Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 49 · I.49.37.3–I.49.37.4

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.37.3–I.49.37.4

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Ancient Greek

p. 1184

37.3

I.49.37.3

Γένοιτο δὲ κἂν ἄλλη δόξα οὐκ ἀπόβλητος, ἡ κατὰ γένη καὶ εἴδη τῶν ψυχῶν ἄλλα μὲν τὰ τῶν ὅλων παντελῆ, ἄλλα δὲ τὰ τῶν θείων ψυχῶν ἄχραντα καὶ ἄϋλα, ἕτερα δὲ τὰ τῶν δαιμονίων δραστήρια, τὰ δὲ τῶν ἡρωικῶν μεγάλα, τὰ δὲ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις θνητοειδῆ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὡσαύτως ἔργα διαιρουμένη. Τούτων δὴ διωρισμένων καὶ τὰ ἐχόμενα τούτων τὴν ὁμοίαν λήψεται διάκρισιν.

37.4

I.49.37.4

Οἱ μὲν γὰρ μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν πανταχοῦ ψυχὴν διατείνοντες ἤτοι γένει ἢ εἴδει, ὡς δοκεῖ Πλωτίνῳ, ἢ καὶ ἀριθμῷ, ὡς νεανιεύεται οὐκ ὀλιγάκις Ἀμέλιος, εἶναι αὐτὴν ἐροῦσιν ἅπερ ἐνεργεῖν.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1185

37.3 · Works distinguished by orders of soul

I.49.37.3

There could also be another opinion that should not be rejected: it would distinguish works according to the genera and species of souls. Those of universal souls would be complete in every respect; those of divine souls, undefiled and immaterial; those of divine spirits, active and effective; those of heroic souls, great; and those of souls in animals and human beings, of a mortal character. It would distinguish the remaining works in the same way. Once these distinctions are made, the matters that follow will receive a corresponding distinction.¹⁴⁵⁷

37.4 · Identity of being and operation

I.49.37.4

Those who insist that soul is everywhere one and the same, whether in genus or species, as Plotinus thinks, or even in number, as Amelius not infrequently ventures to assert, will say that soul is precisely what it does.¹⁴⁵⁸

1457.The proposal classifies works by the order of soul producing them. Daimonia again refers to divine spirits, not necessarily evil beings. Drastēria emphasizes efficacy or active power. The designation “of a mortal character” describes the works of embodied souls here; it does not by itself declare the substance of those souls mortal.

1458.The source refers to Plotinus, Enneads IV.2.1. Identity in genus or species is distinguished from numerical identity. The author’s evaluative verb neanieuetai suggests a bold or venturesome claim. The final printed infinitive energein gives an awkward construction; the English gives the contextual sense provisionally. The apparatus considers Heeren’s finite energei possibly correct, comparing the following sentence, but the Greek retains the print.

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.