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 31 · II.31.96–II.31.98

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English Page · Branch 422 of 516

Book II Chapter 31 · II.31.96–II.31.98

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Ancient Greek

p. 840

Πυθαγόρου

II.31.96

Ἀπαιδευσία πάντων τῶν παθῶν μήτηρ· τὸ δὲ πεπαιδεῦσθαι οὐκ ἐν πολυμαθείας λόγων ἀναλήψει, ἐν ἀπαλλάξει δὲ τῶν φύσει παθῶν θεωρεῖται.

Βίων

II.31.97

Βίων ἔλεγε κατὰ Ἡσίοδον τρία γένη εἶναι μαθητῶν, χρυσοῦν, ἀργυροῦν, χαλκοῦν· χρυσοῦν μὲν τὸ τῶν διδόντων καὶ [μὴ] μανθανόντων· ἀργυροῦν δὲ τὸ τῶν διδόντων καὶ ⟨μὴ⟩ μανθανόντων· χαλκοῦν δὲ τὸ τῶν μανθανόντων μέν, οὐ διδόντων δέ.

Σωκράτης

II.31.98

Σωκράτης παρῄνει τοῖς νέοις πολλάκις ἐσοπτρίζεσθαι καὶ τοὺς μὲν εὐπρεπεῖς ὅμοιον ποιεῖν τῷ εἴδει καὶ ⟨τὸν⟩ τρόπον, τοὺς δὲ ἀμόρφους περιστέλλειν τὸ δυσειδὲς τῇ εὐτροπίᾳ.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 31

p. 841

Pythagoras

II.31.96

Lack of education is the mother of all passions. Being educated is seen not in amassing learned discourses, but in release from natural passions.¹²²⁷

Bion

II.31.97

Bion used to say, following Hesiod, that there are three kinds of learners: gold, silver, and bronze.¹²²⁸ The gold class consists of those who give and learn; the silver, of those who give and do ⟨not⟩ learn; the bronze, of those who learn but do not give.¹²²⁹

Socrates

II.31.98

Socrates used to advise young people to look at themselves often in a mirror: the handsome were to make ⟨their⟩ character, too, match their appearance, and the ugly to cover their ugliness with goodness of character.¹²³⁰

1227.Πολυμαθεία is wide learning. The compressed τῶν φύσει παθῶν, with φύσει meaning by nature, is rendered natural passions. Wachsmuth compares Porphyry, To Marcella 9, whose wording has ψυχικῶν, of the soul. The local wording, present θεωρεῖται and Pythagoras heading are retained.

1228.Bion’s and Socrates’s names are narrative attributions, repeated as display labels for orientation. Give probably refers to payments or contributions for instruction, but the Greek leaves its object unstated.

1229.In the gold class, [μὴ] retains a negative rejected by the editor; it is omitted from the English, so these learners both give and learn. In the silver class, the supplied ⟨μὴ⟩ gives the opposite result. Bronze retains the printed negative οὐ.

1230.Εἶδος here is visible appearance; τρόπος is character or manner. The supplied τὸν is represented by ⟨their⟩. Περιστέλλειν suggests wrapping or cloaking, with good character as the covering.

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.