Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 49 · I.49.65.3–I.49.65.5

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.65.3–I.49.65.5

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Ancient Greek

p. 1508

65.3

I.49.65.3

Ἀλλὰ δὴ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο διελώμεθα, ὑπὸ τίνων ἕκαστα τούτων ἐπιτελεῖται, τὸ τῆς κρίσεως λέγω, τὸ τῆς δίκης ἔργον, τὸ τῆς καθάρσεως. Ὡς μὲν δὴ οἱ πλεῖστοι Πυθαγόρειοι καὶ Πλατωνικοὶ λέγουσιν, ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν τῶν μεριστῶν ψυχῶν·

65.4

I.49.65.4

Ὡς δὲ οἱ ἀκριβέστεροι ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὑπὸ τῶν καθολικωτέρων καὶ τελειοτέρων ψυχῶν καὶ τῆς μιᾶς καὶ ὅλης ψυχῆς καὶ τῆς τάξεως τοῦ παντὸς καὶ τοῦ νοῦ τοῦ βασιλεύοντος καὶ τῆς ὅλης διακοσμήσεως·

65.5

I.49.65.5

Ὡς δ᾽ οἱ ἀρχαιότεροι διατείνονται, ⟨ὑπὸ⟩ τῶν ἐμφανῶν θεῶν, καὶ μάλιστα δὴ πάντων ἡλίου, τῶν τε δημιουργικῶν αἰτιῶν τῶν ἀφανῶν, τῶν τε κρειττόνων γενῶν πάντων, ἡρώων φημὶ καὶ δαιμόνων καὶ ἀγγέλων καὶ θεῶν, ἐξηγουμένων αὐτῶν τῆς ὅλης συστάσεως.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1509

65.3 · Who carries out the three processes?

I.49.65.3

Let us next distinguish by whom each of these things is accomplished: I mean the work of judgment, of punishment, and of purification. According to most Pythagoreans and Platonists, it is accomplished by the individual souls themselves.¹⁸¹⁰

65.4 · More universal sources of action

I.49.65.4

According to the more exact thinkers among them, it is accomplished by souls that are more universal and more perfect, by the one soul that is a whole, by the order of the universe, by the intellect that rules even over the entire cosmic arrangement.¹⁸¹¹

65.5 · The gods and the higher kinds

I.49.65.5

According to what the more ancient thinkers maintain, it is accomplished ⟨by⟩ the visible gods, and above all by the Sun, by the invisible creative causes, and by all the higher kinds: I mean heroes, daimons, angels, and gods, who preside over the entire constitution of things.¹⁸¹²

1810.Three processes organize the following discussion: krisis, judgment; dikē, punishment or requital; and katharsis, purification. Meristai psychai are particular or individual souls, contrasted in the next unit with more comprehensive souls. The excerpt begins within a larger discussion, so these things need not refer only to the preceding sentences.

1811.The more exact thinkers is the author’s evaluation. The final genitive is taken with basileuontos, rules over; kai has the force of even. This makes the cosmic arrangement the sphere of intellect’s rule. Taking kai as another and would instead extend the list of agencies; the governing construction is preferred here.

1812.The supplied hypo, by, follows the supplement credited to Heeren. Visible and invisible distinguish two sets of divine causes; the list of higher kinds is kept in its printed order. Angeloi is angels here within that hierarchy, unlike Er’s ordinary role as a messenger in 64.4.

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.