DiotimosReading Desk

Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

Explore the Lexicon
Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 10 · I.10.16c.3–I.10.16c.4

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Ancient Greek Page · Branch 160 of 879

Book I Chapter 10 · I.10.16c.3–I.10.16c.4

Ancient Greek

p. 316

16c ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 3

I.10.16c.3

Λέγεσθαι ⟨δὲ⟩ πῦρ τὸ πυρῶδες πᾶν καὶ ἀέρα τὸ ἀερῶδες καὶ ὁμοίως τὰ λοιπά. Τριχῶς δὴ λεγομένου κατὰ Χρύσιππον τοῦ στοιχείου, καθ’ ἕνα μὲν τρόπον τοῦ πυρός, διὰ τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὰ λοιπὰ συνίστασθαι κατὰ μεταβολὴν καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ λαμβάνειν τὴν ἀνάλυσιν· καθ’ ἕτερον δέ, καθὸ λέγεται τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα, πῦρ, ἀήρ, ὕδωρ, γῆ (ἐπεὶ διὰ τούτων τινὸς ἢ τινῶν ἢ καὶ πάντων τὰ λοιπὰ συνέστηκε, διὰ μὲν τῶν τεττάρων, ὡς τὰ ζῷα καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς πάντα συγκρίματα, διὰ δυοῖν δέ, ὡς ἡ σελήνη διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ἀέρος συνέστηκε, δι’ ἑνὸς δέ, ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, διὰ πυρὸς γὰρ μόνον, ὁ γὰρ ἥλιος πῦρ ἐστιν εἰλικρινές),

16c ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 4

I.10.16c.4

κατὰ τρίτον λόγον λέγεται στοιχεῖον * * εἶναι ὃ πρῶτον συνέστηκεν οὕτως, ὥστε γένεσιν διδόναι ἀφ’ αὑτοῦ ὁδῷ μέχρι τέλους καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου τὴν ἀνάλυσιν δέχεσθαι εἰς ἑαυτὸ τῇ ὁμοίᾳ ὁδῷ.

316

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 10

p. 317

16c ⟨Arius Didymus⟩: Chrysippus, part 3

I.10.16c.3

⟨And⟩ everything fiery is called fire, everything airy air, and likewise for the rest. According to Chrysippus, then, “element” is used in three ways. In one way it means fire, because the rest are constituted from it by transformation and undergo dissolution into it. In another way it is used when we speak of the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth. For the rest are constituted through one, some, or all of these: through all four, as are animals and all compounds on earth; through two, as the moon is constituted through fire and air; or through one, as the sun is through fire alone, for the sun is pure fire.358

16c ⟨Arius Didymus⟩: Chrysippus, part 4

I.10.16c.4

In a third sense “element” is spoken of ... as being that which first stands constituted in such a way as to give rise from itself to a process of generation proceeding along a path to its end, and from that end to receive dissolution back into itself along a like path.359

317

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.

About Diotimos Editions

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.

Rights

Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 printing are in the public domain. The independent English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The complete supplied edition is available as PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown. The PDF retains the fixed page locations used by the companion lexicon.