Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 623 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.5–I.49.44.6
Ancient Greek
p. 124244.5
Τοῦτο δ᾽ ἄν, ὦ τέκνον ἀξιοθαύμαστον Ὧρε, οὐκ ἂν ἐπὶ θνητῆς σπορᾶς ἐγεγόνει, οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν οὐδέπω, ψυχῆς δὲ τὴν συμπάθειαν ἐχούσης τοῖς οὐρανοῦ μυστηρίοις· τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ὁ πάντα γνοὺς Ἑρμῆς· ὃς καὶ εἶδε τὰ σύμπαντα καὶ ἰδὼν κατενόησε καὶ κατανοήσας ἴσχυσε δηλῶσαί τε καὶ δεῖξαι. Καὶ γὰρ ἃ ἐνόησεν ἐχάραξε· καὶ χαράξας ἔκρυψε τὰ πλεῖστα σιγήσας ἀσφαλῶς καὶ λαλήσας, ἵνα ζητῇ ταῦτα πᾶς αἰὼν ὁ μεταγενέστερος κόσμου· καὶ οὕτως τοὺς συγγενεῖς θεοὺς δορυφορεῖν ⟨εἰπὼν⟩ ἀνέβαινεν εἰς ἄστρα.
44.6
Ἀλλ᾽ ἦν αὐτῷ διάδοχος ὁ Τάτ, υἱὸς ὁμοῦ καὶ παραλήπτωρ τῶν μαθημάτων τούτου, οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸς ὁ Ἰμούθης, Πανὸς καὶ Ἡφαιστοβούλης, ἄλλοι τε ὅσοι τῆς οὐρανίου θεωρίας πιστὴν ἀκρίβειαν ἔμελλον βουλομένης τῆς πάντων βασιλίδος ἱστορῆσαι προνοίας. Ἑρμῆς μὲν οὖν ἀπελογεῖτο τῷ περιέχοντι, ὡς οὐδὲ τῷ παιδὶ παρέδωκεν ὁλοτελῆ θεωρίαν διὰ τὸ ἔτι τῆς ἡλικίας νεοειδές·
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 124344.5 · Hermes records and conceals his knowledge
This, my wondrous child Horus, could not have happened among mortal offspring, for they did not yet exist, but in a soul having sympathy with heaven’s mysteries. Such was Hermes, who knew all things. He saw everything, understood what he saw, and through understanding gained the power to make it known and show it. What he understood he also engraved; and after engraving it he hid most of it, keeping secure silence and also speaking, so that every later age of the cosmos might search for these things. Thus, ⟨having told⟩ the gods of his own kin to stand guard, he ascended to the stars.1516
44.6 · Successors and knowledge withheld
But he had a successor in Tat, both his son and the recipient of his teachings; before long there were also Asclepius Imouthes, son of Pan and Hephaestoboule, and all the others destined to learn the trustworthy exactness of heavenly contemplation, by the will of Providence, queen of all. Hermes, then, explained to the encompassing heaven that he had not even imparted the complete vision to his son, because of the boy’s still youthful age;1517
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.5–I.49.44.6
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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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