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.49.37.9–I.49.37.11

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.37.9–I.49.37.11

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Ancient Greek

p. 1190

37.9

I.49.37.9

Ἤδη τοίνυν καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν ὅλων καὶ θειοτέρων ἔργα ἄμικτα εἶναι διὰ τὴν καθαρότητα αὐτῶν τῆς οὐσίας, τὰ δὲ τῶν ἐνύλων καὶ μεριστῶν μηκέθ᾽ ὡσαύτως εἶναι ἄχραντα· καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν ἀνιουσῶν καὶ ἀπολυομένων τῆς γενέσεως ἀφίεσθαι τὸ λοιπὸν τῶν σωμάτων, τὰ δὲ τῶν κατιουσῶν συμπλέκεσθαι αὐτοῖς πολυειδῶς καὶ συνυφαίνεσθαι.

37.10

I.49.37.10

Καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν ἐποχουμένων τοῖς αὐγοειδέσι πνεύμασι καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῶν τιθεμένων εὐκόλως, ἅπερ ἂν θέλωσιν, ἄνωθεν ἀπραγμόνως ἐκφαίνειν τὰ σφῶν ἔργα· τὰ δὲ τοῖς στερεωτέροις σώμασιν ἐναπειρόμενα καὶ κατεχόμενα ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀναπίμπλασθαι ἀμωσγέπως τῆς τούτων φύσεως.

37.11

I.49.37.11

Καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν ὅλων ἐπιστρέφειν εἰς ἑαυτὰ τὰ διοικούμενα, τὰ δὲ τῶν διῃρημένων αὐτὰ ἐπιστρέφεσθαι πρὸς ταῦτα ὧν ἐπιμελοῦνται.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1191

37.9 · Ascent and descent

I.49.37.9

Accordingly, the works of universal and more divine souls are unmixed because of the purity of their substance; those of souls in matter and particular souls are no longer undefiled in the same way. The works of souls ascending and being released from becoming are henceforth freed from bodies, whereas those of descending souls are entangled and interwoven with them in many ways.¹⁴⁶³

37.10 · Luminous vehicles and solid bodies

I.49.37.10

Souls borne upon luminous pneumas, and easily bringing about through them whatever they wish, manifest their own works from above without trouble. But the works inserted into more solid bodies and held within them become in some measure imbued with the nature of those bodies.¹⁴⁶⁴

37.11 · What turns toward what

I.49.37.11

The works of universal souls turn the things they govern toward themselves, whereas those of divided souls are themselves turned toward the things of which they take care.¹⁴⁶⁵

1463.The continuing infinitives develop the distinctions already under discussion. The passage now adds the direction of a soul’s movement, ascent or descent, to its rank and relation to matter. The English repeats “works” to keep clear that the immediate subject is what souls do, even though the descriptions of ascent and descent belong to the souls themselves.

1464.Augoeidē pneumata are luminous or radiant pneumas, subtle vehicles upon which souls are carried. Pneuma retains the sense of breath or a subtle bodily medium. The opening Greek is compressed, beginning with the works and then speaking of manifesting “their own works”; the English makes the souls the subject of that first clause for clarity. The contrast with solid bodies is retained without adding a separate theory of these vehicles.

1465.The same verb, epistrephein, appears first actively and then in a passive or middle form. The contrast concerns the direction of dependence: the higher activity draws what it governs toward itself, while divided activity is directed toward its objects of care. The English keeps the works as the subject of this continuing sequence.

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.