Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.37.12–I.49.37.13
Ancient Greek
p. 119237.12
Κατ᾽ ἄλλην τοίνυν ἀρχὴν τῆς τῶν αὐτῶν διακρίσεως ἡ μὲν Περιπατητικὴ δόξα τοῦ ζῴου μόνως καὶ τοῦ συνθέτου τίθεται τὰ ἔργα τῆς ψυχῆς. [Πλάτων δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτὰ πρώτως προσάπτει, εἶθ᾽ οὕτως εἰς τὸ κοινὸν δίδωσιν.]
37.13
Πλάτων δὲ καὶ Πυθαγόρας ὑπερφυῆ τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτῆς καὶ γεννητικὴν τῆς φύσεως προτάττοντες πρεσβύτερα αὐτῇ καὶ τιμιώτερα πρὸ τῆς φύσεως τὰ ἔργα διδόασιν· ἄρχεσθαί τε αὐτὴν οὐ ποιοῦσιν ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως, αὐτὴν δὲ ἀφ᾽ αὑτῆς καὶ περὶ αὑτὴν ἐξηγεῖσθαι τῶν οἰκείων ἐνεργειῶν ὑπολαμβάνουσιν, ὅσα τέ ἐστιν ἐν αὐτῇ καλὰ καὶ σπουδαῖα κινήματα τῆς φύσεως ὑπερέχοντα καθ᾽ αὐτὰ ἐξαιροῦσιν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 119337.12 · Functions of the composite
On another principle for distinguishing these same matters, the Peripatetic opinion assigns the works of soul solely to the living being, the composite. [Plato, however, attaches them primarily to soul and only then imparts them to the composite.]1466
37.13 · Soul prior to nature
Plato and Pythagoras, by setting soul’s substance above nature and making it generative of nature, give it works prior to and more honorable than nature. They do not make soul receive its rule from nature; they suppose that soul itself directs its own activities from itself and about itself. Whatever noble and excellent motions in it surpass nature, they set apart in their own right.1467
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.37.12–I.49.37.13
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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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