Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 79 of 879
Book I Chapter 4 · I.4.heading–I.4.2c
Ancient Greek
p. 154Κεφάλαιον Δʹ
Περὶ ἀνάγκης ⟨θείας⟩ καθ’ ἣν ἀπαραιτήτως τὰ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεται βούλησιν.
1 Μοσχίωνος Τηλέφου
2a Χαιρήμονος
2b Εὐριπίδου Βελλεροφόντῃ
2c ⟨Σιμωνίδου⟩
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 4
p. 155Chapter 4: On Necessity
On ⟨divine⟩ necessity, through which what accords with God’s will comes to pass inexorably.161
1 Moschion, Telephus
O Fate, who alone rule gods and mortals, untouched by the prayers of wretched human beings, all-daring Necessity, who press upon our necks the hateful yoke of this servitude.162
2a Chaeremon
Need has settled not far from Necessity.163
2b Euripides, Bellerophon
Against necessity, everything else is powerless.
2c ⟨Simonides⟩
Not even gods fight against necessity.164
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 4 · I.4.heading–I.4.2c
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.