Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 713 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.1–I.49.58.3
Ancient Greek
p. 142258.1
Ἐν ταὐτῷ. Ἀλλὰ τό γ᾽, ἔφη, ὦ ἄνδρες, δίκαιον διανοηθῆναι ὅτι, εἴπερ ἡ ψυχὴ ἀθάνατος, ἐπιμελείας δὴ δεῖται, οὐχ ὑπὲρ τοῦ χρόνου τούτου μόνον, ἐν ᾧ καλοῦμεν τὸ ζῆν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ τοῦ παντός, καὶ ὁ κίνδυνος νῦν δὴ καὶ δόξειεν ἂν δεινὸς εἶναι, εἴ τις αὐτῆς ἀμελήσει.
58.2
Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἦν ὁ θάνατος τοῦ παντὸς ἀπαλλαγή, ἕρμαιον ⟨ἂν⟩ ἦν τοῖς κακοῖς ἀποθανοῦσι τοῦ τε σώματος ἅμα ἀπηλλάχθαι καὶ τῆς αὑτῶν κακίας μετὰ τῆς ψυχῆς· νῦν δέ, ἐπειδὴ ἀθάνατος φαίνεται οὖσα, οὐδεμία ἂν εἴη αὐτῇ ἄλλη ἀποφυγὴ κακῶν οὐδὲ σωτηρία πλὴν τοῦ ὡς βελτίστην τε καὶ φρονιμωτάτην γενέσθαι.
58.3
Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλο ἔχουσα εἰς Ἅιδου ἡ ψυχὴ ἔρχεται πλὴν τῆς παιδείας τε καὶ τροφῆς, ἃ δὴ καὶ λέγεται μέγιστα ὠφελεῖν ἢ βλάπτειν τὸν τελευτήσαντα εὐθὺς ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ἐκεῖσε πορείας.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 142358.1 · Care for the soul beyond this life
From the same work. “But this at least,” he said, “my friends, it is right to consider: if the soul is immortal, it needs care, not only for this period that we call living, but for all time. And now the danger would indeed seem terrible if anyone were to neglect it.”1705
58.2 · Death would otherwise be a windfall
“For if death were release from everything, it ⟨would⟩ be a windfall for bad people when they died to be rid at once of the body and, along with the soul, of their own wickedness. But as things are, since the soul appears to be immortal, it could have no other escape from evils and no salvation except to become as good and wise as possible.”1706
58.3 · What the soul carries with it
“For the soul comes to Hades with nothing else in its possession except its education and nurture. These, it is said, bring the greatest benefit or harm to the dead person from the very beginning of the journey there.”1707
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.1–I.49.58.3
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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.