Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 423 of 879
Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.3.2–I.41.4.1
Ancient Greek
p. 8423.2
Τοῦ δὲ ὄντως ὄντος καὶ καθ᾽ αὑτὸ ὑφεστηκότος αὐτοῦ τὸ εἶναι ἀεὶ ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἱδρυμένον, τὸ ὡσαύτως ⟨καὶ⟩ κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἔχειν, τὸ ἐν ταὐτότητι οὐσιῶσθαι, τὸ ἀμετάβλητον εἶναι κατ᾽ οὐσίαν, τὸ ἀσύνθετον, τὸ μήτε λυτὸν μήτε ἐν τόπῳ εἶναι μήτε εἰς ὄγκον διαπεφορήσθαι, τὸ μήτε γιγνόμενον μήτε ἀπολλύμενον εἶναι καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ὧν ἐχομένους δεῖ μηδὲν ἐπαλλάττοντας περὶ τῆς διαφόρου αὐτῶν φύσεως καὶ αὐτοὺς λέγειν καὶ ἄλλων λεγόντων ὑπακούειν.
4.1
Ἑρμοῦ ἐκ τῶν πρὸς Ἄμμωνα.
Ἡ ψυχὴ τοίνυν οὐσία ἐστὶν ἀσώματος, καὶ ἐν σώματι δὲ οὖσα οὐκ ἐκβαίνει τῆς ἰδίας οὐσιότητος. Τυγχάνει γὰρ οὖσα ἀεικίνητος κατ᾽ οὐσίαν, κατὰ νόησιν αὐτοκίνητος, οὐκ ἔν τινι κινουμένη, οὐ πρός τι, οὐχ ἕνεκεν τινος· προτερεῖ γὰρ τῇ δυνάμει, τὸ δὲ πρότερον οὐ δεῖται τῶν ὑστέρων. Τὸ ἔν τινι τοίνυν ἐστὶν ὁ τόπος καὶ χρόνος καὶ φύσις, τὸ δὲ πρός τι ἐστὶν ἁρμονία καὶ εἶδος καὶ σχῆμα, τὸ δὲ οὗ ἕνεκα τὸ σῶμα· ἕνεκα γὰρ σώματος καὶ χρόνος καὶ τόπος καὶ φύσις.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 41
p. 8433.2 · What truly is
Of that which truly is and itself subsists in its own right, these are the predicates: being always established in itself; remaining in the same manner ⟨and⟩ condition; having its being in identity; being unchangeable in essence; being uncompounded; being neither dissoluble nor in a place nor dispersed into extended mass; neither coming to be nor passing away; and all such characteristics. We must hold to these distinctions, interchanging none of them, both when we ourselves speak of their different natures and when we listen to others speak.1090
4.1 · Hermes: the soul’s own being
From Hermes, from the writings To Ammon.
The soul, then, is an incorporeal substance; even when it is in a body, it does not depart from its own essential being. For it is ever-moving in its essence and self-moving in thought, without moving in something, in relation to something, or for the sake of something. It is prior in power, and what is prior has no need of what comes after. “In something,” then, means place, time, and nature; “in relation to something” means harmony, form, and shape; and “for the sake of something” means body. For time, place, and nature exist for the sake of body.1091
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.3.2–I.41.4.1
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.
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