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.31.99–II.31.101

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 423 of 516

Book II Chapter 31 · II.31.99–II.31.101

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Ancient Greek

p. 842

Σωκράτης

II.31.99

Ὁ αὐτὸς ἐρωτηθείς, τί ἥδιστον ἐν τῷ βίῳ, ἔφη· «παιδεία καὶ ἀρετὴ καὶ ἱστορία τῶν ἀγνοουμένων».

Πιττακός

II.31.100

Πιττακὸς συνεβούλευε πρὸς τὸ γῆρας ἐφόδιον παρατίθεσθαι παιδείαν· γηροκομικωτάτη γὰρ αὕτη καὶ εὐκόλως ποιοῦσα ὑποφέρειν τὰς τοῦ γήρως δυσκολίας.

Σωκράτης

II.31.101

Σωκράτης Ξενοφῶντα νέον ⟨ὄντα⟩ ὁρῶν εὐφυῆ ἠρώτησεν, εἰ οἶδεν ὅπου τῆς ἀγορᾶς οἱ ἰχθύες εἶεν. τοῦ δὲ εἰπόντος, «ναί», ἐξῆς ἤρετο, «τί δὲ τὰ λάχανα;» ὡς δ’ εἶπε καὶ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἤρετο, εἰ οἶδεν ὅπου οἱ καλοὶ κἀγαθοὶ διατρίβουσι· σιωπῶντος δὲ ἐπιπλήξας αὐτὸν κατέλιπεν· ὁ δὲ διατραπεὶς ἀπ’ ἐκείνου ἤρξατο φιλοσοφεῖν.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 31

p. 843

Socrates

II.31.99

Asked what is most pleasant in life, the same man replied, “Education, virtue, and inquiry into things unknown.”¹²³¹

Pittacus

II.31.100

Pittacus advised storing up education as provision for old age: it is the best nurse in old age and makes its difficulties easy to bear.¹²³²

Socrates

II.31.101

Socrates saw that Xenophon ⟨was⟩ young and naturally gifted, and asked whether he knew where the fish were in the marketplace.¹²³³ When Xenophon said yes, he next asked, “What about the vegetables?” After Xenophon had answered this and the other questions, Socrates finally asked whether he knew where honorable and good men spent their time. Xenophon fell silent; Socrates rebuked him and left him. Disconcerted, Xenophon began to pursue philosophy from that point.¹²³⁴

1231.The inline same man refers back to Socrates in 98; the repeated Socrates display label is editorial. Ἱστορία here is inquiry or investigation, with τῶν ἀγνοουμένων specifying things not known, rather than a narrative of past events.

1232.Ἐφόδιον is provision for a journey, here applied to preparing for old age. Γηροκομικωτάτη is a superlative describing care for the old. Pittacus and the Socrates of 101 are named within their narratives; their separate display labels are editorial.

1233.The supplied ὄντα, being, is represented by the marked was. Εὐφυής describes natural ability or aptitude. The English follows the local sequence of questions and replies.

1234.Καλοὶ κἀγαθοί is the expression noble or honorable and good. Διατραπείς conveys being disconcerted or abashed; from that point renders ἀπ’ ἐκείνου. The excerpt ends with Xenophon beginning philosophy after the rebuke; no invitation or additional dialogue is supplied.

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.