Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 418 of 879
Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.1.20–I.41.1.21
Ancient Greek
p. 8321.20
Τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ ὑπόκειται, τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς τῇ γῇ ἐπίκειται.
Ὁ οὐρανὸς πρῶτον στοιχεῖον, ἡ γῆ ὕστατον στοιχεῖον.
Πρόνοια θεία τάξις, ἀνάγκη προνοίᾳ ὑπηρέτις.
Τύχη φορὰ ἄτακτος, ἐνεργείας εἴδωλον, δόξα ψευδής.
Τί θεός; ἄτρεπτον ἀγαθόν· τί ἄνθρωπος; τρεπτὸν κακόν.
1.21
Τούτων τῶν κεφαλαίων μεμνημένος καὶ ὧν σοι διὰ πλειόνων λόγων διεξῆλθον εὐκόλως ἀναμνησθήσῃ· ταῦτα γὰρ ἐκείνων εἰσὶ περιοχαί. Τὰς μέντοι πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς ὁμιλίας παραιτοῦ· φθονεῖν μὲν γάρ σε οὐ βούλομαι, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅτι πολλοῖς δόξεις καταγέλαστος εἶναι. Τὸ γὰρ ὅμοιον πρὸς τὸ ὅμοιον παραλαμβάνεται, ἀνόμοιος δὲ ἀνομοίῳ οὐδέποτε φίλος.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 41
p. 8331.20 · Subordination, providence, and chance
Things in heaven are subordinate; things on earth rest upon the earth.1077
Heaven is the first element; earth is the last element.
Providence is divine order; necessity is the servant of providence.
Chance is disorderly motion, an image of activity, a false opinion.
What is God? Unchanging good. What is the human being? Changing evil.1078
1.21 · Remembering and withholding
If you remember these summary statements, you will easily recall what I explained to you at greater length, for these are summaries of those teachings. Yet decline discussions with the multitude. I do not want you to be grudging; the reason is rather that you will seem ridiculous to many.1079 Like is taken to like, while unlike is never a friend to unlike.
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.1.20–I.41.1.21
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.