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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 534 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.15.4–I.49.15.5
Ancient Greek
p. 106415.4
Ἔδοξε τοίνυν μοι, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς, μετὰ ταῦτα, ἐπειδὴ ἀπείρηκα τὰ ὄντα σκοπῶν, δεῖν εὐλαβηθῆναι, μὴ πάθοιμι ὅπερ οἱ τὸν ἥλιον ἐκλείποντα θεωροῦντες καὶ σκοπούμενοι πάσχουσι· διαφθείρονται γάρ που ἔνιοι τὰ ὄμματα, ἐὰν μὴ ἐν ὕδατι ἤ τινι τοιούτῳ σκοπῶνται τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ. Τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ ἐγὼ διενοήθην καὶ ἔδεισα, μὴ παντάπασι τὴν ψυχὴν τυφλωθείην βλέπων πρὸς τὰ πράγματα τοῖς ὄμμασι καὶ ἑκάστῃ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐπιχειρῶν ἅπτεσθαι αὐτῶν. Ἔδοξε δή μοι χρῆναι εἰς τοὺς λόγους καταφυγόντα ἐν ἐκείνοις σκοπεῖν τῶν ὄντων τὴν ἀλήθειαν.
15.5
Ἴσως μὲν οὖν, ὡς εἰκάζω, τρόπον τινὰ οὐκ ἔοικεν. Οὐ γὰρ πάνυ συγχωρῶ, τὸν ἐν λόγοις σκοπούμενον τὰ ὄντα ἐν εἰκόσι μᾶλλον σκοπεῖν ἢ τὸν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις· ἀλλ᾽ οὖν δὴ ταύτῃ γε ὥρμησα, καὶ ὑποθέμενος ἑκάστοτε λόγον ὃν ἂν κρίνω ἐρρωμενέστατον εἶναι, ἃ μὲν ἂν μοι δοκῇ τούτῳ συμφωνεῖν, τίθημι ὡς ἀληθῆ ὄντα, καὶ περὶ αἰτίας καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων· ἃ δ᾽ ἂν μή, ὡς οὐκ ἀληθῆ. Βούλομαι δέ σοι σαφέστερον εἰπεῖν ἃ λέγω· οἶμαι γάρ σε νῦν οὐ μανθάνειν. - Οὐ μὰ τὸν Δί᾽, ἔφη ὁ Κέβης, οὐ σφόδρα.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 106515.4 · The image of an eclipse
“After this,” he said, “since I had grown weary of examining things that are, I thought I must take care not to suffer what people suffer when they watch and examine the sun in eclipse. For some damage their eyes unless they examine its image in water or something of the kind. I had a similar thought and feared that I might become altogether blind in soul by looking at things with my eyes and trying to grasp them through each of the senses. So I thought I should take refuge in accounts and examine in them the truth of things that are.”1334
15.5 · Testing agreement with a premise
“Perhaps, then, the comparison I am making is in a way not quite apt. For I certainly do not concede that someone who examines things that are through accounts examines them in images any more than someone who does so through actual things. At any rate, this is the direction in which I set out. On each occasion I take as a premise the account I judge strongest, and whatever seems to me to agree with it I set down as true, both about the cause and about everything else; whatever does not, as untrue. But I want to tell you more clearly what I mean, for I think you do not understand me yet.”
“No, by Zeus,” said Cebes, “not very well.”1335
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.15.4–I.49.15.5
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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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.
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