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.9.8.5–II.9.8.6

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 343 of 516

Book II Chapter 9 · II.9.8.5–II.9.8.6

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Ancient Greek

p. 682

Μουσωνίου — συνέχεια

II.9.8.5

Τοῦτ’ οὖν τίνος ἄλλου τεκμήριόν ἐστιν, ἢ τοῦ φυσικὴν εἶναι ὑποβολὴν τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ψυχῇ πρὸς καλοκἀγαθίαν καὶ σπέρμα ἀρετῆς ἑκάστῳ ἡμῶν ἐνεῖναι. Διὰ δὲ τὸ πάντως ἀγαθοὺς ὑπάρχειν προσήκειν ἡμῖν, οἱ μὲν ἀπατώμεθα ὡς καὶ δὴ ὄντες ἀγαθοί, οἱ δὲ αἰσχυνόμεθα ὁμολογεῖν ⟨ὡς⟩ οὐκ ἐσμέν.

Μουσωνίου — συνέχεια

II.9.8.6

Ἐπεὶ διὰ τί, πρὸς θεῶν, γράμματα μὲν ἢ μουσικὴν ἢ παλαιστικὴν οὐδεὶς μὴ μαθὼν εἰδέναι φησίν, οὐδὲ ἔχειν τὰς τέχνας ταύτας προσποιεῖται, μὴ καὶ διδάσκαλον παρ’ ὃν ἐφοίτα ἔχων εἰπεῖν, ἀρετὴν δὲ ἔχειν πᾶς ὑπισχνεῖται; ὅτι ἐκείνων μὲν οὐδενὸς φύσει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ μέτεστιν, οὐδὲ ἥκει ⟨τις⟩ εἰς τὸν βίον ἔχων ὑποβολὰς * * *

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 9

p. 683

Musonius continued

II.9.8.5

Of what else, then, is this proof but that there is a natural predisposition in the human soul toward moral goodness, and a seed of virtue in each one of us?⁹⁶¹ But because we are in any case bound to be good, some of us are mistaken in thinking that we actually are good, while others are ashamed to acknowledge ⟨that⟩ we are not.⁹⁶²

Musonius continued

II.9.8.6

For why, by the gods, does no one claim to know reading and writing, music, or wrestling without having learned them, or pretend to possess these skills without also being able to name the teacher with whom he studied, whereas everyone claims to possess virtue?⁹⁶³ Because human beings have no natural share in any of those arts, nor does ⟨anyone⟩ enter life with predispositions… [text missing]⁹⁶⁴

961.Ὑποβολή is an initial impulse or predisposition toward goodness, and σπέρμα a seed. The argument concerns a natural starting point for virtue; it does not equate that endowment with the completed virtue claimed by the speakers.

962.The main text reads πάντως, in any case or by all means, rather than the proposed πάντας, all people. The English therefore qualifies the obligation to be good. Supplied ⟨ὡς⟩ provides the that-clause after acknowledge.

963.Γράμματα here denotes learning letters, or literacy; παλαιστική is the trained art of wrestling. The contrast concerns skills ordinarily acquired through instruction and attendance on a teacher, rather than the natural beginning of moral development.

964.Supplied ⟨τις⟩ is rendered ⟨anyone⟩. The Greek breaks off after ὑποβολάς, predispositions, before stating what they concern. The apparatus suggests a completion contrasting these arts with virtue, but the missing wording is not inserted.

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.