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.7.11g.6–II.7.11h.1

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.11g.6–II.7.11h.1

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Ancient Greek

p. 322

Πάντα τἀγαθὰ καὶ τέλειος βίος

II.7.11g.6

Καθόλου δὲ τοῖς μὲν σπουδαίοις πάντα τἀγαθὰ ὑπάρχειν, τοῖς δὲ φαύλοις πάντα τὰ κακά. Οὐ νομιστέον δὲ λέγειν αὐτοὺς οὕτως, ὡς εἴ τινά ἐστιν ἀγαθά, ἐκεῖνα ὑπάρχει τοῖς σπουδαίοις, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κακῶν· ἀλλὰ τοι τοὺς μὲν τοσαῦτα ἔχειν ἀγαθὰ ὥστε μηδὲν ἐλλείπειν εἰς τὸ τέλειον αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὸν βίον ⟨καὶ εὐδαίμονα⟩, τοὺς δὲ τοσαῦτα κακά, ὥστε τὸν βίον ἀτελῆ εἶναι καὶ κακοδαίμονα.

Ἀρετῆς ὀνόματα καὶ ἐτυμολογίαι

II.7.11h.1

Τὴν δ’ ἀρετὴν πολλοῖς ὀνόμασι προσαγορεύουσιν. Ἀγαθόν τε γὰρ λέγουσιν αὐτήν, ὅτι ἄγει ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὸν ὀρθὸν βίον· καὶ ἀρεστόν, ὅτι δοκιμαστόν ἐστιν ἀνυπόπτως· καὶ πολλοῦ ἄξιον, ⟨ὅτι⟩ ἀνυπέρβλητον ἔχει τὴν ἀξίαν· καὶ σπουδαῖον, ἄξιον γὰρ εἶναι πολλῆς σπουδῆς· καὶ ἐπαινετόν, εὐλόγως γὰρ ἄν τις αὐτὴν ἐπαινοίη· καὶ καλόν, ὅτι πρὸς ἑαυτὴν καλεῖν πέφυκε τοὺς ὀρεγομένους αὐτῆς·

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 323

All Goods and a Complete Life

II.7.11g.6

In general, all goods belong to virtuous people, and all evils to base people. But one should not suppose them to mean that, if certain things are goods, those things belong to virtuous people, and likewise with evils. Rather, the former have so many goods that nothing is lacking to make their life complete ⟨and happy⟩; the latter have so many evils that their life is incomplete and unhappy.⁴²³

Names and Etymologies of Virtue

II.7.11h.1

They call virtue by many names. They call it good, because it leads us toward the right life; pleasing, because it is approvable without misgiving; of great worth, ⟨because⟩ its value is unsurpassable; worthy of earnest pursuit, because it deserves much earnest attention; praiseworthy, because one might reasonably praise it; and noble, because it naturally calls to itself those who desire it.⁴²⁴

423.The source itself qualifies “all goods”: the claim concerns sufficiency for a complete life rather than possession of every particular good that exists. The parallel qualification applies to evils. Meineke’s supplied καὶ εὐδαίμονα, “and happy,” remains visible. This clarification prevents the opening generalization from being expanded beyond its stated meaning.

424.The explanations sometimes connect similar-sounding Greek words: ἀγαθόν with ἄγει, “leads”; σπουδαῖον with σπουδή, “earnest attention”; καλόν with καλεῖν, “calls.” These are the source’s word associations, not claims about the historical derivation of the English words. “Pleasing” retains the sense distinguished from pleasure at II.7.5i. Wachsmuth’s supplied ὅτι, “because,” remains bracketed. Compare the earlier list of names for good at II.7.5d.1.

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.