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Book I Chapter 10 · I.10.12.5–I.10.12.6
Ancient Greek
p. 30012 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 5
Ἀναξιμένης Εὐρυστράτου Μιλήσιος ἀρχὴν τῶν ὄντων ἀέρα ἀπεφήνατο, ἐκ γὰρ τούτου πάντα γίγνεσθαι καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν πάλιν ἀναλύεσθαι. Οἷον ἡ ψυχή, φησίν, ἡ ἡμετέρα, ἀὴρ οὖσα, συγκρατεῖ ἡμᾶς, καὶ ὅλον τὸν κόσμον πνεῦμα καὶ ἀὴρ περιέχει. Λέγεται δὲ συνωνύμως ἀὴρ καὶ πνεῦμα. Ἁμαρτάνει δὲ ἐξ ἁπλοῦ καὶ μονοειδοῦς ἀέρος καὶ πνεύματος δοκῶν συνεστάναι τὰ ζῷα· ἀδύνατον γὰρ ἀρχὴν μίαν τὴν ὕλην τῶν ὄντων ὑποστῆναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ποιοῦν αἴτιον χρὴ ὑποτιθέναι· οἷον ἄργυρος οὐκ ἀρκεῖ πρὸς τὸ ἔκπωμα γενέσθαι, ἐὰν μὴ τὸ ποιοῦν ᾖ, τουτέστιν ὁ ἀργυροκόπος.
12 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 6
Ἀναξαγόρας Ἡγησιβούλου ὁ Κλαζομένιος ἀρχὰς τῶν ὄντων τὰς ὁμοιομερείας ἀπεφήνατο. Τροφὴν γοῦν προσφερόμεθα μονοειδῆ ἄρτον καὶ ὕδωρ· καὶ ἐκ ταύτης τρέφεται φλέψ, ἀρτηρία, σάρξ, νεῦρα, ὀστᾶ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ μόρια. Τούτων οὖν γιγνομένων ὁμολογητέον, ὅτι ἐν τῇ τροφῇ τῇ προσφερομένῃ πάντα ἐστὶ τὰ ὄντα καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὄντων πάντα αὔξεται. ἐν ταύτῃ οὖν ἐστι λόγῳ θεωρητὰ μόρια· ⟨καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὅμοια⟩ τὰ μέρη εἶναι ἐν τῇ τροφῇ τοῖς γεννωμένοις ὁμοιομερείας αὐτὰ ἐκάλεσε καὶ ἀρχὰς τῶν ὄντων. Καὶ τὰς μὲν ὁμοιομερείας ὕλην, τὸ δὲ ποιοῦν αἴτιον νοῦν, τὸν πάντα διαταξάμενον.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 10
p. 30112 ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: Anaximenes
Anaximenes of Miletus, son of Eurystratus, declared air to be the principle of existing things: everything comes to be from it and is dissolved back into it. “Just as our soul, being air, holds us together,” he says, “so breath and air encompass the whole world.” Air and breath are used as synonymous terms. But he errs in thinking that animals are constituted from simple, uniform air and breath: matter cannot stand as the sole principle of existing things; an acting cause must also be assumed. Silver, for example, is not enough for a cup to come into being unless there is an agent, namely the silversmith.337
12 ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, son of Hegesibulus, declared like-parted constituents to be the principles of existing things. We take in food of a uniform kind, bread and water, and from it veins, arteries, flesh, sinews, bones, and the other parts are nourished. Since this happens, we must admit that all existing things are present in the food we take in, and that everything grows from things that already exist. The food therefore contains parts discernible by reason. ⟨And because⟩ the parts in the food ⟨are like⟩ the things produced, he called them “like-parted constituents” and principles of existing things. He made these constituents matter, and mind, which arranged everything, the acting cause.338
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 10 · I.10.12.5–I.10.12.6
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Stobaeus gathered Greek philosophy and poetry for his son Septimius. Volume I presents the dedication testimony, On Arithmetic, Book I through chapter 60, and the ancient contents of all four books. This complete bilingual edition includes an introduction and 2,117 explanatory notes.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows Curt Wachsmuth’s 1884 Volume I, checked against the supplied scan. Gaps, lost-chapter headings, and uncertain attributions remain visible. Chapter 2 includes a labeled proposed reconstruction. The appendix outlines Books I–IV; the full texts of Books II–IV are outside this volume. Reader pages preserve the companion PDF’s numbering.
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Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Prose and verse retain their distinct forms, with mixed passages preserving their quoted verse. Every passage is paired with its Greek and identified by the edition’s reference number. All 2,117 notes remain linked to their passages, with continuous numbering across the introduction and text.
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