From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordEugeneia is noble birth or excellence of origin.
- In StobaeusThe newly embodied souls assert their noble origin and common craftsman while rebelling against the heavenly gods.
- In this edition“Noble origin” suits the cosmic setting better than a narrowly hereditary social title.
- A place to beginSouls invoke their common creator and noble origin in rebellion.
- English renderings
- noble birth; nobility of origin
Meaning
Eugeneia is noble birth or excellence of origin. Its application can extend from human ancestry to a claim about the source of souls.
Use in the book
The newly embodied souls assert their noble origin and common craftsman while rebelling against the heavenly gods. Their claim explains their resentment of confinement and their instigation of human conflict. The narrative does not simply praise their appeal to origin as justified conduct.
Places to read
- I.49.44.64Souls invoke their common creator and noble origin in rebellion.
Translation in this edition
“Noble origin” suits the cosmic setting better than a narrowly hereditary social title.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 402–403. The relation between souls as instigators and humans as instruments is left as the narrative states it, despite its compression.