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.46.20–II.46.22

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English Page · Branch 516 of 516

Book II Chapter 46 · II.46.20–II.46.22

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Ancient Greek

p. 1028

Ἀπολλώνιος Ἡρωδιανῷ

II.46.20

Μὴ φεῦγε διὰ τοὺς ἀσημάντους χρήσιμος εἶναι τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς· ἱκανοὶ γὰρ οὗτοι καὶ τὰς ὑπὲρ ἐκείνων χάριτας ἀποδοῦναι.

Ἀπολλώνιος Νουμηνίῳ

II.46.21

Οὐ παρὰ πολλοῖς ἡ χάρις τίκτει χάριν.

Ξενοφῶντος Κύρου παιδείᾳ

II.46.22

... δικάζονται δὲ [οὐχ] ἥκιστα ἀχαριστίας· καὶ ὃν ἂν γνῶσι δυνάμενον μὲν χάριν ἀποδοῦναι, μὴ ἀποδιδόντα δέ, κολάζουσι τοῦτον ἰσχυρῶς· οἴονται γὰρ τοὺς ἀχαρίστους καὶ περὶ θεοὺς ἂν μάλιστα ἀμελῶς ἔχειν καὶ περὶ πατρίδα καὶ περὶ γονέας καὶ περὶ φίλους· ἕπεσθαι δὲ δοκεῖ μάλιστα τῇ ἀχαριστίᾳ ⟨ἡ⟩ ἀναισχυντία, καὶ γὰρ αὕτη δοκεῖ εἶναι μεγίστη ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ αἰσχρὰ ἡγεμών.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 46

p. 1029

Apollonius to Herodian

II.46.20

Do not avoid being useful to good people on account of insignificant people.¹⁵³⁶ For the good are able to repay favors even on the others’ behalf.¹⁵³⁷

Apollonius to Numenius

II.46.21

Not among many people does kindness beget gratitude.¹⁵³⁸

Xenophon, Education of Cyrus

II.46.22

... They judge cases of ingratitude least of all.¹⁵³⁹ And whenever they find someone able to repay a favor but not repaying it, they punish him severely. For they believe that the ungrateful would be especially neglectful toward the gods as well, and toward their country, parents and friends.¹⁵⁴⁰ Shamelessness seems especially to follow ingratitude, for it too seems to be the greatest guide to all shameful acts.¹⁵⁴¹

1536.The printed ἀσημάντους means insignificant or unremarkable. The translation retains it rather than adopting the apparatus’s proposed alternatives referring to ingratitude or forgetfulness.

1537.Οὗτοι refers to the good people, while ἐκείνων refers back to the insignificant people. The good can offer repayment even on behalf of those others; the saying therefore urges continued usefulness.

1538.The same noun χάρις serves first for kindness bestowed and then for the gratitude it produces in return. The printed attribution to Apollonius is retained.

1539.Wachsmuth cites Education of Cyrus I.2.7. The initial dots are retained. He rejects [οὐχ], not; the English therefore follows the remaining ἥκιστα, least of all, without silently restoring not least from a familiar wording.

1540.Severe punishment is conditional on finding someone able to repay who nevertheless does not do so. The broader claim about neglect is presented as their belief and retains the potential force of ἄν through would.

1541.Supplied ⟨ἡ⟩ marks shamelessness as the subject; English does not require a separate article here. Both occurrences of δοκεῖ, seems, are retained. The passage ends with shamelessness as a guide toward shameful acts.

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.