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.9.8.3–II.9.8.4

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English Page · Branch 342 of 516

Book II Chapter 9 · II.9.8.3–II.9.8.4

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Ancient Greek

p. 680

Μουσωνίου — συνέχεια

II.9.8.3

Νῦν δὲ ἐν μὲν θεραπείᾳ καμνόντων οὐδεὶς ἀναμάρτητον ἀξιοῖ εἶναι ἄλλον ἢ τὸν ἰατρὸν καὶ ἐν χρήσει λύρας οὐδένα ἄλλον ἢ τὸν μουσικόν, ⟨καὶ⟩ ἐν χρήσει πηδαλίων οὐδένα ἄλλον ἢ τὸν κυβερνήτην· ἐν δὲ τῷ βίῳ οὐκέτι μόνον ἀναμάρτητον εἶναι τὸν φιλόσοφον ἀξιοῦσιν, ὃς δοκεῖ μόνος ἐπιμελεῖσθαι ἀρετῆς, ἀλλ’ ὁμοίως ἅπαντας καὶ τοὺς μηδεμίαν ἐπιμέλειαν ταύτης πεποιημένους. Δῆλον οὖν, ὡς οὐδὲν ἕτερον τούτου αἴτιον ἢ τὸ πρὸς ἀρετὴν γεγονέναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον.

Μουσωνίου — συνέχεια

II.9.8.4

Καὶ μὴν κἀκεῖνο μέγα τεκμήριον τοῦ μετεῖναι ἀρετῆς φύσει ἡμῖν, τὸ πάντας οὕτως διαλέγεσθαι περὶ ἑαυτῶν, ὡς ἐχόντων ἀρετὴν καὶ ὄντων ἀγαθῶν. Οὐδεὶς γάρ ἐστι τῶν πολλῶν, ὃς ἐρωτώμενος πότερον ἄφρων ἢ φρόνιμος τυγχάνει ὤν, ἄφρων ὁμολογήσει εἶναι· οὐδ’ αὖ ἐρωτώμενος πότερον ἄδικος ἢ δίκαιος τυγχάνει ὤν, φήσει ὅτι ἄδικος. Ὁμοίως δὲ κἂν ἐρωτᾷ τις πότερα σώφρων ἢ ἀκόλαστος, εἶθ’ ἅπας ἀποκρίνεται ἐρωτηθείς, ὅτι σώφρων. Καὶ ἁπλῶς ἂν ἐρωτᾶται τις πότερον ἀγαθὸς εἴη ἢ φαῦλος, φαίη ἂν ἀγαθός, καὶ ταῦτ’ οὐκ ἂν ἔχων εἰπεῖν οὔτε διδάσκαλον αὑτοῦ καλοκἀγαθίας, οὔτε μάθησιν ἀρετῆς ἢ ἄσκησιν τίνα τυγχάνει πεποιημένος.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 9

p. 681

Musonius continued

II.9.8.3

As things stand, however, no one expects anyone but a physician to be free from error in treating the sick, or anyone but a musician in playing the lyre, ⟨and⟩ anyone but a helmsman in handling the steering oars.⁹⁵⁷ In life, by contrast, people expect freedom from wrongdoing not only of the philosopher, who alone seems to attend to virtue, but equally of everyone, including those who have given it no attention. Clearly, then, the only reason for this is that human beings are born for virtue.⁹⁵⁸

Musonius continued

II.9.8.4

Moreover, another strong proof that we have a share in virtue by nature is that all speak about themselves as possessing virtue and being good. For no ordinary person, when asked whether he is foolish or sensible, will admit to being foolish; nor again, when asked whether he is unjust or just, will he say that he is unjust.⁹⁵⁹ Likewise, if someone asks whether a person is self-controlled or undisciplined, then everyone who is asked replies that he is self-controlled. And if someone is asked simply whether he is good or bad, he would say he is good, even though he could not name a teacher of moral goodness of his own or say what study of virtue or practice he has undertaken.⁹⁶⁰

957.Πηδάλια are a ship’s steering oars; κυβερνήτης is the helmsman who handles them. The supplied conjunction ⟨καί⟩ remains marked as ⟨and⟩. The examples concern trained expertise in medicine, music, and navigation.

958.Πρὸς ἀρετὴν γεγονέναι describes human nature as directed or fitted toward virtue. The philosopher is said to seem alone in attending to it, ὃς δοκεῖ μόνος; the qualification remains. The conclusion explains the shared expectation of right conduct, not universal actual goodness.

959.The argument appeals to people’s ordinary claims about themselves as evidence of a natural share in virtue. Those claims do not establish that the speakers have already achieved virtue: the next unit distinguishes an innate starting point from mistaken self-assurance.

960.At 184:1 the printed εἶθ’ ἅπας is an editorial reconstruction, here read as then everyone. The final clause retains printed ἢ, or, between study and practice; the apparatus considers alternatives. Καλοκἀγαθία denotes moral goodness or excellence.

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.