SVF I.192
Stoic: Zeno of Citium · Ancient source: Stobaeus, Eclogae, Book II — II p. 84,21 W. · Source language: Ancient Greek · Source status: Testimonium
Original — Ancient Greek
τῶν δ᾽ ἀξίαν ἐχόντων τὰ μὲν ἔχειν πολλὴν ἀξίαν, τὰ δὲ βραχεῖαν. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀπαξίαν ἐχόντων ἃ μὲν ἔχειν πολλὴν ἀπαξίαν, ἃ δὲ βραχεῖαν. τὰ μὲν οὖν πολλὴν ἔχοντα ἀξίαν προηγμένα λέγεσθαι, τὰ δὲ πολλὴν ἀπαξίαν ἀποπροηγμένα, Ζήνωνος ταύτας τὰς ὀνομασίας θεμένου πρώτου τοῖς πράγμασι. προηγμένον δ᾽ εἶναι λέγουσιν, ὃ ἀδιάφορον ὂν ἐκλεγόμεθα κατὰ προηγούμενον λόγον. τὸν δὲ ὅμοιον λόγον ἐπὶ τῷ ἀποπροηγμένῳ εἶναι καὶ τὰ παραδείγματα κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν ταὐτά. οὐδὲν δὲ τῶν ἀγαθῶν εἶναι προηγμένον διὰ τὸ τὴν μεγίστην ἀξίαν αὐτὰ ἔχειν. τὸ δὲ προηγμένον, τὴν δευτέραν χώραν καὶ ἀξίαν ἔχον, συνεγγίζειν πως τῇ τῶν ἀγαθῶν φύσει· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐν αὐλῇ τῶν προηγμένων εἶναι τὸν βασιλέα, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μετ᾽ αὐτὸν τεταγμένους. προηγμένα δὲ λέγεσθαι οὐ τῷ πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν τινὰ συμβάλλεσθαι συνεργεῖν τε πρὸς αὐτήν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι τούτων τὴν ἐκλογὴν ποιεῖσθαι παρὰ τὰ ἀποπροηγμένα.
StoicOs Translation
Of the things that have value, some have much value, some little; likewise, of the things that have disvalue, some have much disvalue, some little. Those with much value are called “promoted” (proēgmena), those with much disvalue “demoted” (apoproēgmena) — Zeno having been the first to impose these names on the things. Promoted, they say, is that which, being indifferent, we select according to a preferential reason; the same account holds for the demoted, and the examples are, by analogy, the same. None of the goods is promoted, because they have the greatest value; the promoted, holding second place and value, comes somehow near the nature of the goods — for at court it is not the king who belongs to the promoted, but those ranked after him. And they are called promoted not because they contribute something to happiness or cooperate toward it, but because it is necessary to make one's selection among them rather than among the demoted.
Context
The ethical doxography excerpted by Stobaeus explains the Stoic theory of value within the class of indifferents, and pauses to record a historical fact: it was Zeno who first imposed the names proēgmena and apoproēgmena on the things.
Text verified against von Arnim, SVF I (1903), no. 192, p. 48 (OCR of the scanned edition). Von Arnim adds a cross-reference to Plutarch, De Stoic. rep. 30,1; Cicero confirms Zeno's coinage and the king-image in SVF I.193–194.
What the source actually tells us
A school report in the doxographer's wording, but with one hard historical datum: the explicit statement that Zeno coined the terminology (“Zeno having been the first to impose these names on the things”). Cicero independently attests both the coinage and the king-at-court image (SVF I.193–194).
Philosophical meaning
This doctrine saves Stoic ethics from paralysis. If health and wealth are indifferent (SVF I.190), why prefer them? Zeno's answer: within the indifferent there is a structure of value that rationally guides selection — while happiness itself stays anchored in virtue alone. The king-image keeps the hierarchy exact: the goods are the king; the promoted merely stand nearest his throne.
Scholarly uncertainty
Only the coinage of the names is expressly attributed to Zeno; the elaborated theory of selection is given in the school's collective voice (“they say”) and may include later systematization. The core — Zeno introducing graded value among indifferents — is confirmed by Cicero (SVF I.191, I.193–194).
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About this edition
StoicOs Ancient Library is a developing multilingual digital study edition of surviving early Stoic material. The Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta assembled by Hans von Arnim provides the traditional reference framework. StoicOs distinguishes carefully between fragments, testimonia, later reports and interpretation. StoicOs translations are prepared from the surviving ancient-language sources where available.