Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume II

Name: Stobaeus, Volume II
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek and English with an introduction and explanatory footnotes.

Explore the Lexicon

Stobaeus, Volume IIBook II Chapter 15 · II.15.32–II.15.35

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Ancient Greek Page · Branch 357 of 516

Book II Chapter 15 · II.15.32–II.15.35

Book Mode

Ancient Greek

p. 710

Δημοσθένους

II.15.32

Ὡς ἅπας μὲν λόγος, ἂν ἀπῇ τὸ ἔργον, μάταιόν τι φαίνεται καὶ κενόν.

Δημοκρίτου

II.15.33

Πολλοὶ δρῶντες τὰ αἴσχιστα λόγους τοὺς ἀρίστους ἀσκέουσιν.

⟨Ἀ⟩πολλώνιος Γλαύκ⟨ῳ⟩

II.15.34

⟨Κ⟩αλὸν μᾶζα καὶ τρίβων, μὴ κατ’ ἐπιτήδευμα δοξοκοπικὸν καλούμενα, ἀλλ’ ὅταν τὰ πράγματα ἄγῃ πρὸς αὐτά, σεμνῶς φορούμενα.

Πυθαγόρου

II.15.35

Ἐπιδείκνυσο μὴ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἃ φρονεῖς, ἀλλ’ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις ἃ ποιεῖς.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 15

p. 711

Demosthenes

II.15.32

For all speech, if action is absent, seems a futile and empty thing.¹⁰¹³

Democritus

II.15.33

Many people who do the most shameful things cultivate the finest words.¹⁰¹⁴

⟨A⟩pollonius to Glauc⟨us⟩

II.15.34

Barley-cake and a threadbare cloak are ⟨f⟩ine things,¹⁰¹⁵ when not called for as a practice to win reputation, but borne with dignity when circumstances lead one to them.¹⁰¹⁶

Pythagoras

II.15.35

Do not display in words what you think, but in deeds what you do.¹⁰¹⁷

1013.Demosthenes, Second Olynthiac 12. In its original setting, Athenian envoys must be able to point to action supporting their message. The local quotation has τὸ ἔργον, singular, where the parallel text has τὰ πράγματα; that local wording is retained.

1014.The superlatives αἴσχιστα, most shameful, and ἀρίστους, best or finest, sharpen the disparity. The Ionic ἀσκέουσιν means practice or cultivate: polished speech is being distinguished from the conduct of those who practice it.

1015.The heading supplies the initial ⟨Ἀ⟩ of Apollonius and the ending of Glaucus’s name; the English marks the corresponding reconstructed portions. Only the initial ⟨Κ⟩ of καλόν, fine, is supplied in the body, reflected in ⟨f⟩ine.

1016.Barley-cake and the worn cloak represent austere living. The main text has καλούμενα, called or summoned, and φορούμενα, borne or worn; these are retained despite the awkward combination. The passage contrasts choosing austerity for reputation with bearing it with dignity when circumstances lead to it.

1017.The printed wording is difficult: ἃ φρονεῖς means what you think, and ἃ ποιεῖς what you do. The apparatus proposes replacements meaning think well and do well, and also considers exchanging the clauses. Those changes are not used here; the uneasy parallel is preserved.

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.