Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 494 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.3.1–I.49.3.2
Ancient Greek
p. 9843.1 · Ἑρμοῦ
Ἑρμοῦ.
Ἔστι τοίνυν ἡ ψυχὴ ἀσώματος οὐσία· εἰ γὰρ ἔχει σῶμα, οὐκέτι ἔσται ἑαυτῆς σωστική. Πᾶν γὰρ σῶμα δεῖται τοῦ εἶναι, δεῖται καὶ ζωῆς τῆς ἐν τάξει κειμένης. Παντὶ γὰρ τῷ γένεσιν ἔχοντι καὶ μεταβολὴν δεῖ ἐπακολουθεῖν. Τὸ γὰρ γινόμενον γίνεται ἐν μεγέθει, γινόμενον ⟨γὰρ⟩ αὔξην ἔχει· παντὶ δὲ τῷ αὐξανομένῳ ἐπακολουθεῖ μείωσις, μειώσει φθορά. Μετειληφὸς δὲ εἴδους ζωῆς ζῇ καὶ κοινωνεῖ τοῦ εἶναι ⟨διὰ⟩ τὴν ψυχήν.
3.2
Ἡ δὲ αἰτία ἑτέρῳ τοῦ εἶναι αὐτὴ προτοῦ ὄν ἐστι. Τὸ δὲ εἶναι νῦν λέγω τὸ ἐν λόγῳ γενέσθαι καὶ μετέχειν ζωῆς νοερᾶς· παρέχει δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ ζωὴν νοεράν. Καλεῖται δὲ ζῷον μὲν διὰ τὴν ζωήν, λογικὸν δὲ διὰ τὸ νοερόν, θνητὸν δὲ διὰ τὸ σῶμα. Ψυχὴ ἄρα ⟨οὐσία⟩ ἀσώματος, ἀμετάπτωτον ἔχουσα τὴν δύναμιν. Πῶς γὰρ οἷόν τέ ἐστι λέγειν ζῷον [νοερόν], μὴ οὔσης οὐσίας τῆς καὶ παρεχούσης ζωήν; ἀλλὰ οὐδὲ λογικὸν οἷόν τέ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, μὴ οὔσης τῆς διανοητικῆς οὐσίας τῆς καὶ παρεχούσης νοερὰν ζωήν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 9853.1 · Hermes: body depends upon soul
From Hermes.
Soul, then, is an incorporeal substance. For if it has a body, it will no longer be able to preserve itself. Every body needs being; it also needs life established in an orderly arrangement. Everything that comes into being must also undergo change. What comes into being does so with magnitude; ⟨for⟩ in coming into being it grows. Everything that grows is followed by diminution, and diminution by destruction. But through receiving a form of life it lives and shares in being ⟨through⟩ soul.1258
3.2 · The source of rational life
What causes another thing to be is itself already a being. By “being” here I mean coming to exist in reason and sharing in intelligent life; it is soul that supplies intelligent life. It is called a living creature because of life, rational because of intelligence, and mortal because of the body. Soul, therefore, is an incorporeal ⟨substance⟩ whose power does not change. How can one speak of an [intelligent] living creature unless there is a substance that also supplies life? Nor can one call it rational unless there is a thinking substance that also supplies intelligent life.1259
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.3.1–I.49.3.2
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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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