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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 1 · I.1.3–I.1.6

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 19 of 879

Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.3–I.1.6

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Ancient Greek

p. 34

3 Ἀράτου

I.1.3
Ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα, τὸν οὐδέποτ’ ἄνδρες ἐῶμεν ἄρρητον, μεσταὶ δὲ Διὸς πᾶσαι μὲν ἀγυιαί, πᾶσαι δ’ ἀνθρώπων ἀγοραί, μεστὴ δὲ θάλασσα καὶ λιμένες, πάντῃ δὲ Διὸς κεχρήμεθα πάντες. τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν, ὁ δ’ ἤπιος ἀνθρώποισι δεξιὰ σημαίνει, λαοὺς δ’ ἐπὶ ἔργον ἐγείρει μιμνήσκων βιότοιο, λέγει δ’ ὅτε βῶλος ἀρίστη βουσί τε καὶ μακέλῃσι, λέγει δ’ ὅτε δεξιαὶ ὧραι καὶ φυτὰ γυρῶσαι καὶ σπέρματα πάντα βαλέσθαι.

4 ⟨Ὁμήρου⟩

I.1.4
Ζεὺς δ’ ἀρετὴν ἄνδρεσσιν ὀφέλλει τε μινύθει τε ὅππως κεν ἐθέλῃσιν, ὁ γὰρ κάρτιστος ἁπάντων.

5 ⟨Ἀδεσπότου τραγικοῦ⟩

I.1.5
Ὁ γὰρ θεὸς μέγιστος ἀνθρώποις νόμος.

6 ⟨Ἀδεσπότου ἐλεγειακοῦ⟩

I.1.6
Ζεὺς πάντων αὐτὸς φάρμακα μοῦνος ἔχει.
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Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1

p. 35

3 Aratus

I.1.3

Let us begin with Zeus, whom we men never leave unspoken. Every street is full of Zeus, and every gathering place of men; the sea and harbors are full of him. Everywhere we all need Zeus. For we too are his offspring. Kindly toward mankind, he gives favorable signs and rouses the people to work, reminding them of their livelihood. He tells when the soil is best for oxen and mattocks, and when the seasons favor digging around the plants and sowing every seed.30

4 ⟨Homer⟩

I.1.4

Zeus increases or diminishes men’s prowess as he wills, for he is mightiest of all.31

5 ⟨An unidentified tragic poet⟩

I.1.5

For God is the highest law for human beings.

6 ⟨An unidentified elegiac poet⟩

I.1.6

Zeus himself alone holds remedies for all things.32

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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.