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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 546 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.23.5–I.49.23.7
Ancient Greek
p. 108823.5
Ὥσπερ δὲ κρατηθὲν ἐν ὕλῃ τὸ σπέρμα καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ὧν ἠδύνατο λόγων ἐν τοῖς μέρεσι τῆς ὕλης κρατεῖται, καὶ πάλιν συναχθὲν εἰς τὴν τοῦ σπέρματος δύναμιν καθ᾽ ἕκαστον τῶν μερῶν ἔχει τὴν πᾶσαν δύναμιν, οὕτω καὶ ψυχῆς ἀΰλου τὸ ὡς μέρος ἐπινοούμενον τῆς πάσης ψυχῆς ἔχει τὴν δύναμιν.
23.6
Τὸ δὲ πρὸς ὕλην ῥέψαν κεκράτηται μὲν καθ᾽ ὃ [εἶδος ῥέψαν] ἐπιτηδείως ἔσχε προσομιλεῖν ἐνύλῳ· ἔχει δὲ τὴν τῆς ὅλης δύναμιν ἤδη καὶ ἐντυγχάνει οὔσῃ ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ὅταν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνύλου ἀποστὰν ἐν ἑαυτῷ γένηται.
23.7
Ἐπεὶ δὲ πρὸς μὲν ὕλην ῥεπούσῃ ἀπορία ἁπάντων ⟨ἦν⟩ καὶ τῆς οἰκείας δυνάμεως κένωσις, εἰς δὲ τὸν νοῦν ἀναγομένη τὸ πλῆρες ἑαυτῆς κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν ἔχειν τῆς πάσης ηὑρίσκετο, τὴν μὲν εἰκότως πενίαν τὴν δὲ κόρον οἱ τοῦτο πρῶτον γνόντες τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ πάθος ἠνίξαντο.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 108923.5 · Seed in matter and immaterial soul
And just as seed, when held in matter, is confined within the parts of matter according to each of the rational principles of which it was capable, yet, when gathered again into the power of seed, possesses the full power in each of its parts, so too what is conceived as a part of immaterial soul possesses the power of the entire soul.1357
23.6 · Turning back from matter
What has inclined toward matter is held in so far as [form, having inclined] it was suited to associate with what is in matter. Yet it already possesses the power of the whole and encounters that power within itself when it stands apart from what is in matter and comes to be within itself.1358
23.7 · Poverty and fullness
Since, when it inclined toward matter, there ⟨was⟩ a lack of all things and an emptying of its own power, but when led up to intellect it was found to possess its own fullness in accordance with the power of the whole soul, those who first recognized this condition of soul fittingly hinted at the one as poverty and the other as fullness.1359
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.23.5–I.49.23.7
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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