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.7.20.10–II.7.20.11

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 243 of 516

Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.20.10–II.7.20.11

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Ancient Greek

p. 482

Ποιὸν ποσὸν καὶ τὸ ἴσον

II.7.20.10

(τὸ γὰρ μέσον οὐ τὸν τοῦ ποσοῦ τόπον ὁρίζειν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ⟨τοῦ⟩ ποιοῦ, δι’ ὃ καὶ τέλειον εἶναι τῷ οὕτω καὶ ἄκρως ἔχειν· τὰ δ’ ἐναντία πως καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἀντικεῖσθαι καὶ τῷ μέσῳ· ἐναντία δ’ εἶναι τήν τ’ ἔλλειψιν καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολήν, τὸ δὲ μέσον πρὸς ἑκάτερον ἔχειν, ὅπερ τὸ ἴσον πρὸς τὸ ἄνισον πέπονθε, τοῦ μὲν ἐλάττονος πλέον ὄν, τοῦ δὲ πλείονος ἔλαττον.)

Θεόφραστος περὶ τοῦ καιροῦ

II.7.20.11

Τὸ οὖν πρὸς ἡμᾶς μέσον ἄριστον, οἷον, φησὶν ὁ Θεόφραστος, ἐν ταῖς ἐντυχίαις ὁδὶ μὲν πολλὰ διελθὼν καὶ μακρῶς ἀδολεσχήσας, ὁδὶ δ’ ὀλίγα καὶ οὐδὲ τἀναγκαῖα, οὗτος δὲ αὐτὰ ἃ ἔδει μόνα τὸν καιρὸν ἔλαβεν. Αὕτη ⟨ἡ⟩ μεσότης πρὸς ἡμᾶς ⟨ἀρίστη⟩, αὕτη γὰρ ἐφ’ ἡμῶν ὥρισται τῷ λόγῳ.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 483

Quality Quantity and Equality

II.7.20.10

(For the mean determines a position of quality, not of quantity; hence it is also complete, by being of this character and being so to the highest degree.⁶⁴⁴ The contraries are in a way opposed both to one another and to the mean. Deficiency and excess are contraries; the mean stands toward each as the equal stands toward the unequal, being greater than the lesser and less than the greater.)⁶⁴⁵

Theophrastus on the Right Occasion

II.7.20.11

The mean relative to us, then, is best. For example, Theophrastus says, in conversations one person has gone through many things and chattered at length; another has dealt with few things and not even the necessary ones; but this person has dealt only with precisely what was needed and seized the right moment.⁶⁴⁶ This mean relative to us is ⟨best⟩, for it is determined in our case by reason.⁶⁴⁷

644.Ποσόν and ποιόν are quantity and quality. The supplied article τοῦ before ποιοῦ is retained in Greek and conveyed by the English construction, without a separate bracketed English word. Τέλειον is complete or perfect. The compressed explanation allows the mean to represent excellence at its highest degree; it does not call excellence mediocre.

645.Πως, in a way, qualifies the opposition. The equality comparison expressly preserves both relations: the mean exceeds the lesser and falls short of the greater. This mathematical analogy illustrates its position between extremes; the preceding sentence has already distinguished the ethical standard from quantity alone.

646.The source reads ἐν ταῖς ἐντυχίαις, in conversations or encounters. It does not print εὐτυχίαις, good fortunes. Wachsmuth records Heeren’s proposed alteration to a reference to a work On Good Fortune but retains the transmitted phrase. The English follows that decision. The third speaker’s construction is compressed: dealt with is understood from the preceding comparison, while ἔλαβεν governs τὸν καιρόν, seized the right moment.

647.The supplied ἡ is conveyed by the English construction; supplied ἀρίστη remains bracketed as best. Καιρός concerns the right moment or occasion, not a fixed amount of speech. The example illustrates a mean determined by what is required in the circumstances.

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.