Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 530 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.16–I.49.13.17
Ancient Greek
p. 105613.16
Ἆρ᾽ οἴει αὐτὸν ταῦτα ποιῆσαι διανοούμενον ὡς ἁρμονίας αὐτῆς οὔσης καὶ οἵας ἄγεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν τοῦ σώματος παθημάτων, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ οἵας ἄγειν τε ταῦτα καὶ δεσπόζειν, καὶ οὔσης αὐτῆς πολὺ θειοτέρου τινὸς ἢ καθ᾽ ἁρμονίαν; - Νὴ Δία, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ. - Οὐκ ἄρα, ὦ ἄριστε, ἡμῖν οὐδαμῇ καλῶς ἔχει ψυχὴν ἁρμονίαν τινὰ φάναι εἶναι· οὔτε γὰρ ἄν, ὡς ἔοικεν, Ὁμήρῳ θείῳ ποιητῇ ὁμολογοῖμεν οὔτε αὐτοὶ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς. - Ἔχει οὕτως, ἔφη.
13.17
Εἶεν δή, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς ὁ Σωκράτης, τὰ μὲν Ἁρμονίας ἡμῖν τῆς Θηβαϊκῆς ἵλεά πως, ὡς ἔοικε, μετρίως γέγονε· τί δὲ δὴ τὰ Κάδμου, ἔφη, ὦ Κέβης, πῶς ἱλασόμεθα καὶ τίνι λόγῳ; - Σὺ μοι δοκεῖς, ἔφη ὁ Κέβης, ἐξευρήσειν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 105713.16 · Agreement with Homer and ourselves
“Do you think he composed these lines with the thought that soul is a harmony, liable to be led by bodily conditions, rather than fitted to lead and master them, and itself something far more divine than a harmony?”
“Yes, by Zeus, Socrates, that is how it seems to me.”
“Then, my good friend, it is in no way right for us to say that soul is a kind of harmony. For, it seems, we would agree neither with Homer, the divine poet, nor with ourselves.”
“That is so,” he said.1326
13.17 · From Harmonia to Cadmus
“Very well,” said Socrates. “It seems we have managed to make Theban Harmonia reasonably gracious toward us. But what of Cadmus, Cebes?” he said. “How shall we appease him, and with what argument?”
“I think you will find one,” said Cebes.1327
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.13.16–I.49.13.17
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.