Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

Explore the Lexicon

Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.15–I.49.44.16

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Ancient Greek Page · Branch 628 of 879

Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.15–I.49.44.16

Book Mode

Ancient Greek

p. 1252

44.15

I.49.44.15

Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὔτε ὡς ἐκ πυρὸς καιομένη διετήκετο, οὔτε μὴν ὡς ἐκ πνεύματος τελεσιουργηθεῖσα ἔψυχεν, ἀλλά τινα ἰδιογενῆ καὶ οἰκείαν εἶχε τὴν τοῦ κράματος σύστασιν ἰδιότυπόν τε καὶ ἰδιοσύγκριτον, ἐν⟨θεν⟩ δὴ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐφημοτέρου ὀνόματος καὶ τῆς καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα ἐνεργείας ψύχωσιν ὁ θεὸς ἐκάλεσε τὴν σύστασιν.

44.16

I.49.44.16

Ἐξ οὗ δὴ ἐπιπάγου μυριάδας ψυχῶν ἱκανὰς ἐγενεσιούργησε, τὸ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κράματος ἐπανθοῦν πρὸς ὃ θέλει πλάσσων εὐτάκτως τε καὶ συμμέτρως, μετ᾽ ἐμπειρίας καὶ λόγου τοῦ καθήκοντος, ὡς μηδέ τι διαφέρειν αὐτὰς ἑαυτῶν ἦν ἀναγκαῖον,

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1253

44.15 · The compound receives the name psychōsis

I.49.44.15

Since it neither melted as though burning from fire nor brought coolness as though perfected from breath, but had a constitution of the mixture peculiar to itself and its own, with its own form and composition, ⟨hence⟩ the god named its constitution psychōsis, both from the more auspicious name and from its corresponding activity.¹⁵²⁶

44.16 · The fashioning of many souls

I.49.44.16

From this congealed substance he brought into being many myriads of souls, shaping what flowered forth from the compound itself toward what he wished, in order and due proportion, with experience and the fitting measure, so that it was necessary for them not to differ at all from one another;¹⁵²⁷

1526.Psychōsis evokes both the making of soul, psychē, and the preceding verb psychein, to cool; the Greek name is retained so that the wordplay remains available. The active epsychen is rendered “brought coolness,” not made passive. Wachsmuth prints a partial-word restoration en⟨then⟩, “hence”; English marks the entire resulting word and records that difference here. The unusual comparison “more auspicious” is retained without supplying an unexpressed alternative name.

1527.Epipagos suggests a substance formed or set upon the mixture; “congealed substance” remains an interpretive rendering. The last clause is corrupt according to Wachsmuth: he suggests ēdē ti, “already in some respect,” for mēde ti, “not at all.” The English deliberately retains the printed negative, which conflicts with the differentiated products in the next sentence, rather than silently adopting that conjecture.

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.