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.7.5b2.4–II.7.5b2.5

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.5b2.4–II.7.5b2.5

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Ancient Greek

p. 190

Αἱ ὑπὸ σωφροσύνην ἀρεταί

II.7.5b2.4

εὐταξίαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην τοῦ πότε πρακτέον, καὶ τί μετὰ τί, καὶ καθόλου τῆς τάξεως τῶν πράξεων· κοσμιότητα δὲ ⟨ἐπιστήμην⟩ πρεπουσῶν καὶ ἀπρεπῶν κινήσεων· αἰδημοσύνην δὲ ἐπιστήμην εὐλαβητικὴν ὀρθοῦ ψόγου· ἐγκράτειαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην ἀνυπέρβατον τῶν κατὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον φανέντων·

Αἱ ὑπὸ ἀνδρείαν ἀρεταί

II.7.5b2.5

καρτερίαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην ἐμμενετικὴν τοῖς ὀρθῶς κριθεῖσι· θαρραλεότητα δὲ ἐπιστήμην καθ’ ἣν οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὐδενὶ δεινῷ μὴ περιπεσούμεν· μεγαλοψυχίαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην ὑπεράνω ποιοῦσαν τῶν πεφυκότων ἐν σπουδαίοις τε γίνεσθαι καὶ φαύλοις· εὐψυχίαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην ψυχῆς παρεχομένης ἑαυτὴν ἀήττητον· φιλοπονίαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην ἐξεργαστικὴν τοῦ προκειμένου, οὐ κωλυομένην διὰ πόνον·

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 191

The Virtues under Temperance

II.7.5b2.4

Orderliness is knowledge of when to act, what should follow what, and, in general, the ordering of actions. Propriety is ⟨knowledge⟩ of fitting and unfitting movements. Modesty is knowledge that guards against justified reproach. Self-control is knowledge that admits no transgression of what has appeared in accordance with right reason.²¹⁴

The Virtues under Courage

II.7.5b2.5

Endurance is knowledge that abides by what has been correctly judged. Confidence is knowledge through which we know that we shall encounter nothing terrible.²¹⁵ Greatness of soul is knowledge that raises one above the things that naturally occur among both the virtuous and the base. Stoutheartedness is knowledge belonging to a soul that renders itself unconquerable. Love of effort is knowledge that carries out the task at hand and is not hindered by toil.²¹⁶

214.Orderliness concerns the timing and sequence of actions. Propriety’s “knowledge” is supplied in the Greek. The definition of modesty concerns justified reproach, ὀρθὸς ψόγος, rather than every adverse opinion. Self-control retains the force of ἀνυπέρβατον, “not to be overstepped”: the knowledge holds firm concerning what right reason has shown. Compare the related, but differently worded, account in Diogenes Laertius VII.93.

215.The emphatic negative οὐδενὶ ... μή is retained as the assurance that nothing terrible will be encountered. In this ethical classification, the statement should not be expanded into a promise that no bodily danger or hardship can occur. Endurance concerns remaining with correct judgments; it does not commend holding to every previous decision regardless of its truth.

216.Here greatness of soul is expressly knowledge, whereas the Zeno sequence at II.7.5b denies that classification; the difference is retained. “Virtuous” and “base” render σπουδαῖοι and φαῦλοι as ethical types. Love of effort is not a wish for suffering: its definition concerns completing the task despite toil. The printed διὰ πόνον is followed; Wachsmuth’s apparatus records a correction and another suggestion for its wording.

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.