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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 4 · I.4.6–I.4.7b

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English Page · Branch 81 of 879

Book I Chapter 4 · I.4.6–I.4.7b

Ancient Greek

p. 158

6 Εὐριπίδης Λικυμνίῳ

I.4.6
Τὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης οὐ λέγειν ὅσον ζυγόν. …

7a Θαλῆς

I.4.7a

Θαλῆς ἐρωτηθείς, Τί ἰσχυρότατον; εἶπεν· Ἀνάγκη, κρατεῖ γὰρ πάντων.

7b Ἑρμοῦ ἐκ τῶν πρὸς Ἄμμωνα

I.4.7b

Ἀνάγκη ἐστὶν κρίσις βεβαία καὶ ἀμετάτρεπτος δύναμις προνοίας.

158

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 4

p. 159

6 Euripides, Licymnius

I.4.6

The yoke of necessity: there is no telling how great it is. …169

7a Thales

I.4.7a

Asked, “What is strongest?” Thales replied, “Necessity, for it rules everything.”

7b Hermes, from the writings to Ammon

I.4.7b

Necessity is a firm decree and an unalterable power of providence.170

159

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.