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.7.11i.3–II.7.11i.4

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English Page · Branch 166 of 516

Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.11i.3–II.7.11i.4

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Ancient Greek

p. 328

Κοινὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ ἀμοιβαία ὠφέλεια

II.7.11i.3

Τὰ δ’ ἀγαθὰ πάντα κοινὰ εἶναι τῶν σπουδαίων, τῶν δὲ φαύλων τὰ κακά. Δι’ ὃ καὶ τὸν ὠφελοῦντά τινα καὶ αὐτὸν ὠφελεῖσθαι, τὸν δὲ βλάπτοντα καὶ ἑαυτὸν βλάπτειν.

Φιλικὴ διάθεσις πρὸς ἀγνοουμένους

II.7.11i.4

Πάντας δὲ τοὺς σπουδαίους ὠφελεῖν ἀλλήλους, οὔτε φίλους ὄντας ἀλλήλων πάντως οὔτε εὔνους ⟨οὔτε⟩ εὐδοκίμους οὔτε ἀποδεχομένους παρὰ τὸ μήτε καταλαμβάνεσθαι μήτ’ ἐν ταὐτῷ κατοικεῖν τόπῳ, εὐνοητικῶς μέντοι γε πρὸς ἀλλήλους διακεῖσθαι καὶ φιλικῶς καὶ δοκιμαστικῶς καὶ ἀποδεκτικῶς· τοὺς δὲ ἄφρονας ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις τούτων ὑπάρχειν.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 329

Common Goods and Mutual Benefit

II.7.11i.3

All goods are common to virtuous people, and evils to base people. Hence whoever benefits someone is himself also benefited, while whoever harms another also harms himself.⁴³⁰

A Friendly Disposition toward Those Unknown

II.7.11i.4

All virtuous people benefit one another, without necessarily being one another’s friends, well-disposed, ⟨or⟩ held in esteem, or accepting one another, because they neither know one another nor live in the same place. Nevertheless, they are disposed toward one another with goodwill, friendship, approval, and acceptance. Foolish people are in the opposite condition.⁴³¹

430.This resumes II.7.11b.1 and II.7.11d.1. The printed αὐτόν in the first consequence is rendered “himself,” while the second has the explicit reflexive ἑαυτόν. The reciprocity belongs to the ethical definitions of benefit and harm; it is not described as a subsequent repayment.

431.The passage distinguishes an existing personal relationship from a disposition toward another virtuous person. Πάντως is rendered “necessarily,” and the reason given is lack of acquaintance and shared residence. The contrast between εὔνους and εὐνοητικῶς, and between acceptance and being disposed to accept, is preserved rather than collapsed into a contradiction or replaced with an assertion that all have met. Wachsmuth prints Heeren’s supplied οὔτε before εὐδοκίμους; its English equivalent remains bracketed.

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.