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 46 · II.46.16–II.46.17

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Book II Chapter 46 · II.46.16–II.46.17

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Ancient Greek

p. 1024

Ἰαμβλίχου Σωπάτρῳ

II.46.16

Φευκτὴ μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἡ ἀχαριστία δι’ ἑαυτήν· ἀχθεσθείη δ’ ἄν τις πρὸς αὐτὴν δικαιότερον, ἐπειδὴ κωλύει τἀγαθὸν προϊέναι καὶ ἐκφαίνεσθαι, τήν τε χώραν αὐτῶν παντελῶς ἀνατρέπει καὶ κατακλείει πως εἰς στενὸν τὰς ἔξω διαφαινομένας τῶν καλῶν ἐνεργείας, ἀποστερεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸ κοινὸν τῆς θείας βοηθείας πάσης· διὰ τοῦτ’ ἐστι πάνδεινον. παντὶ ⟨δ’⟩ ἀνδρὶ παρακελεύομαι πρῶτον, λόγον ὀρθὸν κατέχειν εὐεργεσιῶν μετὰ φιλίας· δεύτερον, εὐχαρίστους τὰς εὐεργεσίας παραλαμβάνειν καὶ προκαλεῖσθαι τὰς μείζονας εὐποιΐας διὰ τῆς εὐχαριστίας.

II.46.17

Θεμιστοκλῆς, διαβαλλόντων αὐτὸν ἐπ’ ἐκκλησίας τινῶν ὡς εἶδεν τοὺς πολλοὺς ἡδέως ἀκούοντας, “κοπιᾶν”, ἔφη, “μοι δοκεῖτε, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, εὐεργετούμενοι”· κόπος γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς εὐεργεσίας κόρος, δι’ ὃν συμβαίνει καινότητος ἐπιθυμεῖν.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 46

p. 1025

Iamblichus to Sopater

II.46.16

So ingratitude is to be avoided for what it is in itself. One might resent it with still greater justification because it prevents the good from advancing and coming to light, entirely overthrows their sphere,¹⁵²⁷ and in some way shuts within narrow limits the outwardly manifest activities of noble things. It also deprives the community of all divine assistance; that is why it is utterly dreadful.¹⁵²⁸ ⟨And⟩ I urge every man, first, to retain a right understanding of benefactions in a spirit of friendship;¹⁵²⁹ second, to receive benefits gratefully and to invite greater acts of goodness through gratitude.¹⁵³⁰

II.46.17

When certain men were slandering Themistocles at an assembly, he saw the majority listening with pleasure and said, “Men of Athens, you seem to me to be weary of receiving benefits.” For weariness is, in truth, surfeit with benefits, through which people come to desire novelty.¹⁵³¹

1527.Χώρα is a sphere or field of operation. The plural αὐτῶν, their, follows the singular τἀγαθόν, the good; the English preserves this loose reference rather than replacing the printed wording with an apparatus proposal.

1528.Τὰς ἔξω διαφαινομένας τῶν καλῶν ἐνεργείας describes the activities of noble things as manifested outwardly. The claim then extends beyond human reciprocity to the community’s loss of divine assistance.

1529.Meineke’s supplied ⟨δ’⟩ is expressed as ⟨And⟩. Λόγον ὀρθόν is a right understanding or account; μετὰ φιλίας adds friendship to the attitude with which benefactions are understood.

1530.The Greek qualifies the benefits as εὐχαρίστους; English expresses the required attitude by receive benefits gratefully. The conclusion connects receiving gratefully with encouraging further beneficence.

1531.The explanation follows the reported reply and links κόπος, weariness, with κόρος, surfeit. The printed καινότης means novelty; the desire is for something new after repeated benefits, rather than for a common interest.

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.