Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 40 of 879
Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.32–I.1.33a
Ancient Greek
p. 7632 ⟨Φιλήμονος⟩
33 Ἀρριανοῦ Ἐπικτητείου· περὶ προνοίας (αʹ)
Ἀφ’ ἑκάστου τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ γιγνομένων ῥᾴδιόν ἐστιν ἐγκωμιάσαι τὴν πρόνοιαν, ἐὰν δύο ἔχῃ τις ταῦτα ἐν ἑαυτῷ, δύναμίν τε συνορατικὴν τῶν γεγονότων ἑκάστου καὶ τὸ εὐχάριστον. Εἰ δὲ μή, ὁ μὲν οὐκ ὄψεται τὴν εὐχρηστίαν τῶν γεγονότων, ὁ δ’ οὐκ εὐχαριστήσει ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς, οὐδ’ ἂν ἴδῃ.
Χρώματα ὁ θεὸς εἰ πεποιήκει καὶ καθόλου πάντα ⟨τὰ⟩ ὁρατά, δύναμιν δὲ θεατικὴν αὐτῶν μὴ πεποιήκει, τί ἂν ἦν ὄφελος; — Οὐδ’ ὁτιοῦν. — Ἀλλ’ ἀνάπαλιν, εἰ τὴν μὲν δύναμιν πεποιήκει, τὰ ὄντα δὲ μὴ τοιαῦτα, οἷα ὑποπίπτειν τῇ δυνάμει τῇ ὁρατικῇ, καὶ οὕτως τί ὄφελος; — Οὐδέν. — Τί δ’, εἰ καὶ ἀμφότερα ταῦτα πεποιήκει, ⟨φῶς δὲ μὴ πεποιήκει⟩; — Οὐδ’ οὕτως τι ὄφελος.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1
p. 7732 ⟨Philemon⟩
No one has escaped me in a single deed, nor in what he will do, nor in what he did long ago, neither god nor man. I am that watcher, Air, whom one might also call Zeus. I do what ⟨belongs to a god⟩: I am everywhere, ⟨here in Athens, in Patrae, in Sicily,⟩ in every city, in every house, in every one of you. There is no place where air is absent; whoever is present everywhere must necessarily know everything [being present everywhere].79
33 Arrian’s Epictetus: On Providence (1)
It is easy to praise providence on the evidence of anything that happens in the cosmos, provided one has these two things within oneself: the ability to see each event in its connections, and a grateful disposition. Otherwise one person will fail to see the usefulness of what has happened, while another will fail to be grateful for it even if he does see.80
If God had made colors and, generally, everything visible, but had not made a capacity to see them, what use would there have been? “None at all.” Conversely, if he had made the capacity but had not made existing things such as could fall within its scope, what use would that have been? “None.” And if he had made both of these, ⟨but had not made light⟩? “Even then there would have been no use.”
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.32–I.1.33a
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.
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.