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Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.2.1–I.20.2.2
Ancient Greek
p. 4642 Φιλολάου Περὶ ψυχᾶς · 1
Φιλολάου Πυθαγορείου ἐκ τοῦ Περὶ ψυχᾶς.
Φιλόλαος ἄφθαρτον τὸν κόσμον εἶναι. Λέγει γοῦν οὕτως ἐν τῷ Περὶ ψυχᾶς·
Παρὸ καὶ ἄφθαρτος καὶ ἀκαταπόνατος διαμένει τὸν ἄπειρον αἰῶνα· οὔτε γὰρ ἐντοσθεν ἄλλα τις αἰτία δυναμικωτέρα αὐτᾶς εὑρεθήσεται οὔτ’ ἐκτοσθεν, φθεῖραι αὐτὸν δυναμένα· ἀλλ’ ἦς ὅδε ὁ κόσμος ἐξ αἰῶνος καὶ ἐς αἰῶνα διαμένει, εἷς ὑπὸ ἑνὸς τῶ συγγενέος καὶ κρατίστω καὶ ἀνυπερθέτω κυβερνώμενος.
2 Φιλολάου Περὶ ψυχᾶς · 2
Ἔχει δὲ καὶ τὰν ἀρχὰν τᾶς κινάσιός τε καὶ μεταβολᾶς ὁ κόσμος εἷς ἐὼν καὶ συνεχὴς καὶ φύσι διαπνεόμενος καὶ περιαγόμενος ἐξ ἀρχᾶς αἰδίω· καὶ τὸ μὲν ἀμετάβλατον αὐτῷ, τὸ δὲ μεταβάλλον ἐντί· καὶ τὸ μὲν ἀμετάβολον ἀπὸ τᾶς τὸ ὅλον περιεχούσας ψυχᾶς μέχρι ⟨τᾶς⟩ σελάνας περαιοῦται, τὸ δὲ μεταβάλλον ἀπὸ τᾶς σελάνας μέχρι τᾶς γᾶς·
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 20
p. 4652 Philolaus, On the Soul: An imperishable world
From On the Soul, by Philolaus the Pythagorean.574
Philolaus held the world to be imperishable. Thus he says in On the Soul:
“For this reason it remains imperishable and unwearied for endless eternity. Neither within it nor outside it will any other cause be found more powerful than that soul and capable of destroying it.575 Indeed, this world endures from eternity to eternity, one world governed by one kindred power, supreme and unsurpassable.”
2 Philolaus: Two regions of the world
“The world also possesses the principle of motion and change, being one and continuous, pervaded by nature’s breath and carried around by an eternal principle. One part of it is unchanging, while another changes. The unchanging part extends from the soul that encompasses the whole as far as ⟨the⟩ moon; the changing part, from the moon as far as the earth.”576
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.2.1–I.20.2.2
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
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.
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.