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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.39.4–I.49.39.5
Ancient Greek
p. 120839.4
Ἄλλη τοίνυν αἵρεσις τῶν Πλατωνικῶν οὐ κατὰ τοὺς δημιουργικοὺς κλήρους οὐδὲ κατὰ τὰς διαιρέσεις τῶν κρειττόνων γενῶν οἷον θεῶν, ἀγγέλων, δαιμόνων, ἡρώων, οὐδὲ κατὰ τὰς νομὰς τοῦ παντὸς διακρίνει τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν διαφερόντων τόπων καταβάσεις τῶν ψυχῶν· τιθεμένη δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀεὶ εἶναι ἐν σώματι, ὥσπερ ἡ Ἐρατοσθένους καὶ Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Πλατωνικοῦ καὶ ἄλλων, ἀπὸ σωμάτων αὐτὴν λεπτοτέρων εἰς τὰ ὀστρεώδη πάλιν εἰσοικίζει σώματα·
39.5
διατρίβειν μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν εἰς μοῖράν τινα τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ, καθήκειν γε μὴν εἰς τὸ στερεὸν σῶμα ἄλλοτε ἀπ᾽ ἄλλων τοῦ παντὸς τόπων. Καὶ τούτους Ἡρακλείδην μὲν τὸν Ποντικὸν ἀφορίζειν περὶ τὸν γαλαξίαν, ἄλλους δὲ καθ᾽ ὅλας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὰς σφαίρας, ἀφ᾽ ὧν δὴ δεῦρο κατιέναι τὰς ψυχάς· τοὺς δὲ περὶ σελήνην ἢ ἐν τῷ ὑπὸ σελήνην ἀέρι λέγειν αὐτὰς κατοικεῖν καὶ ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν κάτω χωρεῖν εἰς τὴν περίγειον γένεσιν, τοὺς δὲ ἀπὸ σωμάτων ἀεὶ στερεῶν πίπτειν εἰς ἕτερα σώματα διισχυρίζεσθαι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 120939.4 · Souls always in some body
Another Platonic position distinguishes souls’ descents from different places neither by creative allotments, nor by the divisions of higher kinds such as gods, angels, divine spirits, and heroes, nor by the regions assigned within the universe. Positing soul as always in a body, as does the position of Eratosthenes, Ptolemy the Platonist, and others, it makes soul pass from subtler bodies to take up residence again in shell-like bodies;1482
39.5 · Places from which souls descend
for it says that soul dwells in some portion of the sensible realm, but comes down into a solid body at different times from different places in the universe. Heraclides of Pontus locates these places around the Milky Way; others, throughout all the heavenly spheres, from which souls descend here. Some say that souls dwell around the moon or in the air beneath it and pass down from there into earthly becoming; others maintain that they always fall from solid bodies into other bodies.1483
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.39.4–I.49.39.5
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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.
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.