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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.1.7–I.1.11

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 20 of 879

Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.7–I.1.11

Ancient Greek

p. 36

7 ⟨Ὁμήρου⟩

I.1.7
Ζεὺς δ’ αὐτὸς νέμει ὄλβον Ὀλύμπιος ἀνθρώποισιν, ἐσθλοῖς ἠδὲ κακοῖσιν, ὅπως ἐθέλῃσιν ἑκάστῳ.

8 ⟨Ὁμήρου⟩

I.1.8
Ῥηΐδιον δὲ θεοῖσι, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσιν, ἠμὲν κυδῆναι θνητὸν βροτὸν ἠδὲ κακῶσαι.

9 ⟨Ἀδεσπότου ποιητοῦ⟩

I.1.9
Ζεὺς ὁ καὶ ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου πείρατα νωμῶν.

10 Σιμωνίδου

I.1.10
Οὔτις ἄνευ θεῶν ἀρετὰν λάβεν, οὐ πόλις, οὐ ⟨βροτός⟩.

11 Μενάνδρου

I.1.11
Ἅπαντα σιγῶν ὁ θεὸς ἐξεργάζεται.
36

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1

p. 37

7 ⟨Homer⟩

I.1.7

Olympian Zeus himself allots prosperity to human beings, to good and bad alike, as he wills for each.

8 ⟨Homer⟩

I.1.8

It is easy for the gods who hold broad heaven either to exalt a mortal man or bring him low.33

9 ⟨An unidentified poet⟩

I.1.9

Zeus, who governs the bounds of life and death.

10 Simonides

I.1.10

Without the gods no one has gained excellence: no city, no ⟨mortal⟩.34

11 Menander

I.1.11

In silence God brings everything to completion.

37

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.