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John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 1 · I.1.37b–I.1.38a

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 48 of 879

Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.37b–I.1.38a

Ancient Greek

p. 92

37 Ξενοφῶντος· Ἀπομνημονευμάτων δʹ (βʹ)

I.1.37b

— Τὸ δ’ ἐπεὶ τροφῆς δεόμεθα, ταύτην ἡμῖν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀναδιδόναι καὶ ὥρας ἁρμοττούσας πρὸς τοῦτο παρέχειν, ⟨αἳ⟩ ἡμῖν οὐ μόνον ὧν δεόμεθα πολλὰ καὶ παντοῖα παρασκευάζουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἷς εὐφραινόμεθα; — Πάνυ, ἔφη, καὶ ταῦτα φιλάνθρωπα.

— Τὸ δὲ καὶ ὕδωρ ἡμῖν παρέχειν οὕτω πολλοῦ ἄξιον, ὥστε συμφύειν τε καὶ συναύξειν τῇ γῇ καὶ ταῖς ὥραις πάντα τὰ χρήσιμα ἡμῖν, συντρέφειν δὲ καὶ αὐτοὺς ἡμᾶς καὶ μιγνύμενον τοῖς τρέφουσιν ἡμᾶς εὐκατεργαστότερά τε καὶ ὠφελιμώτερα καὶ ἡδίω ποιεῖν αὐτά, καὶ ἐπειδὴ πλείστου δεόμεθα τούτου, ἀφθονέστατον αὐτὸ παρέχειν ἡμῖν; — Καὶ τοῦτο, ἔφη, προνοητικόν.

38 Πλάτωνος ἐκ τοῦ Σοφιστοῦ (αʹ)

I.1.38a

Ποιητικῆς δὴ πρῶτον ἔστω δύο μέρη. — Ποίω; — Τὸ μὲν θεῖον, τὸ δ’ ἀνθρώπινον. — Οὕτω μεμάθηκα. — Ποιητικήν, εἴπερ μεμνήμεθα τὰ κατ’ ἀρχὰς λεχθέντα, πᾶσαν ἔφαμεν εἶναι δύναμιν, ἥτις ἂν αἰτία γίγνηται τοῖς μὴ πρότερον οὖσιν ὕστερον γίγνεσθαι. — Μεμάθηκα.

— Ζῷα δὴ πάντα θνητὰ καὶ δὴ καὶ φυτά, ὅσα τ’ ἐπὶ γῆς ἐκ σπερμάτων καὶ ῥιζῶν φύεται καὶ ὅσα ἄψυχα ἐκ γῆς ἐν γῇ ξυνίσταται σώματα τηκτὰ καὶ ἄτηκτα, μῶν ἄλλου τινὸς ἢ θεοῦ δημιουργοῦντος φήσομεν ὕστερον γίγνεσθαι πρότερον οὐκ ὄντα; ἢ ⟨τῷ⟩ τῶν πολλῶν δόγματι χρώμενοι. — Ποίῳ τῳ; — Τὴν φύσιν αὐτὰ γεννᾶν ἀπό τινος αἰτίας αὐτομάτης καὶ ἄνευ διανοίας φυούσης, ἢ μετὰ λόγου τε καὶ ἐπιστήμης θείας ἀπὸ θεοῦ γιγνομένης;

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Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1

p. 93

37 Xenophon, Memorabilia IV (2)

I.1.37b

“And what of this: since we need food, they bring it forth for us from the earth and provide seasons suited to it, ⟨which⟩ supply us in abundance and variety not only with necessities but also with things that delight us?” “These too are very kindly provisions for humanity.”

“And they provide water, so valuable that, together with earth and the seasons, it helps everything useful to us grow and flourish. It helps nourish us ourselves, and, mixed with our food, makes it easier to prepare, more beneficial, and more pleasant. Since we need it in the greatest quantity, they provide it most abundantly.” “That too,” he said, “shows forethought.”

38 Plato, from Sophist (1)

I.1.38a

“First, let there be two divisions of productive art.” “Which?” “The divine and the human.” “I understand.” “If we remember what was said at the beginning, we called every power productive that causes things not previously existing to come into being afterward.” “I understand.”

“Then all mortal animals and plants, whatever grows on earth from seeds and roots, and all the lifeless bodies formed from earth within earth, whether fusible or not—shall we say that anything other than a god’s craftsmanship causes them to come into being when they did not exist before? Or shall we adopt ⟨the⟩ common opinion?” “What opinion?” “That nature produces them from some spontaneous cause arising without intelligence; or that the cause comes from a god, with reason and divine knowledge?”92

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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.