Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 49 · I.49.4.3–I.49.5.1

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Facing Pages · Branch 497 of 879

Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.4.3–I.49.5.1

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Ancient Greek

p. 990

4.3

I.49.4.3

Ὁ περινοητικὸς λόγος τοίνυν τῆς οὐσίας ἐστὶ γνῶσις τῶν λογισμῶν τῶν παρεχόντων εἰκασμὸν λογισμοῦ τῷ ἀλόγῳ, ἀμυδρὸν μὲν ὡς πρὸς λόγον, λογισμὸν δὲ ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἄλογον, καθάπερ ἠχὼ πρὸς φωνὴν καὶ τὸ τῆς σελήνης λαμπρὸν πρὸς ἥλιον. Ἥρμοσται δὲ θυμὸς καὶ ἐπιθυμία πρὸς τινα λογισμὸν καὶ ἀνθέλκει ἄλληλα καὶ ἐπισπᾶται ⟨τὴν⟩ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ὑλικὴν διάνοιαν.

5.1 · Τοῦ αὐτοῦ

I.49.5.1

Τοῦ αὐτοῦ.

Ψυχὴ πᾶσα ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀεικίνητος. Ἔφημεν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς γενικοῖς κινήσεις τὰς μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν, τὰς δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν σωμάτων. Φαμὲν δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐξ οὐσίας τινὸς οὐχ ὕλης γεγενῆσθαι, ἀσώματον οὖσαν καὶ αὐτῆς ἀσωμάτου οὔσης. Πᾶν γὰρ τὸ γενόμενον ἀνάγκη ἔκ τινος γεγενῆσθαι.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 991

4.3 · Reason and its echo

I.49.4.3

The substance’s encompassing reason is therefore knowledge of the reasonings that supply the irrational with a likeness of reasoning. This is dim in comparison with reason, yet counts as reasoning in comparison with the irrational, as an echo stands to a voice and the moon’s brightness to the sun.¹²⁶⁵ Spirit and desire are attuned to a certain reasoning; they pull against one another and draw to themselves the material understanding within them.¹²⁶⁶

5.1 · Hermes: soul and its origin

I.49.5.1

By the same author.

Every soul is immortal and always in motion. For in the general discussions we said that some motions come from activities, others from bodies. We say that soul has arisen from a certain substance, not from matter, being itself incorporeal and that substance also incorporeal. For everything that has come into being must have arisen from something.¹²⁶⁷

1265.Wachsmuth calls logismōn, “reasonings,” corrupt and suspects that more of the sentence may be damaged. The translation follows the printed words provisionally; it should not be read as a secure definition. The comparisons nevertheless distinguish a source from its weaker echo or reflected light.

1266.The singular Greek verbs govern the paired spirit and desire. The English takes the second verb as their drawing to themselves the understanding associated with matter. Wachsmuth corrects this verb and supplies its article, which has no distinct English equivalent. “Material understanding” preserves the tension with the higher thinking substance.

1267.“The general discussions” renders en tois genikois, an internal reference whose full title is not supplied here. Energeiai are activities or active operations. The excerpt distinguishes soul’s derivation from an incorporeal substance from a body’s material origin; being generated is not treated as sufficient to make soul perishable.

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.