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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 51 of 879
Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.39b–I.1.39c
Ancient Greek
p. 9839 Ὀνάτου· περὶ θεοῦ καὶ θείου (βʹ)
Δοκέει δέ μοι καὶ μὴ εἷς εἶμεν ὁ θεός, ἀλλ’ εἷς μὲν ὁ μέγιστος καὶ καθυπέρτερος καὶ ὁ κρατέων τῶ παντός, τοὶ δ’ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ διαφέροντες κατὰ δύναμιν· βασιλεύεν δὲ πάντων αὐτῶν ὁ καὶ κράτει καὶ μεγέθει καὶ ἀρετᾷ μέζων. Οὗτος δέ κ’ εἴη θεὸς ὁ περιέχων τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον, τοὶ δ’ ἄλλοι θεοὶ οἱ θέοντες ἐντὶ κατ’ οὐρανὸν σὺν τᾷ τῶ παντὸς περιαγήσι, κατὰ λόγον ὀπαδέοντες τῷ πράτῳ καὶ νοατῷ.
Τοὶ δὲ λέγοντες ἕνα θεὸν εἶμεν, ἀλλὰ μὴ πολλὼς ἁμαρτάνοντι· τὸ γὰρ μέγιστον ἀξίωμα τᾶς θείας ὑπεροχᾶς οὐ συνθεωρεῦντι. Λέγω δὴ τὸ ἄρχειν καὶ καθαγεῖσθαι τῶν ὁμοίων καὶ κράτιστον καὶ καθυπέρτερον εἶμεν τῶν ἄλλων.
39 Ὀνάτου· περὶ θεοῦ καὶ θείου (γʹ)
Τοὶ δ’ ἄλλοι θεοὶ ποτὶ τὸν πρᾶτον θεὸν καὶ νοατὸν οὕτως ἔχοντι, ὥσπερ χορευταὶ ποτὶ κορυφαῖον καὶ στρατιῶται ποτὶ στραταγὸν καὶ λοχῖται καὶ ἐντεταγμένοι ποτὶ ταξίαρχαν καὶ λοχαγέαν, ἔχοντες φύσιν ἕπεσθαι καὶ ἐπακολουθεῖν τῷ καλῶς καθαγεομένῳ. ξυνὸν μὲν ὦν αὐτῶν τὸ ἔργον ἐστὶ καὶ τῶ ἄρχοντος καὶ τῶν ἀρχομένων, ἀλλ’ οὐ κ’ ἔτι δύναιντο συντετάχθαι τοὶ ἀρχόμενοι ποτὶ τὸ ἔργον ἀπολειφθέντες ἁγεμόνος, ὥσπερ οὔτε χορευταὶ ποτὶ συνοιδίαν, οὔτε στρατιῶται ποτὶ στρατιάν, ἀπολειφθέντες τοὶ μὲν στραταγῶ, τοὶ δὲ κορυφαίω.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1
p. 9939 Onatas, On God and the Divine (2)
It also seems to me that there is not just one god. One is greatest and highest, ruling the universe; the others are many, differing in power. The one greater in might, greatness, and excellence rules over them all. This would be the god who encompasses the entire cosmos; the other gods are those that run their courses in heaven with the revolution of the whole, following the first and intelligible god in accordance with reason.
Those who say there is one god rather than many are mistaken: they fail to consider the greatest dignity of divine superiority. I mean ruling and leading beings like oneself, and being strongest and highest among the rest.95
39 Onatas, On God and the Divine (3)
The other gods stand in relation to the first and intelligible god as members of a chorus to their leader, soldiers to their general, and men in companies and ranks to their regimental and company commanders. It is their nature to follow and attend upon one who leads well.
Their work is therefore shared by ruler and ruled. Yet the ruled could no longer be organized for that work if deprived of a leader, just as neither choristers could join in song nor soldiers form an army without, respectively, a chorus-leader and a general.96
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.39b–I.1.39c
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.
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
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