Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
Facing Pages · Branch 92 of 879
Book I Chapter 5 · I.5.16
Ancient Greek
p. 18016 Περὶ τῆς ὅλης οἰκονομίας· Ἑρμοῦ ἐκ τῶν πρὸς Ἀμοῦν
Καὶ ἡ μὲν διακρατοῦσα τὸν ὅλον κόσμον πρόνοιά ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ συνέχουσα καὶ περιέχουσα ἀνάγκη ἐστίν, εἱμαρμένη δὲ ἄγει καὶ περιάγει πάντα καταναγκάζουσα (φύσις γάρ ἐστιν αὐτῆς τὸ ἀναγκάζειν), αἰτία γενέσεως καὶ φθορᾶς βίου. Ὁ μὲν οὖν κόσμος πρῶτος ἔχει τὴν πρόνοιαν (πρῶτος γὰρ αὐτῆς τυγχάνει) …
Ἡ δὲ πρόνοια ἐξήπλωται ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, διότι καὶ θεοὶ περὶ αὐτὸν στρέφονται καὶ κινοῦνται, ἀκάματον καὶ ἄπαυστον κίνησιν ἔχοντες· εἱμαρμένη δὲ διότι καὶ ἀνάγκη. Καὶ ἡ μὲν πρόνοια προνοεῖ, εἱμαρμένη δὲ αἰτία ἐστὶ τῆς τῶν ἄστρων διαθέσεως. Οὗτος νόμος ἄφυκτος, καθ’ ὃν πάντα τέτακται.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 5
p. 18116 On the governance of the whole: Hermes, from the writings to Amoun
The power that sustains the whole cosmos is providence; the power that holds it together and encompasses it is necessity. Fate leads and carries everything around by compulsion (for its nature is to compel) and is the cause of life’s coming-to-be and passing away. The cosmos, then, has providence first, for it is the first to receive it …198
Providence extends throughout heaven, because gods too revolve and move about it, their movement tireless and unceasing; and fate, because necessity too. Providence exercises foresight, while fate is the cause of the arrangement of the stars. This is an inescapable law according to which everything is ordered.199
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 5 · I.5.16
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.