It provides us with every happiness and makes us able to associate and be friends with one another and with the gods, who are greater than we are.
17 In the same work (202c-203a), part 1
“Do you not call those who possess good and beautiful things happy?” “Certainly.”
“But you have admitted that Love desires beautiful and good things because he lacks those very things?” “I have.”
“How, then, could one who has no share in beautiful and good things be a god?” “He could not, it seems.”
“Do you see, then,” she said, “that you too do not consider Love a god?”
“What, then,” I said, “could Love be? Mortal?” “By no means.”
“What, then?” “As I said before, between mortal and immortal.”
“What is that, Diotima?” “A great spirit, Socrates: for everything of the spiritual order is between god and mortal.”320
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 9 · I.9.16.3–I.9.17.1
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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