Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 714 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.4–I.49.58.5
Ancient Greek
p. 142458.4
Λέγεται δὲ οὕτως, ὡς ἄρα τελευτήσαντα ἕκαστον ὁ ἑκάστου δαίμων ὅσπερ ζῶντα εἰλήχει, οὕτως ἄγειν ἐπιχειρεῖ εἰς δή τινα τόπον, οἷ δεῖ τοὺς συλλεγέντας διαδικασαμένους εἰς Ἅιδου πορεύεσθαι μετὰ ἡγεμόνος ἐκείνου ᾧ δὴ προστέτακται τοὺς ἐνθένδε ἐκεῖσε πορεῦσαι· τυχόντας δὲ ἐκεῖ ὧν δεῖ τυχεῖν καὶ μείναντας ὃν χρὴ χρόνον ἄλλος δεῦρο πάλιν ἡγεμὼν κομίζει ἐν πολλαῖς χρόνου καὶ μακραῖς περιόδοις·
58.5
Ἔστι δὲ ἄρα ἡ πορεία οὐχ ὡς ὁ Αἰσχύλου Τήλεφος λέγει· ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ ἁπλῆν οἶμόν φησιν εἰς Ἅιδου φέρειν, ἡ δ᾽ οὔτε ἁπλῆ οὔτε μία φαίνεταί μοι εἶναι. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν ἡγεμόνων ἔδει· οὐ γὰρ πού τις ἂν ἁμάρτοι οὐδαμόσε μιᾶς οὔσης ὁδοῦ. Νῦν δὲ ἔοικε σχίσεις τε καὶ περιόδους πολλὰς ἔχειν· ἀπὸ τῶν θυσιῶν τε καὶ νομίμων τῶν ἐνθάδε τεκμαιρόμενος λέγω.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 142558.4 · The guides of the dead
“The account goes as follows. When each person dies, the daimon assigned to that person in life thus undertakes to lead the dead person to a certain place. Those gathered there must undergo judgment and travel to Hades with the guide appointed to conduct people from here to there. After they have received there what they must receive and stayed the necessary time, another guide brings them back here again over many long periods of time.”1708
58.5 · More than one road to Hades
“The journey, however, is not as Aeschylus’ Telephus describes it. He says that a simple path leads to Hades, but to me it seems neither simple nor single. Otherwise there would be no need for guides: surely no one could go astray anywhere if there were only one road. As things are, it seems to have many forks and winding routes. I say this by inference from the sacrifices and customary observances practiced here.”1709
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.4–I.49.58.5
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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.