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.7.11m.1–II.7.11m.2

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English Page · Branch 177 of 516

Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.11m.1–II.7.11m.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 350

Εὐφυΐα καὶ εὐγένεια

II.7.11m.1

Περὶ δὲ εὐφυοῦς, ἔτι δὲ εὐγενοῦς οἱ μὲν τῶν ἐκ τῆς αἱρέσεως ἐπηνέχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ λέγειν πάντα σοφὸν τοιοῦτον εἶναι, οἱ δ’ οὔ. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ οἴονται οὐ μόνον εὐφυεῖς γίγνεσθαι πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐκ φύσεως, ἀλλὰ καί τινας ἐκ κατασκευῆς, καὶ τὸ ἐν ταῖς παροιμίαις λεγόμενον τοῦτο ἀπεδέξαντο

μελέτη χρονισθεῖσ’ εἰς φύσιν καθίσταται.

Οἱ ὅροι τῆς εὐφυΐας καὶ εὐγενείας

II.7.11m.2

Τὸ δ’ ὅμοιον καὶ περὶ εὐγενείας ὑπέλαβον, ὥστε εὐφυΐαν μὲν εἶναι κοινῶς ἕξιν ἐκ φύσεως ἢ ἐκ κατασκευῆς οἰκείαν πρὸς ἀρετήν, ἢ ἕξιν καθ’ ἣν εὐανάληπτοι ἀρετῆς εἰσί τινες· τὴν δ’ εὐγένειαν ἕξιν ἐκ γένους ἢ ἐκ κατασκευῆς οἰκείαν πρὸς ἀρετήν.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 351

Aptitude and Good Birth

II.7.11m.1

As for being well endowed by nature, and also well born, some members of the school inclined to say that every wise person is such, while others did not.⁴⁶⁴ The former think that aptitude for virtue arises not only by nature but, in some people, through training. They accepted this proverbial saying:

Practice, with time, becomes nature.⁴⁶⁵

Definitions of Aptitude and Good Birth

II.7.11m.2

They took the same view of good birth. Thus aptitude is, in general, a state arising by nature or through training that is congenial to virtue, or a state in virtue of which some people can readily acquire virtue; good birth is a state arising from lineage or through training that is congenial to virtue.⁴⁶⁶

464.Εὐφυής and εὐγενής are initially rendered through their ordinary associations with natural endowment and good birth. The following definitions extend both to acquired states. The source explicitly reports disagreement within the school; the view that every wise person has these qualities must not be attributed without qualification to all Stoics.

465.Κατασκευή is preparation or cultivation, here rendered “training.” Wachsmuth identifies the verse as an unattributed tragic fragment, no. 227 in Nauck’s collection; this editorial reference is recorded in the note rather than inserted into the ancient sentence. Χρονισθεῖσ’ is the elided participle “continued over time.” The quotation explains how practice can come to function as nature.

466.Both definitions use ἕξις, “state,” and οἰκείαν πρὸς ἀρετήν, “congenial to virtue.” The alternative origin through training remains explicit even in the definition of good birth, alongside lineage. The printed εὐανάληπτοι is understood as readily able to acquire virtue. These are the definitions of the group just described, rather than a resolution of the reported disagreement.

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.