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 7 · II.7.1.4–II.7.1.5

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Facing Pages · Branch 61 of 516

Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.1.4–II.7.1.5

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Ancient Greek

p. 118

⟨Ἐκ τῆς Διδύμου ἐπιτομῆς⟩ · συνέχεια

II.7.1.4

Ὁ μὲν οὖν Περιπατητικὸς οὕτως· ὡς δ’ ὁ Στωϊκὸς ὡρίσατο Ζήνων, πάθος ἐστὶν ὁρμὴ πλεονάζουσα. Οὐ λέγει ‘πεφυκυῖα πλεονάζειν’, ἀλλ’ ἤδη ἐν πλεονασμῷ οὖσα· οὐ γὰρ δυνάμει, μᾶλλον δ’ ἐνεργείᾳ. Ὡρίσατο δὲ κἀκείνως· πάθος ἐστὶ πτοία ψυχῆς, ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν πτηνῶν φορᾶς τὸ εὐκίνητον τοῦ παθητικοῦ παρεικάσας.

Ἠθοποιία δ’ ἐστὶν ἤθους ἐμποίησις.

⟨Ἐκ τῆς Διδύμου ἐπιτομῆς⟩ · συνέχεια

II.7.1.5

Ἠθικὴ δ’ ἐστὶν ἀρετὴ μεσότης παθῶν, ἢ ἕξις ὁρίζουσα τοῦ πάθους τὴν ὑπερβολὴν καὶ τὴν ἔλλειψιν τῷ τῆς φρονήσεως λόγῳ· ἢ ἕξις προαιρετικὴ τοῦ καλοῦ περὶ ἡδονὰς καὶ λύπας.

Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν αὐτάρκη περὶ τῶν ὅρων, πολλάκις γὰρ οἱ περὶ αὐτῶν λόγοι παρεμπεσοῦνται. Χωρητέον δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν διαίρεσιν τοῦ ἠθικοῦ τόπου, εὐθὺς ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κατὰ διαφορὰν ἐνδεικνύμενον.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 119

⟨From the Epitome of Didymus⟩ · 4

II.7.1.4

So much for the Peripatetic definition. As Zeno the Stoic defined it, however, passion is an excessive impulse. He does not say “naturally capable of excess,” but already in a state of excess: not potentially, but rather actually. He also defined it in this way: passion is a fluttering of the soul, comparing the affective part’s readiness to move with the movement of winged creatures.¹³⁹

The formation of character is the implanting of character.¹⁴⁰

⟨From the Epitome of Didymus⟩ · 5

II.7.1.5

Ethical virtue is a mean among affections; or a disposition that sets the limits of an affection’s excess and deficiency by the account supplied by practical wisdom; or a disposition to choose what is noble in matters of pleasure and pain.¹⁴¹

These definitions will suffice, since discussions of them will often arise along the way. We must move on to the division of the ethical field, showing its distinctions from the field itself at the outset.

139.The difference from the preceding definition lies in actual excess. Compare Diogenes Laertius VII.110 for Zeno’s definition of passion as an excessive impulse. “Fluttering” renders πτοία, the reading Wachsmuth establishes and connects with birds in his apparatus; it preserves the image instead of replacing it with the more general “disturbance.”

140.Ἠθοποιία combines character with making or forming. Wachsmuth prints ἤθους, “of character,” although his apparatus asks whether ἔθους, “of habit,” might have been intended. The translation retains the printed reading, including its apparent repetition.

141.Ἕξις is a settled disposition, προαίρεσις deliberate choice, and φρόνησις practical wisdom. Compare Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics II.6, 1106B36–1107A2. The excerpt gives several formulations rather than reproducing Aristotle’s complete definition. “Noble” renders καλόν in its ethical sense; “mean” concerns the fitting measure of affections, not mere numerical averaging.

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.