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Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.33b
Ancient Greek
p. 7833 Ἀρριανοῦ Ἐπικτητείου (βʹ)
Τίς οὖν ὁ ἁρμόσας τοῦτο πρὸς ἐκεῖνο κἀκεῖνο πρὸς τοῦτο; τίς δ’ ὁ ἁρμόσας τὴν μάχαιραν πρὸς τὸν κολεὸν καὶ τὸν κολεὸν πρὸς τὴν μάχαιραν; Οὐδείς; Καὶ μὴν ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς κατασκευῆς τῶν ἐπιτετελεσμένων ἀποφαίνεσθαι εἰώθαμεν, ὅτι τεχνίτου τινὸς πάντως τὸ ἔργον, οὐχὶ δὲ εἰκῇ κατεσκευασμένον. Ἆρ’ οὖν τούτων μὲν ἕκαστον ἐμφαίνει τὸν τεχνίτην, τὰ δὲ ὁρατὰ καὶ ὅρασις καὶ φῶς οὐκ ἐμφαίνει; Τὸ δ’ ἄρρεν καὶ τὸ θῆλυ καὶ ἡ προθυμία ἡ πρὸς τὴν συνουσίαν ἑκατέρου καὶ ⟨ἡ⟩ δύναμις ἡ χρηστικὴ τοῖς μορίοις τοῖς κατεσκευασμένοις, οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἐμφαίνει τὸν τεχνίτην;
Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω· ἡ δὲ τοιαύτη τῆς διανοίας κατασκευή, καθ’ ἣν οὐχ ἁπλῶς ὑποπίπτοντες τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς τυπούμεθα ὑπ’ αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκλαμβάνομέν τι καὶ ἀφαιροῦμεν καὶ προστίθεμεν ⟨καὶ συντίθεμεν⟩ τάδε τινὰ δι’ αὐτῶν καὶ νὴ Δία μεταβαίνομεν ἀπ’ ἄλλων ἐπ’ ἄλλα τούτοις πως παρακείμενα, οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἱκανὰ κινῆσαί τινας καὶ διατρέψαι πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀπολιπεῖν τὸν τεχνίτην; ἢ ἐξηγησάσθωσαν ἡμῖν, τί τὸ ποιοῦν ἐστι τούτων ἕκαστον, ἢ πῶς οἷόν τε τὰ οὕτως θαυμαστὰ καὶ τεχνικὰ εἰκῇ καὶ ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου γίγνεσθαι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1
p. 7933 Arrian’s Epictetus (2)
Who, then, fitted this to that and that to this? Who fitted the sword to the sheath and the sheath to the sword? No one? Yet from the very construction of finished objects we are accustomed to declare that they must be the work of some craftsman, not things constructed at random. Does each of these reveal its craftsman, while visible things, sight, and light do not? And male and female, the desire of each for union, and ⟨the⟩ capacity to use the organs provided for it—do these too fail to reveal the craftsman?
Let those things stand. What of the mind’s particular construction? Through it we do not merely receive impressions from sensible objects when we encounter them: we also apprehend something, subtract, add, ⟨and combine⟩ particular things through them; and, by Zeus, we pass from some things to others related to them. Are even these insufficient to move people and turn them toward acknowledging the craftsman? Then let them explain to us what produces each of these things, or how things so wonderful and skillfully formed can arise at random and spontaneously.81
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.33b
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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.
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