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.7.18.7–II.7.18.8

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.18.7–II.7.18.8

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Ancient Greek

p. 446

Χορηγία καὶ ἀρετὴ ἐν κακοῖς

II.7.18.7

‘Χορηγουμένην’ δὲ τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐνέργειαν διὰ τὸ πάντως ἀναγκαῖον ἐν τοῖς κατὰ φύσιν ἀγαθοῖς ὑπάρχειν, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν κακοῖς ἀρετῇ χρήσαιτ’ ἂν καλῶς ὁ σπουδαῖος, οὐ μὴν γε μακάριος ἔσται καὶ ἐν αἰκίαις ἀποδείξαιτ’ ἂν τὸ γενναῖον, οὐ μὴν ⟨γ’⟩ εὐδαιμονήσει.

Τὰ καλὰ καὶ τὰ ἀγαθά

II.7.18.8

Αἴτιον δ’ ὅτι ἡ μὲν ἀρετὴ καλῶν μόνον ἐστὶν ἀπεργαστικὴ καθ’ ἑαυτήν, ἡ δ’ εὐδαιμονία καὶ καλῶν κἀγαθῶν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐγκαρτερεῖν βούλεται τοῖς δεινοῖς, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύειν πρὸς τῷ καὶ σῴζειν τὸ ἐν κοινωνίᾳ δίκαιον καὶ μήτε ἀποστερεῖν ἑαυτὴν τῶν ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ καλῶν μήτε τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἀναγκαίων.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 447

Provision and Virtue amid Evils

II.7.18.7

The activity of virtue is called “provided for” because it must necessarily occur amid goods in accordance with nature.⁵⁹² For even amid evils the virtuous person might exercise virtue nobly, yet he will not be blessed; and under mistreatment he might display his nobility, yet he will not ⟨indeed⟩ be happy.⁵⁹³

Noble Things and Good Things

II.7.18.8

The reason is that virtue by itself produces only noble things, whereas happiness produces both noble and good things.⁵⁹⁴ For happiness wishes to enjoy goods, rather than to endure terrible things, while also preserving justice in community and depriving herself neither of the noble things found in contemplation nor of the necessities of life.⁵⁹⁵

592.Χορηγουμένην repeats the word in the initial definition. Wachsmuth again prints it as a correction of προηγουμένην. It means furnished with provision or support, here expressly identified with natural goods. The account distinguishes the good conditions needed for happiness from the virtue that can still be exercised when those conditions fail.

593.Μακάριος is blessed, and εὐδαιμονήσει will be happy; the English retains the two expressions. Αἰκίαι are acts of mistreatment or abuse. Displaying nobility under such circumstances does not establish happiness in this argument. The supplied γ’ is represented by bracketed “indeed.” Wachsmuth notes that the passage is directed against Stoic positions; compare the preceding Stoic account, in which virtue suffices for happiness.

594.Καθ’ ἑαυτήν qualifies virtue: the comparison concerns what virtue produces by itself. Καλῶν κἀγαθῶν retains both the noble and the good. This passage depends on the Peripatetic recognition of bodily and external goods; it should not be read as saying that noble conduct is morally bad or that virtue is worthless.

595.Happiness is personified as the subject of wishing and of the feminine reflexive ἑαυτήν, hence “herself.” The English does not silently change the subject to the virtuous man. The goods of contemplation, θεωρία, and the necessities of ordinary life are both retained alongside justice in community. The account gives no warrant here for omitting social justice in favor of contemplation.

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.