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.31.105–II.31.107b

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Facing Pages · Branch 426 of 516

Book II Chapter 31 · II.31.105–II.31.107b

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Ancient Greek

p. 848

II.31.105

Ἐν τῷ βίῳ, καθάπερ ἐν ὁδῷ μακρᾷ, δεῖ που καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν εὐσχήμονα εἶναι.

⟨Πλάτωνος⟩

II.31.106

Πλείω τε ἕκαστα γίγνεται καὶ ῥᾷον καὶ κάλλιον, ὅταν εἷς ἓν κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ἐν καιρῷ σχολὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἄγων πράττῃ.

⟨Τοῦ αὐτοῦ⟩

II.31.107a

Δύο ἐπιτηδεύματα ἢ δύο τέχνας ἀκριβῶς διαπονεῖσθαι σχεδὸν οὐδεμία φύσις ἱκανὴ τῶν ἀνθρωπείων· οὐδ’ αὖ τὴν μὲν αὐτὸς ἱκανὸς ἀσκεῖν, τὴν δὲ ἄλλον ἀσκοῦντα ἐπιτροπεύειν.

⟨Τοῦ αὐτοῦ⟩

II.31.107b

Τὰ γὰρ ἐναντία ἄλληλα ταράττοντα δυσμάθειαν παρέχει.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 31

p. 849

II.31.105

In life, as on a long journey, there must, I suppose, also be seemly rest.¹²⁴⁰

⟨Plato⟩

II.31.106

And each thing is produced in greater quantity, more easily and better, when one person does one task according to his nature and at the right time, free from other tasks.¹²⁴¹

⟨From the same author⟩

II.31.107a

Almost no human nature is capable of working thoroughly at two occupations or two crafts; nor, again, is one capable of practicing one himself while supervising someone else practicing the other.¹²⁴²

⟨From the same author⟩

II.31.107b

For contrary things, by disturbing one another, make learning difficult.¹²⁴³

1240.This saying has no separate author heading. Εὐσχήμονα qualifies the rest as proper or seemly; the comparison makes room for rest within the course of life. The particle που gives the assertion its qualifying tone, rendered I suppose.

1241.The supplied heading identifies Plato, Republic II.370C; its reference is recorded here. Εἷς ἕν means one person doing one thing. Σχολὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἄγων is freedom from other tasks, allowing attention to the work at hand, rather than a claim that the worker is idle.

1242.The supplied same-author heading refers to Plato, with the reference Laws VIII.846D–E. Almost retains σχεδόν. The local αὐτός means himself: practicing one craft personally is distinguished from supervising another person’s practice.

1243.The supplied heading refers to Plato, Laws VII.812E. Δυσμάθειαν means difficulty in learning; the local form is retained rather than the δυσμαθίαν recorded from the separate Platonic text. The short extract does not itself identify the contrary things.

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.