Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
English Page · Branch 538 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.16.5–I.49.16.6
Ancient Greek
p. 107216.5
Ἀλλὰ τί κωλύει, φαίη ἄν τις, ἄρτιον μὲν τὸ περιττὸν μὴ γίγνεσθαι ἐπιόντος τοῦ ἀρτίου, ὥσπερ ὡμολόγηται, ἀπολλομένου δ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἀντ᾽ ἐκείνου ἄρτιον γεγονέναι; Τῷ ταῦτα λέγοντι οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιμεν διαμάχεσθαι ὅτι οὐκ ἀπόλλυται· τὸ γὰρ ἀνάρτιον οὐκ ἀνώλεθρόν ἐστιν, ἐπεὶ εἰ τοῦτο ὡμολόγητο ἡμῖν, ῥᾳδίως ἂν διεμαχόμεθα ὅτι ἐπελθόντος τοῦ ἀρτίου τὸ περιττὸν καὶ τὰ τρία οἴχεται ἀπιόντα· καὶ περὶ πυρὸς καὶ θερμοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οὕτως ἂν διεμαχόμεθα· ἢ οὔ; - Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
16.6
Οὐκοῦν καὶ νῦν περὶ τοῦ ἀθανάτου, εἰ μὲν ἡμῖν ὁμολογεῖται καὶ ἀνώλεθρον εἶναι, ψυχὴ ἂν εἴη πρὸς τῷ ἀθάνατος εἶναι καὶ ἀνώλεθρος· εἰ δὲ μή, ἄλλου ἂν δέοι λόγου. - Ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν δεῖ, ἔφη, τούτου γε ἕνεκα· σχολῇ γὰρ ἄν τι ἄλλο φθορὰν μὴ δέχοιτο, εἴ γε τὸ ἀθάνατον ἀΐδιον ὂν φθορὰν δέξεται.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 107316.5 · Could one thing perish and another replace it?
“But someone might say: ‘What prevents the odd from not becoming even when the even approaches, as has been agreed, yet perishing, with something even coming to be in its place?’ We could not insist against someone who said this that it does not perish. For what is uneven is not indestructible. If that had been agreed between us, we could readily insist that, when the even approaches, the odd and three go away in withdrawal. We could argue in the same way about fire and heat and the other things. Could we not?”
“Certainly.”1340
16.6 · Is another argument needed?
“Then in the present case too, concerning what is immortal, if we agree that it is also indestructible, soul would be indestructible as well as immortal. Otherwise, another argument would be needed.”
“But none is needed on that account,” he said. “For hardly anything else could refuse destruction if what is immortal, being everlasting, is to admit destruction.”1341
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.16.5–I.49.16.6
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.