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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.1–I.49.68.3
Ancient Greek
p. 152868.1
Ἑρμοῦ λόγος Ἴσιδος πρὸς Ὧρον.
“Θαυμαστῶς”, εἶπεν Ὧρος, “ἕκαστά μοι διηγήσω, ὦ μέγα δυναμένη τεκοῦσα Ἶσι, ὑπὲρ τῆς θαυμαστῆς ψυχοποιίας τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θαυμάζων διατελῶ· οὔπω δέ μοι ἀπήγγειλας ποῦ τῶν σωμάτων ἀπολυθεῖσαι χωροῦσιν αἱ ψυχαί. Βούλομαι οὖν καὶ τῆς θεωρίας ταύτης μύστης γενόμενος εὐχαριστῆσαί σοι μόνῃ, ἀθάνατε μῆτερ.”
68.2
Καὶ εἶπεν Ἶσις· “Πρόσεχε, παῖ· ἀναγκαιοτάτη γὰρ ζήτησις αὕτη· ἀλλ᾽ ὧδε γὰρ ἐρεῖ λόγος ἐμός. Τὸ συνεστὸς καὶ μὴ ἀφανιζόμενον χῶρον ἔχει.
68.3
Οὐ γάρ, ὦ θαυμαστὲ καὶ μεγάλου πατρὸς Ὀσίρεως μέγα τέκνον, ἀκρίτως καὶ ὁρμηδὸν τῶν σωμάτων προελθοῦσαι εἰς ἀέρα ἀναχύνονταί τε καὶ διασκεδάννυνται μετὰ τοῦ ἄλλου ἀπείρου πνεύματος, ὥστε οὐκέτι δύνασθαι πάλιν τὰς αὐτὰς οὔσας εἰς σώματα παλινδρομῆσαι, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἔτι τὸν χῶρον [εἶναι], ὅθεν ἦλθον τὸ πρότερον, ἀναστρέφειν·
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 152968.1 · Hermes: Horus asks where souls go
Hermes: a discourse of Isis to Horus.
“You have wonderfully explained each matter to me,” said Horus, “mighty Isis who bore me, concerning the god’s marvelous making of souls, and I remain filled with wonder. But you have not yet told me where souls go when released from their bodies. I wish, then, to be initiated into this contemplation too, and to give thanks to you alone, immortal mother.”1837
68.2 · What persists has a place
Isis said: “Attend, my child, for this inquiry is most necessary. My account will proceed in this way: that which has an established existence and does not vanish has a place.”1838
68.3 · Souls are not scattered into the air
“For, wondrous and mighty child of the mighty father Osiris, souls do not rush indiscriminately out of their bodies and pour into the air, scattering among the rest of the boundless breath, so as to be unable, while remaining the same souls, to return into bodies, or even to return again to the place [to be] from which they came before.”1839
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.1–I.49.68.3
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.