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 7 · II.7.4a.1

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

English Page · Branch 85 of 516

Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.4a.1

Book Mode

Ancient Greek

p. 166

Περὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν

II.7.4a.1

Ἀγαθόν ἐστιν ἀφ’ οὗ συμβαίνει τὸ ὠφελεῖσθαι· καὶ οὗ πάντ’ ἐφίεται τὰ λόγον ἔχοντα προηγουμένως· καὶ ὃ ἤτοι κατὰ φύσιν ἐστίν, ἢ ποιητικὸν τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν· καὶ τὸ ὀρεκτικὸν κατὰ φύσιν· καὶ τὸ κινητικὸν τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἐχούσης ὀρέξεως, καὶ καθ’ ὃ ἕκαστον εὖ ἔχει ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ ἐκείνου παρουσίᾳ, ἢ ποιητικόν ἐστι τοῦ τοιούτου· καὶ ὃ ἤτοι δι’ αὑτό ἐστιν αἱρετόν, ἢ τοῦ αἱρετοῦ ποιητικόν· καὶ ὃ ἤτοι εὐδαιμονία ἐστίν, ἢ συμβαλλόμενον πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν· καὶ καθάπερ Στράτων, τὸ τελειοῦν τὴν δύναμιν, δι’ ἣν τῆς ἐνεργείας τυγχάνομεν· καὶ τὸ συστατικὸν τῆς ἑκάστου οὐσίας, καθ’ ὃ κριθήσεται τῶν κατὰ μέρος τὰ μετέχοντα τῆς τοιαύτης δυνάμεως· καὶ πολλαχῶς ἄλλως.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 167

On Goods and Evils · 1

II.7.4a.1

A good is that from which being benefited results; that which all rational beings primarily desire; that which either accords with nature or produces what accords with nature; what naturally arouses desire; what moves desire when desire is in accordance with nature; that through whose presence each thing is in a good condition, insofar as that presence is concerned, or what produces such a condition; that which is either choiceworthy for its own sake or productive of what is choiceworthy; and that which either is happiness or contributes to happiness.¹⁸⁵

Also, as Strato puts it, that which completes the capacity through which we attain activity; and that which constitutes each thing’s essence, by which the particular things sharing in such a capacity will be judged. It is also defined in many other ways.¹⁸⁶

185.The heading concerns goods and evils, but the present sequence begins with definitions and classifications of the good. These are alternative formulations; they should not be combined into a single definition belonging to one school. “Choiceworthy” renders αἱρετόν, distinguishing being worthy of choice from actually being chosen. Προηγουμένως means primarily or in the first instance. “What naturally arouses desire” renders the printed ὀρεκτικόν; the Greek has not been changed to ὀρεκτόν, “desired.”

186.The attribution to Strato explicitly introduces the definition in terms of completing a capacity. The subsequent definition concerning essence and the judgment of particulars remains in the sequence without a new attribution. Wachsmuth connects that formulation with Plato’s Form of the Good in his apparatus. The English retains the printed κριθήσεται, “will be judged,” rather than substituting another proposed wording.

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.