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.7.11d.6–II.7.11e.1

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.11d.6–II.7.11e.1

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Ancient Greek

p. 308

Νόμος νόμιμος καὶ νομικός

II.7.11d.6

Τόν τε νόμον σπουδαῖον εἶναί φασι, λόγον ὀρθὸν ὄντα προστακτικὸν μὲν ὧν ποιητέον, ἀπαγορευτικὸν δὲ ὧν οὐ ποιητέον. Τοῦ δὲ νόμου ἀστείου ὄντος καὶ ὁ νόμιμος ἀστεῖος ἂν ⟨εἴη⟩· νόμιμον μὲν γὰρ εἶναι ἄνδρα καὶ ἀκολουθητικὸν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ πρακτικὸν τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ προσταττομένων· νομικὸν δὲ τὸν ἐξηγητικὸν τοῦ νόμου. Μηδένα δὲ τῶν φαύλων μήτε νόμιμον εἶναι μήτε νομικόν.

Κατορθώματα καὶ ἁμαρτήματα

II.7.11e.1

Ἔτι δὲ τῶν ἐνεργημάτων φασὶ τὰ μὲν εἶναι κατορθώματα, τὰ δὲ ἁμαρτήματα, τὰ δ’ οὐδέτερα. Κατορθώματα μὲν τὰ τοιαῦτα· φρονεῖν, σωφρονεῖν, δικαιοπραγεῖν, χαίρειν, εὐεργετεῖν, εὐφραίνεσθαι, φρονίμως περιπατεῖν, πάνθ’ ὅσα κατὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον πράττεται· ἁμαρτήματα δ’ εἶναι, τό τε ἀφραίνειν καὶ τὸ ἀκολασταίνειν καὶ τὸ ἀδικεῖν καὶ τὸ λυπεῖσθαι καὶ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι καὶ τὸ κλέπτειν καὶ καθόλου ὅσα παρὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον πράττεται·

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 309

Law the Law-Abiding and the Interpreter of Law

II.7.11d.6

They say that law is excellent, being right reason that commands what is to be done and prohibits what is not to be done.⁴⁰¹ Since law is morally excellent, the law-abiding person too would ⟨be⟩ morally excellent. For a law-abiding man is one who follows law and performs what it commands; a person versed in law is one capable of explaining law. No base person is either law-abiding or versed in law.⁴⁰²

Correct Actions and Errors

II.7.11e.1

Again, they say that some activities are correct actions, some errors, and some neither. Correct actions include thinking wisely, exercising temperance, acting justly, rejoicing, doing good, feeling glad, walking wisely—everything done in accordance with right reason.⁴⁰³ Errors include acting foolishly, acting intemperately, acting unjustly, feeling distress, feeling fear, stealing, and in general everything done contrary to right reason.⁴⁰⁴

401.The opening defines νόμος by right reason, not simply by the existence of an enacted rule. Its commands and prohibitions concern what is and is not to be done. The printed προστακτικόν, “commanding,” is retained.

402.Νόμιμος concerns following law and acting on its commands, whereas νομικός concerns explaining it. The source’s distinction has not been reduced to two interchangeable labels for a professional lawyer. The supplied εἴη is expressed by ⟨be⟩. The preceding ἄν supplies the potential force “would.”

403.The list includes rejoicing and gladness, χαίρειν and εὐφραίνεσθαι; these are not replaced by ἡδονή, the passion of pleasure defined above. The qualification “wisely” belongs to walking in this first list and matters for the contrast with unqualified walking below.

404.Distress and fear are included as passions in the strict sense of the preceding account. The classification is the source’s, grounded in conformity or opposition to right reason. Wachsmuth’s apparatus records a proposed gap after “stealing,” but his printed Greek does not mark one or insert the suggested additional examples; none are added here.

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.