Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 622 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.3–I.49.44.4
Ancient Greek
p. 124044.3
Ἔνθεν ἐστέναξε τὰ κάτω, φόβον ἔχοντα, τὴν περικαλλῆ καὶ εἰς ἀεὶ διαμονὴν τῶν ἐπικειμένων. Ἦν γὰρ ἄξιον θεωρίας ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀγωνίας ὁρᾶν οὐρανοῦ κάλλος θεῷ καταφανταζόμενον τῷ ἔτι ἀγνώστῳ πλουσίαν τε νυκτὸς σεμνότητα, ἐλάττονι μὲν ἡλίου ὀξεῖ δὲ προσφορουμένην φωτί, τῶν τε ἄλλων κατὰ μέρος κινουμένων ἐν οὐρανῷ μυστηρίων τακταῖς χρόνων κινήσεσι καὶ περιόδοις διά τινων κρυπτῶν ἀπορροιῶν τὰ κάτω συγκοσμούντων καὶ συναυξόντων.
44.4
Καὶ οὗτος φόβος μὲν ἐπάλληλος ζητήσεις τε ἄληκτοι, καὶ ἕως ὁ τῶν συμπάντων οὐκ ἐβούλετο τεχνίτης ἀγνωσία κατεῖχε τὰ ξύμπαντα· ὅτε δὲ ἔκρινεν αὑτὸν ὅστις ἐστὶ δηλῶσαι, ἔρωτας ἐνθουσίασε θεοῖς καὶ αὐγὴν ἣν εἶχεν ἐν στέρνοις πλείονα ταῖς τούτων ἐχαρίσατο διανοίαις· ἵνα πρῶτον μὲν ζητεῖν θελήσωσιν, εἶτα ἐπιθυμήσωσιν εὑρεῖν, εἶτα καὶ κατορθῶσαι δυνηθῶσι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 124144.3 · Wonder and fear before heaven
Hence the things below groaned, fearful before the surpassingly beautiful and everlasting endurance of the things above. For it was a sight calling for contemplation and anguish alike: the beauty of heaven made manifest by the god still unknown; the rich majesty of night, presented in a light weaker than the sun’s, yet keen; and the other mysteries, moving individually in heaven, which through ordered movements and cycles of time, by certain hidden outflows, helped order and increase the things below.1514
44.4 · The creator awakens the desire to know
There was fear upon fear, and searching without end. As long as the craftsman of all things did not will otherwise, ignorance held everything in its grasp. But when he decided to reveal who he was, he inspired the gods with longings and bestowed more fully upon their minds the radiance he held within his breast, so that they might first wish to seek, then desire to find, and finally be able to succeed.1515
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.3–I.49.44.4
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
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.