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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.10–I.49.11.1
Ancient Greek
p. 102810 · Πλάτωνος ἐκ τοῦ Κρατύλου
Πλάτωνος ἐκ τοῦ Κρατύλου.
Οἶμαι τοιοῦτόν τι νοεῖν τοὺς τὴν ψυχὴν ὀνομάσαντας, ὡς τοῦτο ἄρα, ὅταν παρῇ τῷ σώματι, αἴτιόν ἐστι τοῦ ζῆν αὐτῷ, τὴν τοῦ ἀναπνεῖν δύναμιν παρέχον καὶ ἀναψῦχον, ἅμα δὲ ἐκλείποντος τοῦ ἀναψύχοντος τὸ σῶμα ἀπόλλυται καὶ τελευτᾷ· ὅθεν δή μοι δοκοῦσιν ψυχὴν αὐτὸ καλέσαι.
11.1 · Πλάτωνος ἐκ τοῦ Φαίδρου
Πλάτωνος ἐκ τοῦ Φαίδρου.
Ψυχὴ πᾶσα ἀθάνατος. Τὸ γὰρ ἀεικίνητον ἀθάνατον· τὸ δ᾽ ἄλλο κινοῦν καὶ ὑπὸ ἄλλου κινούμενον παῦλαν ἔχον ζωῆς παῦλαν ἔχει κινήσεως. Μόνον δὴ τὸ αὑτὸ κινοῦν, ἅτε οὐκ ἀπολεῖπον ἑαυτό, οὔποτε λήγει κινούμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὅσα κινεῖται, τοῦτο γὰρ πηγὴ καὶ ἀρχὴ κινήσεως.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 102910 · Plato, Cratylus: the name of soul
Plato, from the Cratylus.
I think those who gave soul its name had something like this in mind: when it is present in the body, it is the cause of the body’s living, providing the power to breathe and refreshing it; but as soon as what refreshes it fails, the body perishes and dies. That, I think, is why they called it psychē, soul.1304
11.1 · Plato, Phaedrus: self-motion
Plato, from the Phaedrus.
Every soul is immortal. For what is always in motion is immortal; but what moves something else and is moved by something else ceases to move when its life ceases. Only what moves itself, since it does not abandon itself, never stops moving; for it is also the source and beginning of motion for all other things that move.1305
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.10–I.49.11.1
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
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.