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.7.13.20

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.13.20

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Ancient Greek

p. 406

Κάλλος καὶ αἶσχος

II.7.13.20

Καὶ γὰρ ὅλως οὐδεὶς ἂν εὖ φρονῶν δέξαιτο ἄμορφος καὶ λελωβημένος εἶναι κατὰ τὸ εἶδος, κἂν εἰ μηδεμία μέλλοι δυσχρηστία τὸ παράπαν ἐπακολουθεῖν διὰ τὴν τοιαύτην εἰδέχθειαν. Ὥστε καὶ δίχα τῆς δυσχρηστίας εὔλογον φυγὴν φαίνεσθαι τοῦ αἴσχους. Εἰ δὲ δι’ αὑτὸ φευκτόν ἐστι τὸ αἶσχος, καὶ τὸ κάλλος οὐ μόνον διὰ τὴν χρείαν αἱρετὸν ἀλλὰ καὶ δι’ αὑτό· ὅτι γὰρ ἐξ αὑτοῦ προσκλητικὸν ⟨τι⟩ ἔχει τὸ κάλλος, ἐμφανές· πάντας γοῦν φυσικῶς οἰκειοῦσθαι τοῖς καλοῖς χωρὶς πάσης χρείας, καὶ γὰρ πρὸς τὸ εὖ ποιεῖν αὐτοὺς καὶ εὐεργετεῖν ἑτοίμως ἔχειν, ὅθεν δὴ καὶ δοκεῖν εὐνοίας εἶναι παρασκευαστικόν· ὥστε καὶ κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον τὸ μὲν κάλλος τῶν δι’ αὑτὰ αἱρετῶν ὑπάρχειν, τὸ δὲ αἶσχος τῶν δι’ αὑτὰ φευκτῶν.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 407

Beauty and Ugliness

II.7.13.20

For, generally, no one thinking soundly would accept being ugly and disfigured in appearance, even if no difficulty of use whatever were going to follow from such unsightliness. Thus it seems reasonable to avoid ugliness even apart from difficulty of use.⁵⁴¹ If ugliness is to be avoided for its own sake, beauty too is choiceworthy not only for its usefulness but also for its own sake. For it is evident that beauty has ⟨something⟩ intrinsically attractive. Everyone, at any rate, naturally feels an affinity with beautiful people apart from any usefulness, and is readily disposed to treat them well and confer benefits on them. Hence beauty also seems productive of goodwill. On this account too, beauty belongs among things choiceworthy for their own sakes, and ugliness among things to be avoided for their own sakes.⁵⁴²

541.The argument expressly separates appearance from δυσχρηστία, difficulty or disadvantage in use. It asks whether the former would still be rejected if the latter did not follow. Εἰδέχθεια is unsightliness, and λελωβημένος describes being marred or disfigured. These are the physical descriptions used by the ancient argument; the passage is discussing bodily beauty, before turning to beauty of soul.

542.Προσκλητικόν describes an attractive or inviting quality; “something” renders the supplied τι. The appeal to others’ goodwill adds a social consequence to the preceding claim about beauty itself. The generalization about everyone’s response belongs to the epitome’s argument. Καλοῖς here refers to beautiful people in the bodily context, rather than silently changing its meaning to morally good people.

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.