From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordEmpsychos means having soul or animated by soul.
- In StobaeusThe survey of soul-body relations imagines an ensouled tiller to illustrate an art internal to its instrument.
- In this edition“Ensouled” makes the relation to psychē explicit; “animate” is smoother where no technical contrast is lost.
- A place to beginAn ensouled tiller illustrates art implanted in an instrument.
- English renderings
- ensouled; animate
Meaning
Empsychos means having soul or animated by soul. It need not mean conscious in the modern sense of reflective awareness.
Use in the book
The survey of soul-body relations imagines an ensouled tiller to illustrate an art internal to its instrument. This differs from a separable helmsman directing a ship. The adjective therefore marks what the hypothetical instrument would possess if its governing skill were intrinsic.
Places to read
- I.49.41.6An ensouled tiller illustrates art implanted in an instrument.
Translation in this edition
“Ensouled” makes the relation to psychē explicit; “animate” is smoother where no technical contrast is lost.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 382. The tiller is an analogy within a survey of competing accounts, not a claim that ordinary ship equipment is alive.