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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.49.30.3–I.49.30.4

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.30.3–I.49.30.4

Ancient Greek

p. 1138

30.3

I.49.30.3

Πότερον δὴ φῶμέν τινας ἔστιν ὅτε διψῶντας οὐκ ἐθέλειν πιεῖν; - Καὶ μάλα γε, ἔφη, πολλοὺς καὶ πολλάκις. - Τί οὖν, ἔφην ἐγώ, φαίη τις ἂν τούτων πέρι; οὐκ ἐνεῖναι μὲν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτῶν τὸ κελεῦον, ἐνεῖναι δὲ τὸ κωλῦον πιεῖν, ἄλλο ὂν καὶ κρατοῦν τοῦ κελεύοντος; - Ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, ἔφη. - Ἆρ᾽ οὖν οὐ τὸ μὲν κωλῦον τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐγγίγνεται, ὅταν ἐγγένηται, ἐκ λογισμοῦ, τὰ δὲ ἄγοντα καὶ ἕλκοντα διὰ παθημάτων τε καὶ νοσημάτων παραγίγνεται; - Φαίνεται.

30.4

I.49.30.4

Οὐ δὴ ἀλόγως, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, ἀξιώσομεν αὐτὰ διττά τε καὶ ἕτερα ἀλλήλων εἶναι, τὸ μὲν ᾧ λογίζεται λογιστικὸν προσαγορεύοντες τῆς ψυχῆς, τὸ δ᾽ ᾧ ἐρᾷ τε καὶ πεινῇ καὶ διψῇ καὶ περὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἐπιθυμίας ἐπτόηται ἀλόγιστόν τε καὶ ἐπιθυμητικόν, πληρώσεών τινων καὶ ἡδονῶν ἑταῖρον. - Οὔκ, ἀλλ᾽ εἰκότως, ἔφη, ἡγοίμεθ᾽ ἂν οὕτως.

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Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1139

30.3 · What urges drinking and what restrains it

I.49.30.3

“Do we say, then, that some people are at times thirsty but unwilling to drink?”

“Certainly,” he said, “many people, and often.”

“What, then,” I said, “might one say about them? That their soul contains something commanding them to drink, but also something preventing it, which is different from and masters what commands?”

“So it seems to me,” he said.

“Does not what prevents such acts, when it arises, arise from reasoning, while what drives and pulls comes through affections and illnesses?”

“So it appears.”1405

30.4 · Reason and appetite distinguished

I.49.30.4

“Then we shall not be unreasonable,” I said, “in judging them to be two and different from one another. We call that with which the soul reasons its rational element, and that with which it loves, hungers, thirsts, and flutters about other desires its unreasoning and appetitive element, the companion of certain satisfactions and pleasures.”

“No,” he said, “we would reasonably regard them in that way.”1406

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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.