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 1 · II.1.23–II.1.25

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English Page · Branch 13 of 516

Book II Chapter 1 · II.1.23–II.1.25

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Ancient Greek

p. 22

Διογένους

II.1.23

Ἀστρολόγου δέ τινος κατ’ ἀγορὰν ἐπιδεικνύοντος ἔν τινι πινακίῳ καταγράφους τοὺς ἀστέρας, καὶ φάσκοντος ὅτι οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ πλανώμενοι τῶν ἀστέρων, ἐπακούσας, „Μὴ ψεύδου“, εἶπεν, „ὦ ἑταῖρε· οὐ γὰρ οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ πλανώμενοι, ἀλλὰ οὗτοι“, δείξας αὐτῷ τοὺς παρακαθεζομένους.

Ἀρίστωνος

II.1.24

Ἀρίστων ἔφη τῶν ζητουμένων παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσόφοις τὰ μὲν εἶναι πρὸς ἡμᾶς, τὰ δὲ μηδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς, τὰ δ’ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς. Πρὸς ἡμᾶς μὲν τὰ ἠθικά, μὴ πρὸς ἡμᾶς δὲ τὰ διαλεκτικά· μὴ γὰρ συμβάλλεσθαι πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν βίου· ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς δὲ τὰ φυσικά· ἀδύνατα γὰρ ἐγνῶσθαι καὶ οὐδὲ παρέχειν χρείαν.

Εὐσεβίου

II.1.25

Θεοὶ οἷοι ἔασιν οὐ χρὴ δίζησθαι· αὐτόθεν δὲ ἄριστον πεπιστευκέναι. Ζητήσιος γὰρ προϊούσης καὶ ὁ τῷ ἀνοσιωτάτῳ τῶν λόγων τῷ μὴ εἶναι αὐτοὺς συνιστάμενος ἐθέλει κρατεῖν.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 1

p. 23

Diogenes

II.1.23

A student of the stars was displaying in the marketplace a little tablet on which the stars were drawn, and saying that these were the wandering stars. On hearing him, Diogenes said: “Do not lie, my friend. These are not the wanderers; those are,” pointing to the people seated beside him.³⁰

Ariston

II.1.24

Ariston said that, of the things philosophers investigate, some concern us, some have nothing to do with us, and some are beyond us. Ethical questions concern us. Dialectical questions do not concern us, because they contribute nothing to setting life right. Questions about nature are beyond us, because they cannot be known and do not even afford any use.³¹

Eusebius

II.1.25

One should not inquire what the gods are like; it is best to have belief from the outset. For as inquiry proceeds, even the person who takes the side of the most impious of arguments, that they do not exist, wants to prevail.³²

30.The Greek plays on πλανώμενοι: planets “wander,” while people can “go astray” or be misled. “Student of the stars” leaves ἀστρολόγος broad enough for the activity actually described; the passage does not specify a modern division between astronomy and astrology. The name Diogenes is supplied in the English sentence from the heading.

31.The threefold classification belongs to the position reported under Ariston’s name. “Dialectical questions” concern argument and reasoning; “questions about nature” renders τὰ φυσικά, not only the modern discipline of physics. The anthology preserves the claim that these studies lack practical benefit without requiring every other excerpt to agree.

32.The heading supplies only the name Eusebius. The opening follows Wachsmuth’s οἷοι, “what sort,” rather than turning the question into whether gods exist. The last clause concerns a disputant’s desire to win; it does not say that the argument has been proved.

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.