Question 2
§1 Τί δήποτε τὸν ἀνωτάτω θεὸν πατέρα τῶν πάντων καὶ ποιητὴν προσεῖπεν; πότερον ὅτι τῶν μὲν θεῶν τῶν γεννητῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πατήρ ἐστιν, ὡς Ὅμηρος ἐπονομάζει, ποιητὴς δὲ τῶν ἀλόγων καὶ ἀψύχων; οὐδὲ γὰρ χορίου φησὶ Χρύσιππος πατέρα καλεῖσθαι τὸν παρασχόντα τὸ σπέρμα, καίπερ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος γεγονότος. τῇ μεταφορᾷ χρώμενος, ὥσπερ εἴωθε, τὸν αἴτιον πατέρα τοῦ κόσμου κέκληκεν; ὡς τῶν ἐρωτικῶν λόγων πατέρα Φαῖδρον ἐν Συμποσίῳ προσεῖπεν, εἰσηγητὴν αὐτῶν γενόμενον· ἐν δὲ τῷ ὁμωνύμῳ διαλόγῳ καλλίπαιδα πολλοὺς γὰρ καὶ καλοὺς λόγους ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ γενέσθαι, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκείνου παρασχόντος. διαφέρει πατήρ τε ποιητοῦ καὶ γεννήσεως ποίησις; ὡς γὰρ τὸ γεγεννημένον καὶ πεποίηται, οὐ μὴν ἀνάπαλιν, οὕτως γεννήσας καὶ πεποίηκεν· ἐμψύχου γὰρ ποίησις γέννησίς ἐστι· καὶ ποιητοῦ μέν, οἷος οἰκοδόμος ὑφάντης λύρας δημιουργὸς ἀνδριάντος, ἀπήλλακται γενόμενον τοὔργον· δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ γεννήσαντος ἀρχὴ καὶ δύναμις ἐγκέκραται τῷ τεκνωθέντι καὶ συνέχει τὴν φύσιν, ἀπόσπασμα καὶ μόριον οὖσαν τοῦ τεκνώσαντος. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν οὐ πεπλασμένοις κόσμος οὐδὲ συνηρμοσμένοις ποιήμασιν ἔοικεν, ἀλλʼ ἔνεστιν αὐτῷ μοῖρα πολλὴ ζωότητος καὶ θειότητος, ἣν θεὸς; ἐγκατέσπειρεν ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ τῇ ὕλῃ καὶ κατέμιξεν, εἰκότως ἅμα πατήρ τε τοῦ κόσμου, ζῴου γεγονότος, καὶ ποιητὴς ἐπονομάζεται.
§2 τούτων δὲ μάλιστα τῆς Πλάτωνος ἁπτομένων δόξης, ἐπίστησον εἰ κἀκεῖνο λεχθήσεται πιθανῶς· ὅτι, δυεῖν ὄντοιν ἐξ ὧν κόσμος συνέστηκε, σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς, τὸ μὲν οὐκ ἐγέννησε θεὸς ἀλλά, τῆς ὕλης παρασχομένης, ἐμόρφωσε καὶ συνήρμοσε, πέρασιν οἰκείοις καὶ σχήμασι δήσας καὶ ὁρίσας τὸ ἄπειρον δὲ ψυχή, νοῦ μετασχοῦσα καὶ λογισμοῦ καὶ ἁρμονίας, οὐκ ἔργον ἐστὶ τοῦ θεοῦ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ μέρος, οὐδʼ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γέγονεν.
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Vernardakēs 1895
Teubner
Vernardakēs, Teubner, 1895 · 1895
The Editor

Gregorios N. Vernardakēs (Γρηγόριος Ν. Βερναρδάκης, 1848–1925) was a Greek classical scholar and professor at the University of Athens. He produced the monumental Teubner edition of Plutarch's Moralia in seven volumes (1888–1896), a landmark in the textual criticism of this vast and varied collection. Vernardakēs was a bold emender, sometimes controversially so — his willingness to alter the transmitted text drew criticism from more conservative scholars, but his deep knowledge of Plutarch's language and style informed many corrections that have been accepted by subsequent editors.

About This Edition

The Teubner series (Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana), founded in Leipzig in 1849, is one of the two great critical text series for classical authors alongside the Oxford Classical Texts. Teubner editions typically feature a full apparatus criticus recording manuscript variants, conjectures, and editorial decisions. Vernardakēs's Teubner Moralia was the standard edition for decades, though individual treatises have since been re-edited in newer Teubner volumes and in the Budé series. His text is characterised by numerous bold conjectures, some brilliant, others rejected by later scholarship.

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