Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 684 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.50.6–I.49.50.7
Ancient Greek
p. 136450.6
⟨ἀπαίωνας ἀκτάς⟩ τὰς τῶν νεκρῶν λέγων παιῶν᾽ οὐκ ἐχούσας, ἄρσενας δὲ ⟨χοὰς⟩ τὰς οὐδὲν ἐκφερούσας. Θήλεα μὲν γὰρ τὰ καρποφόρα, ἄρσενα δὲ τὰ ἄγονα ἔλεγον τῷ τὸν μὲν τὸ σπέρμα παρέχειν μόνον, τὴν δὲ καὶ ἐκτρέφειν· ὅθεν καὶ ‘θῆλυς ἐέρση’ ἡ πολύγονος καὶ τροφίμη.
50.7
Διαπεραιοῦσθαι δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπογενομένων τὸν Ἀχέροντά φασιν εἰκότως· ὁ γὰρ μετηλλαχὼς πάντα τἂν τῷ ζῆν ἄχη σχεδὸν ὑπερέσχε καὶ ἔστιν ἐν ἀπονίᾳ καὶ ἀλυπίᾳ πάσῃ. Γοργύραν δὲ τοῦ Ἀχέροντος γυναῖκα προσανέπλασαν ἀπὸ τοῦ γοργὰ φαίνεσθαι τοῖς πολλοῖς τὰ ἐν Ἅδου· καθὸ δὴ καὶ αὐτοῦ τούτου τιθήνην ὁ Σώφρων Μορμολύκαν ὠνόμασεν.”
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 136550.6 · Unhealed shores and barren streams
By ⟨“shores without a paean”⟩ he means the shores of the dead, which have no healer; by male ⟨“streams,”⟩ those that bring forth nothing. For they called fruitful things female and barren things male, because the male supplies only the seed, while the female also nurtures. Hence “female dew” means dew that produces abundantly and nourishes.1642
50.7 · Leaving sorrow and naming Gorgyra
They reasonably say that Acheron is crossed by those who have departed: for one who has died has passed beyond almost all the sorrows of living and is in complete freedom from distress and pain. They also fashioned Gorgyra as Acheron’s wife because the things in Hades appear terrifying to most people. Accordingly, Sophron also called his very nurse Mormolyca.”1643
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.50.6–I.49.50.7
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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.
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.