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.49.43.6–I.49.43.8

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 619 of 879

Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.43.6–I.49.43.8

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p. 1234

43.6

I.49.43.6

* * τοὺς δὲ περὶ Πλωτῖνον τῆς στάσεως προϊσταμένους ἐκείνης τῆς χωριζούσης αὐτὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου, ἢ καὶ ἀφιεῖσης εἰς τὴν γένεσιν, ἢ καὶ ἀφαιρούσης ἀπὸ τῆς διανοίας, ἀφ᾽ ἧς πάλιν διττῆς δόξης γίγνεται διάκρισις.

43.7

I.49.43.7

Ἤτοι γὰρ λύεται ἑκάστη δύναμις ἄλογος εἰς τὴν ὅλην ζωὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἀπεμερίσθη, ἢ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα μένει ἀμετάβλητος, ὥσπερ ἡγεῖται Πορφύριος· ἢ καὶ χωρισθεῖσα ἀπὸ τῆς διανοίας ἡ ὅλη ἄλογος ζωὴ μένει καὶ αὐτὴ διασῳζομένη ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ὥσπερ οἱ παλαιότατοι τῶν ἱερέων ἀποφαίνονται.

43.8

I.49.43.8

Κατὰ ταὐτὰ δὴ οὖν καὶ περὶ τῶν μέσων οὐσιῶν ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος πολὺ διαφερόντως διατάττονται. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ εὐθὺς αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῷ τῷ σώματι τῷ ὀργανικῷ συνοικίζουσιν, ὥσπερ οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν Πλατωνικῶν·

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1235

43.6 · A broken report about irrational powers

I.49.43.6

* * the followers of Plotinus, who champion that position which separates them from reason, or releases them into becoming, or removes them from thought. From this position there arises a further twofold distinction of opinion.¹⁵⁰⁸

43.7 · Dissolution, persistence, and preservation

I.49.43.7

For either each irrational power is dissolved into the universal life of the whole from which it was divided off, or it remains as unchanged as possible, as Porphyry thinks; or again, after being separated from thought, the entire irrational life itself remains, preserved within the cosmos, as the most ancient of the priests declare.¹⁵⁰⁹

43.8 · Intermediate substances

I.49.43.8

In the same way, then, they also give widely differing accounts of the substances intermediate between soul and body. Some place soul itself directly within the organic body itself, as most Platonists do;¹⁵¹⁰

1508.The asterisks mark a gap before the accusative “the followers of Plotinus”; the English leaves the opening fragmentary rather than inventing a governing verb. “Them” has no explicit antecedent in the surviving opening. The irrational powers named in the next sentence provide context, but are not silently inserted here. Logos and dianoia are distinguished as reason and thought.

1509.The printed sequence gives three clauses joined as alternatives, although the preceding sentence calls the distinction twofold. Both features are retained without forcing the catalogue into a revised count. The apparatus discusses the second conjunction and the wording “as ... as possible.” No identity is supplied for the unnamed ancient priests.

1510.The discussion now concerns mediation between soul and body. Organikon denotes a body equipped with organs or instruments. The emphatic “soul itself” remains as printed, despite Heeren’s omission of the pronoun in the apparatus. The following account introduces coverings or vehicles.

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.