Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
Facing Pages · Branch 637 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.33–I.49.44.34
Ancient Greek
p. 127044.33
Ἔχαιρεν ὁ θεός, ὁ δεσπότης κόσμου, ταῦτα ἀκούσας καὶ προσέταξε γίγνεσθαι φῦλον τὸ ἀνθρώπων. Ἐγὼ δέ, φησὶν Ἑρμῆς, ἐπεζήτουν ὕλῃ τίνι δέον ἐστὶ χρήσασθαι καὶ παρεκάλουν τὸν μόναρχον. Ὁ δὲ ταῖς ψυχαῖς προσέταξε τοῦ κράματος τὸ λείψανον δοῦναι· καὶ λαβὼν εὗρον αὐτὸ παντελῶς ξηρόν. Ἔνθεν πολλῷ πλέονι τοῦ δέοντος ἐχρησάμην κατὰ μῖξιν ὕδατι [ὡς τὴν τῆς ὕλης σύστασιν νεαροποιήσασθαι], ὡς ἔκλυτον παντάπασιν καὶ ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἀδύνατον τὸ πλασσόμενον εἶναι, ὡς μὴ πρὸς τῷ συνετὸν εἶναι ἔτι καὶ δυνάμεως ᾖ πεπληρωμένον.
44.34
Ἔπλασα καὶ καλὸν ὑπῆρχε καὶ ἐτερπόμην βλέπων μου τὸ ἔργον καὶ κάτωθεν ἐπεκαλεσάμην τὸν μόναρχον θεωρῆσαι. Ὁ δὲ καὶ εἶδε καὶ ἐχάρη καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ἐκέλευσεν ἐνσωματισθῆναι. Αἱ δὲ τότε πρῶτον στυγνάσασαι ⟨ἐστέναζον⟩ κατακρίτους ἑαυτὰς μαθοῦσαι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 127144.33 · Hermes prepares the material for bodies
The god, the master of the cosmos, rejoiced to hear this and commanded the human race to come into being. “I,” says Hermes, “sought to know what material I should use, and appealed to the sole ruler. He commanded the souls to give me the remainder of the mixture. When I received it, I found it completely dry. I therefore used far more water than was needed in the blending [so as to make the material’s consistency fresh again], so that what was being fashioned would be utterly slack, weak, and powerless, and would not, in addition to being intelligent, also be filled with strength.1544
44.34 · The souls learn that they are condemned
I fashioned it, and it was beautiful. I took pleasure in seeing my work, and from below called upon the sole ruler to behold it. He saw it and rejoiced, and commanded the souls to enter bodies. Then for the first time they became dismayed and ⟨groaned⟩, learning that they had been condemned.”1545
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.44.33–I.49.44.34
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.