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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 505 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.8.2–I.49.8.3
Ancient Greek
p. 10068.2
Μὴ τοίνυν κατ᾽ ἀνθρώπων, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς, σκόπει μόνον τοῦτο, εἰ βούλει ῥᾷον μαθεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ ζῴων πάντων καὶ φυτῶν καὶ ξυλλήβδην ὅσαπερ ἔχει γένεσιν περὶ πάντων ἴδωμεν, ἆρα οὑτωσὶ γίγνεται ἅπαντα οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἢ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων τὰ ἐναντία, ὅσοις τυγχάνει ὂν τοιοῦτόν τι, οἷον τὸ καλὸν τῷ αἰσχρῷ ἐναντίον που καὶ δίκαιον ἀδίκῳ, καὶ ἄλλα δὴ μυρία οὕτως ἔχει. Τοῦτο οὖν σκεψώμεθα, ἆρα ἀναγκαῖον, ὅσοις ἐστί τι ἐναντίον, μηδαμόθεν ἄλλοθεν αὐτὸ γίγνεσθαι ἢ ἐκ τοῦ αὑτῷ ἐναντίου.
8.3
Οἷον ὅταν μεῖζόν τι γίγνηται, ἀνάγκη που ἐξ ἐλάττονος ὄντος πρότερον ἔπειτα μεῖζον γίγνεσθαι; - Ναί. - Οὐκοῦν κἂν ἔλαττον γίγνηται ἐκ μείζονος ὄντος πρότερον ὕστερον ἔλαττον γενήσεται; - Ἔστιν, ἔφη, οὕτω. - Καὶ μὴν ἐξ ἰσχυροτέρου γε τὸ ἀσθενέστερον καὶ ἐκ βραδυτέρου τὸ θᾶττον; - Πάνυ γε. - Τί δέ; ἄν τι χεῖρον γίγνηται, οὐκ ἐξ ἀμείνονος, καὶ ἐὰν δικαιότερον, οὐκ ἐξ ἀδικωτέρου; - Πῶς γὰρ οὔ; - Ἱκανῶς οὖν, ἔφη, ἔχομεν τοῦτο, ὅτι πάντα οὕτω γίγνεται, ἐξ ἐναντίων τὰ ἐναντία πράγματα; - Πάνυ γε. - . . . . .
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 10078.2 · The generation of opposites
“Then do not consider this only in human beings,” he said, “if you want to understand it more easily. Let us examine all animals and plants, and, in a word, everything that comes into being: does everything arise in this way, opposite from opposite and from no other source, wherever there is such an opposition? For example, the beautiful is surely opposite to the ugly, the just to the unjust, and countless other things stand in this relation. Let us therefore consider whether, for everything that has an opposite, it must come into being from no other source than its own opposite.”1286
8.3 · Greater and smaller, better and worse
“For example, when something becomes larger, must it not have been smaller before and then become larger?” “Yes.”
“And if it becomes smaller, will it not have been larger before and afterward become smaller?” “That is so,” he said.
“And the weaker comes from the stronger, the faster from the slower?” “Certainly.”
“What about this: if something becomes worse, does it not come from being better, and if more just, from being more unjust?” “Of course.”
“Have we then sufficiently established,” he said, “that all things arise in this way, opposite things from their opposites?” “Certainly.”
. . . . .1287
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.8.2–I.49.8.3
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.
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