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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.7–I.49.68.9

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 768 of 879

Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.7–I.49.68.9

Ancient Greek

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68.7

I.49.68.7

Τὸ τοίνυν ἐξ ἑνὸς καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἄλλου ἀδύνατον ἑτέρῳ ἀναμιγῆναι· ὅθεν δεῖ καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸ σῶμα αὐτῆς σύνοδον ἁρμονίαν θεοῦ ὑπὸ ἀνάγκης γενομένην εἶναι.

68.8

I.49.68.8

Ὅτι δὲ οὔτε εἰς ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον χυδαίως, οὔτε εἰκῇ καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν, ἀλλὰ ἑκάστη ἐπὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀναπέμπεται χώραν, φανερὸν καὶ ἐξ ὧν ἔτι ἐν τῷ σώματι οὖσα καὶ τῷ πλάσματι πάσχει [γὰρ] παρὰ τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν πεπαχυμμένη.

68.9

I.49.68.9

Ἀλλὰ καὶ πρόσχες, ὦ περιπόθητε Ὧρε, τῷ λεγομένῳ ὁμοιώματι. Φέρε γὰρ εἰς ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ συσχετήριον ἐγκεκλεῖσθαι ἀνθρώπους τε καὶ ἀετοὺς καὶ περιστερὰς καὶ κύκνους καὶ ἱέρακας καὶ χελιδόνας καὶ στρουθοὺς καὶ μυίας καὶ ὄφεις καὶ λέοντας καὶ παρδάλεις καὶ λύκους καὶ κύνας καὶ λαγωοὺς καὶ βόας καὶ ποίμνια καὶ τινα τῶν τῆς κοινότητος ἐχομένων ζῴων, οἱονεὶ φώκας καὶ ἐνύδρεις καὶ χελώνας καὶ τοὺς ἡμετέρους κροκοδείλους·

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Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

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68.7 · Its union with the body

I.49.68.7

“What comes from one source and not from another cannot be mingled with something different. Its conjunction with the body must therefore be an arrangement made by the god under necessity.”1843

68.8 · Each soul returns to its own region

I.49.68.8

“That souls are not sent up indiscriminately to one and the same place, nor at random and as chance directs, but each to its own region, is evident even from what a soul experiences [for] while still in the body and its molded form, thickened contrary to its own nature.”1844

68.9 · An enclosure containing many creatures

I.49.68.9

“Attend also, dearly loved Horus, to the comparison I am about to give. Imagine human beings, eagles, doves, swans, hawks, swallows, sparrows, flies, snakes, lions, leopards, wolves, dogs, hares, oxen, and sheep shut in one and the same enclosure, together with some creatures that share both environments, such as seals, otters, turtles, and our crocodiles.”1845

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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.