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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.7

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.7

Ancient Greek

p. 1044

13.7

I.49.13.7

Τί δέ; οὐχ οὕτως ἁρμονία πέφυκεν εἶναι ἑκάστη ἁρμονία, ὡς ἂν ἁρμοσθῇ; - Οὐ μανθάνω, ἔφη. - Ἢ οὐχί, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς, ἐὰν μὲν μᾶλλον ἁρμοσθῇ καὶ ἐπὶ πλέον, εἴπερ ἐνδέχεται τοῦτο γίγνεσθαι, μᾶλλόν τε ἂν ἁρμονία εἴη καὶ πλείων· εἰ δ᾽ ἧττόν τε καὶ ἐπὶ ἔλαττον, ἧττόν τε καὶ ἐλάττων; - Πάνυ γε. - Ἦ οὖν ἐστι τοῦτο περὶ ψυχήν, ὥστε κατὰ τὸ σμικρότατον μᾶλλον ἑτέραν ἑτέρας ψυχὴν ἐπὶ πλέον καὶ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπὶ ἔλαττον καὶ ἧττον αὐτὸ τοῦτ᾽ εἶναι, ψυχήν; - Οὐδ᾽ ὁπωστιοῦν, ἔφη.

1044

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1045

13.7 · Degrees of harmony and of soul

I.49.13.7

“What, then? Is not each harmony naturally a harmony according to the way it is attuned?”

“I do not understand,” he said.

“If it is attuned more fully and to a greater degree,” he said, “assuming this can happen, would it not be more of a harmony and a greater one; and if less fully and to a smaller degree, less of a harmony and a smaller one?”

“Certainly.”

“Does this also apply to soul: can one soul be, even in the slightest degree, more or less than another in this very respect, being a soul?”

“Not in any way,” he said.1317

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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.