Note 704 — Chapter V

ἡ δὲ φυσικὴ ἀρετή τις. We learn from the work entitled De Placitis Philosophorum, commonly attributed to Plutarch, that the Stoics dignified with the name of ἀρεταὶ, the three sciences of Physics, Ethics, and Logic, Φυσικὴ, Ἠθικὴ, Λογικὴ. The exact meaning of ἀρετὴ in these instances it is impossible to give, and Strabo’s own explanation is perhaps the best that can be had; we have here rendered it, “perfect science,” for want of a better phrase.