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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 457 of 879
Book I Chapter 47 · I.47.1.7–I.47.1.8
Ancient Greek
p. 9101.7
Ἐκ τούτων οὖν τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων τά τ᾽ ἔμπροσθεν κῶλα καὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς εἰς γῆν ἑλκόμενα ὑπὸ συγγενείας ἤρεισαν, προμήκεις τε καὶ παντοίας ἔσχον τὰς κορυφάς, ὅπῃ συνεθλίφθησαν ὑπὸ ἀργίας ἑκάστων αἱ περιφοραί. Τετράπουν τε τὸ γένος αὐτῶν ἐκ ταύτης ἐφύετο καὶ πολύπουν τῆς προφάσεως, θεοῦ βάσεις ὑποτιθέντος πλείους τοῖς μᾶλλον ἄφροσιν, ὡς μᾶλλον ἐπὶ γῆν ἕλκοιντο. Τοῖς δ᾽ ἀφρονεστάτοις αὐτῶν τούτων καὶ παντάπασι πρὸς γῆν πᾶν τὸ σῶμα κατατεινομένοις, ὡς οὐδὲν ἔτι ποδῶν χρείας οὔσης, ἄποδα αὐτὰ καὶ ἰλυσπώμενα ἐπὶ γῆς ἐγέννησαν.
1.8
Τὸ δὲ τέταρτον γένος ἔνυδρον γέγονεν ἐκ τῶν μάλιστα ἀνοητοτάτων καὶ ἀμαθεστάτων, οὓς οὐδὲ ἀναπνοῆς καθαρᾶς ἔτι ἠξίωσαν οἱ μεταπλάττοντες, ὡς τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ πλημμελείας πάσης ἀκαθάρτως ἐχόντων, ἀλλ᾽ ἀντὶ λεπτῆς καὶ καθαρᾶς ἀναπνοῆς ἀέρος εἰς ὕδατος θολερὰν καὶ βαθεῖαν ἔωσαν ἀνάπνευσιν· ὅθεν ἰχθύων γένος καὶ τὸ τῶν ὀστρέων ξυναπάντων τε ὅσα ἔνυδρα γέγονε, δίκην ἀμαθίας ἐσχάτης ἐσχάτας οἰκήσεις εἰληχότων. Καὶ κατὰ ταῦτα δὴ πάντα τότε καὶ νῦν διαμείβεται τὰ ζῷα εἰς ἄλληλα, νοῦ καὶ ἀνοίας ἀποβολῇ καὶ κτήσει μεταβαλλόμενα.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 47
p. 9111.7 · The multiplication and loss of feet
Because of these habits, they planted their forelimbs and heads upon the earth, drawn toward it by kinship. Their heads became elongated and assumed all manner of shapes, according to how each creature’s revolutions had been compressed through disuse. For this reason their kind grew four-footed or many-footed: the god placed more supports beneath the more foolish, so that they might be drawn still closer to the earth. As for the most foolish of these, whose whole bodies were stretched completely toward the ground, the gods made them without feet, crawling on the earth, since they had no further need of feet.1172
1.8 · Aquatic life and changes of embodiment
The fourth kind, aquatic life, arose from the very most senseless and ignorant. Their refashioners no longer judged them worthy even of pure breathing, since every sort of wrongdoing had defiled their souls. Instead of the fine, pure breathing of air, they thrust them into the murky, deep breathing of water. Thus arose the race of fish, shellfish, and all aquatic creatures, allotted the lowest dwellings as punishment for the lowest ignorance. In accordance with all this, then as now, living creatures change into one another, undergoing transformation through the loss and acquisition of intellect and folly.1173
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 47 · I.47.1.7–I.47.1.8
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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.
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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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