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 9 · II.9.6.2–II.9.6.3

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Facing Pages · Branch 333 of 516

Book II Chapter 9 · II.9.6.2–II.9.6.3

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Ancient Greek

p. 662

Εὐσεβίου — συνέχεια

II.9.6.2

Ἡ μὲν τῆς ἀρετῆς τὰ πρῶτα οὐκ εὐήλατά κως παρέχειν δοκέει οἵα τε μέντοι εὐτυχέϊ πόνῳ ἀνυσθῆναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς κατηγεομένους ἔχει καὶ παραπέμψαντας ⟨ἂν⟩ ἀκινδύνους· τὸ δὲ μετὰ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁδὸς ἰθέη τε καὶ εὐρέη μέχρι τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν αὐτοῦ τοῦ καλοῦ· ἐπ’ ἣν ἀνελθὼν ἐν τοῖσι καλλίστοισι ἔσεαι καὶ ⟨ἐν⟩ θέῃ ἄλλων τε μυρίων ἀγαθῶν [καὶ] τῶν εὐδαιμονεστάτων, ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ φωτός, παντὸς τοῦ λοιποῦ κάλλεϊ μυρίῳ προήκοντος καὶ αὐγοειδεστάτου.

Εὐσεβίου — συνέχεια

II.9.6.3

Πέριξ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν ἀναπεπταμένην αἱ πόλιες ἔασι καὶ οἱ τὴν γῆν κατοικέοντες καὶ ἐργαζόμενοι, περὶ τῶν, ὡς ἕκαστα ἔχει, ὁ ἐπὶ συμβολῇ τῶν ψυχέων προπεμφθεὶς ἐρέει λόγος. Καὶ ἥδε μὲν ὧδέ κως ἔχει·

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 9

p. 663

Eusebius continued

II.9.6.2

The road of virtue seems at first to offer no easy passage, yet it can be traversed by successful toil; it also has guides who ⟨would⟩ conduct travelers safely.⁹²⁸ After that it is a straight and broad road, as far as the one leading to the citadel of the noble itself. Having ascended to it, you will be among the most beautiful things and ⟨in⟩ contemplation of countless other goods of the greatest blessedness, and also of light, surpassing all other light by an immeasurable beauty and supremely radiant.⁹²⁹

Eusebius continued

II.9.6.3

Around it, across all the land spread out, are the cities and those who inhabit and work the land. Reason, sent ahead to meet the souls, will tell how matters stand with each of them. Such, then, is this road.⁹³⁰

928.The printed εὐτυχέϊ πόνῳ is successful or fortunate toil; the apparatus records proposals to replace the adjective, but the English retains it. The supplied potential particle ⟨ἄν⟩ is represented by ⟨would⟩. Compare Hesiod, Works and Days 287–292, where the road to virtue is initially difficult and becomes easier after the ascent. This is a comparison of the image, not a claim that the present excerpt quotes Hesiod.

929.The phrase μέχρι τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν is compressed: as far as the road leading to the citadel. Αὐτὸ τὸ καλόν is the noble or beautiful itself, here the noble itself. Supplied ⟨ἐν⟩ remains ⟨in⟩, and rejected [καί], and, is omitted from English while remaining in Greek. The final genitive describes light as surpassing all other light in beauty.

930.Λόγος, Reason, is personified within the account. Sent ahead to meet the souls, ἐπὶ συμβολῇ τῶν ψυχέων, he will later address them as a divine messenger, herald, and counselor. The cities and their inhabitants belong to the surrounding landscape; their detailed treatment is deferred to this figure. The next clause turns to the road of vice.

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.