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.7.14.4

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.14.4

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Ancient Greek

p. 416

Ἀρετὴ κοινωνία καὶ θεωρία

II.7.14.4

Δῆλον οὖν ὅτι τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἀρετῶν καὶ τῶν ἐκτὸς αἱ τῆς ψυχῆς ὑπάρχουσιν αἱρετώτεραι, ὑπεροχὴν ὁμοίως φερόμεναι· στοχάζονται ⟨δὲ⟩ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πρῶτον μὲν ὡς δι’ αὑθ’ αἱρετῶν, ἔπειθ’ ὡς χρησίμων πρός τε τὸν πολιτικὸν καὶ τὸν κοινωνικὸν βίον καὶ δὴ καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεωρητικόν. Παραμετρεῖσθαι γὰρ τὸν βίον ταῖς πολιτικαῖς καὶ ταῖς κοινωνικαῖς πράξεσι καὶ ταῖς θεωρητικαῖς. Οὐ γὰρ φίλαυτον εἶναι τὴν ἀρετὴν κατὰ τὴν αἵρεσιν ταύτην, ἀλλὰ κοινωνικὴν καὶ πολιτικήν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ᾠκειῶσθαι μάλιστα πάντων ἔφαμεν τὴν ἀρετήν, δῆλον ὡς καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπιστήμην ἀναγκαίως ᾠκείωται φυσικῶς αὐτῇ.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 417

Virtue Community and Contemplation

II.7.14.4

It is clear, then, that the virtues of the soul are more choiceworthy than bodily excellences and external goods, alike having the advantage. ⟨But⟩ they also aim at the other goods, first as choiceworthy for their own sakes, and then as useful for political and social life, and indeed for the contemplative life too.⁵⁵³ For life is measured by political, social, and contemplative actions. According to this school, virtue is not self-loving, but social and political. Since we said that virtue has the greatest affinity of all with itself, it is clear that it necessarily also has a natural affinity with knowledge of truth.⁵⁵⁴

553.The printed ὁμοίως, “alike,” is uncertain: Wachsmuth regards it as scarcely sound and records possible replacements, none adopted here. The subject of “aim at” is the virtues of the soul. Their concern for the other goods includes both those goods’ intrinsic worth and their usefulness. The supplied δὲ is represented by the bracketed connective. Θεωρητικός concerns contemplation, retained as a distinct activity alongside political and social action.

554.Αἵρεσις here names the philosophical school or position being reported. Φίλαυτος is literally self-loving; the following contrast concerns virtue’s social and political character. The next clause nevertheless retains virtue’s affinity with itself, recalling II.7.13.22, printed p. 123, lines 23–26. The editor’s cross-reference is transferred to this note. Wachsmuth follows Usener in moving the final sentence here from its manuscript position after “the opposites” on printed p. 126, line 5. The final αὐτῇ continues the reference to virtue; the English takes the claim to be its natural affinity with knowledge of truth.

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.