Stobaeus, Volume II

Name: Stobaeus, Volume II
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek and English with an introduction and explanatory footnotes.

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Stobaeus, Volume IIBook II Chapter 7 · II.7.5b11–II.7.5b12.1

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.5b11–II.7.5b12.1

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Ancient Greek

p. 210

Ἐπιτηδεύματα καὶ ἐπιστῆμαι

II.7.5b11

Φιλομουσίαν δὲ καὶ φιλογραμματίαν καὶ φιλιππίαν καὶ φιλοκυνηγίαν καὶ καθόλου ἐγκυκλίους λεγομένας τέχνας ἐπιτηδεύματα μὲν καλοῦσιν, ἐπιστήμας δ’ οὔ, ἐν ⟨τε⟩ ταῖς σπουδαίαις ἕξεσι ταῦτα καταλείπουσι, καὶ ἀκολούθως μόνον τὸν σοφὸν φιλόμουσον εἶναι λέγουσι καὶ φιλογράμματον, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων κατὰ τὸ ἀνάλογον. Τό τε ἐπιτήδευμα τοῦτον ὑπογράφουσι τὸν τρόπον· ὁδὸν διὰ τέχνης ἢ μέρους ἄγουσαν ἐπὶ ⟨τὰ⟩ κατ’ ἀρετήν.

Σοφὸς καὶ αἱ ἰδίαι τέχναι

II.7.5b12.1

Μόνον δέ φασι τὸν σοφὸν καὶ μάντιν ἀγαθὸν εἶναι καὶ ποιητὴν καὶ ῥήτορα καὶ διαλεκτικὸν καὶ κριτικόν, οὐ πάντα δέ, διὰ τὸ προσδεῖσθαι ἔτι τινὰ τούτων καὶ θεωρημάτων τινῶν ἀναλήψεως. Εἶναι δὲ τὴν μαντικὴν φασὶν ἐπιστήμην θεωρητικὴν σημείων τῶν ἀπὸ θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων πρὸς ἀνθρώπινον βίον συντεινόντων. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ εἴδη τῆς μαντικῆς.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 211

Pursuits and Knowledge

II.7.5b11

They call love of music, love of letters, love of horses, love of hunting, and, in general, the so-called general educational arts “pursuits,” but not forms of knowledge. They ⟨also⟩ leave these among worthy states, and accordingly say that only the wise person is a lover of music and of letters, and similarly in the other cases.²⁴³ They describe a pursuit in this way: a path through an art or a part of one that leads to ⟨things⟩ in accordance with virtue.²⁴⁴

The Wise Person and Particular Arts

II.7.5b12.1

They say that only the wise person can be a good diviner, poet, orator, dialectician, or critic; but he is not all of these, since some of these pursuits also require acquiring certain principles.²⁴⁵ They say that divination is knowledge that considers signs from gods or divine beings bearing upon human life. The kinds of divination are understood similarly.²⁴⁶

243.Ἐπιτηδεύματα are cultivated pursuits or occupations; they are distinguished from ἐπιστῆμαι. Ἐγκύκλιοι τέχναι are the arts of general education, not an encyclopedia in the modern sense. Φιλομουσία can extend to cultivated engagement with the arts of the Muses, while φιλογραμματία concerns letters or literary study. The supplied τε is represented by “also.” The printed καταλείπουσι, “leave,” is retained rather than another proposed verb of enumeration.

244.The positive ethical qualification governs calling these worthy states and attributing them properly to the wise person; the report need not be read as denying that other people ever play music or study letters. The supplied article in ἐπὶ τὰ κατ’ ἀρετήν is represented by the bracketed “things.” “A part of one” retains the alternative ἢ μέρους, referring back to the art.

245.The qualification οὐ πάντα δέ, “but not all,” is essential. The report’s restriction to the wise person does not mean that every wise person already possesses every specialized competence. Some require the further acquisition of θεωρήματα, principles. Κριτικός here denotes a critic or expert judge, particularly in the literary setting of poetry and rhetoric, rather than simply a habit of criticizing others.

246.Μαντική is divination, interpreted here as knowledge concerning divine signs. Δαίμονες are divine beings; translating them as “demons” in a uniformly hostile sense would impose a later association. The passage states the reported doctrine and its definition, rather than supplying evidence that any particular act of divination succeeded.

About This Reading Edition

The complete surviving text of Stobaeus’s second book, through II.46.22, in Ancient Greek and English, with an introduction and 1,541 explanatory notes. All forty-six chapter headings remain, including the notices for chapters whose texts are missing.

Historical Text and Translation

Greek: Curt Wachsmuth, Ioannis Stobaei Anthologii libri duo priores, volumen II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1884), printed p. 1 and pp. 3–264. The supplied edition preserves consequential editorial signs, reconstructed joins, qualified attributions, and missing-text notices. English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes: Diotimos Editions, 2026.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 edition are in the public domain. The supplied English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are published with the site owner’s authorization.