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.49.69.13–I.49.69.15

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.69.13–I.49.69.15

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Ancient Greek

p. 1554

69.13

I.49.69.13

Εἰς γὰρ ἕκαστον τῶν σωμάτων τούτων καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα ἐγκλείονται αἱ ψυχαί, ὥστε εἰς μὲν ἀνθρώπους χωρεῖν τὰς κριτικάς, εἰς δὲ πτηνὰ τὰς ἀπανθρώπους, εἰς δὲ τετράποδα ⟨τὰς⟩ ἀκρίτους (νόμος γὰρ ἐκείνοις ἐστὶν ἡ ἰσχύς),

69.14

I.49.69.14

εἰς δὲ ἑρπετὰ τὰς δολίας (οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐξ ἐναντίου ἐπεξέρχεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, λοχήσαντα δὲ καταβάλλει), εἰς δὲ [τὰ] νηκτὰ τὰς δειλὰς καὶ ὅσα τῶν λοιπῶν στοιχείων ἀπολαύειν ἀνάξια τυγχάνει.

69.15

I.49.69.15

Γίγνεται μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐν ἑκάστῳ ⟨εἴδει⟩ εὑρεῖν ζῷον τῇ ἰδίᾳ φύσει μὴ καταχρώμενον.

“Πῶς πάλιν, ὦ τεκοῦσα;” εἶπεν Ὧρος.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1555

69.13 · Souls and corresponding bodies

I.49.69.13

“Souls are enclosed in each of these bodies according to likeness: those capable of judgment enter human beings; those alien to human company enter flying creatures; and ⟨those⟩ without judgment enter quadrupeds (for strength is their law).”¹⁸⁷⁴

69.14 · Deceitful and timid souls

I.49.69.14

“Deceitful souls enter creeping creatures (for none of them attacks human beings openly, but they strike them down from ambush); timid souls enter [the] swimming creatures, as do all that are unworthy of enjoying the other elements.”¹⁸⁷⁵

69.15 · Exceptions within each kind

I.49.69.15

“It is possible, however, to find in each ⟨kind⟩ a creature that does not follow its own nature.”

“How so, mother?” said Horus.¹⁸⁷⁶

1874.Kritikai and akritoi contrast possession and absence of judgment. Apanthrōpoi is provisionally alien to human company; it can also carry the stronger sense inhuman. The printed reading is retained instead of the apparatus’s alternative anedrastoi, unsettled. The supplied article is marked.

1875.The rejected article ta remains bracketed. The Greek changes from feminine souls to neuter hosa, all that; the English does not restrict this latter expression to a more precise category than the text gives. The claims about animal conduct belong to the speaker’s analogy between disposition and bodily form.

1876.The supplied eidei is marked. Katachrōmenon means making use of or acting according to something; here the following examples support does not follow its own nature. Palin belongs to Horus’s question in the printed text, rather than being moved to said.

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.