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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 239 of 879
Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.6.1–I.20.6.2
Ancient Greek
p. 4746 Ἀρισταίου · 1
Ἀρισταίου.
Ἀρισταῖος ἔφησεν ἄφθαρτον εἶναι τὸν κόσμον, λέγει γοῦν ἐν τῷ Περὶ ἁρμονίας οὕτως·
Ἐπεὶ δὲ ⟨ἁ⟩ ἀρχά, ἅτε δὴ οὖσα ἀρχά, πρὸ παντός τέ ἐστι καὶ ἀγένητος καὶ αὐτοτελής, (οὔτε γὰρ αἰ μεθ’ ἁτεροῦ τι ἦς, ὑπάρχοι κα ἔτι πρὸ παντός· οὔτε γενομένα ποκὰ [καὶ] ἔκ τινος [οὔτε γὰρ] ἀγένητός κα εἴη ἔτι, οὐδὲ μὰν ἀρχά τε καὶ αἰτία τῶν γενομένων, [οὔτε γὰρ αὐτοτελής,] ἁτέρου γάρ τινός ποτιδεηθήσεται τῶ σῴζοντος αὐτὰν καὶ κινάσοντος),
6 Ἀρισταίου · 2
δῆλον δή, ὡς αὐτὰ καθ’ αὑτὰν ἀρχὰ ἀγένητός τέ ἐστι καὶ ἀΐδιος καὶ αἰτία γενέσιός τε καὶ κινάσιος, καὶ κινέουσα πάντα αὐτὰ ἐξ αὐτᾶς [φύσις] ἐστὶ καὶ αὐτοτελέα παρεχομένα τἆλλα αὐτὰ ἐξ αὐτᾶς αὐτοτελής ἐστι. Εἰκόνες δὲ καὶ ὁμοιώσεις τᾶς ἀρχᾶς ταύτας καὶ ἐν τοῖς φύσι γινομένοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τέχναν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 20
p. 4756 Aristaeus: The first principle
Aristaeus.590
Aristaeus said that the world is imperishable, for he speaks as follows in On Harmony:
“Since ⟨the⟩ principle, precisely because it is a principle, is prior to everything, ungenerated, and self-sufficient (for if it came after anything else, it would no longer be prior to everything; nor, if it ever came into being [also] from something, [for neither] would it still be ungenerated, or indeed the principle and cause of generated things, [for neither would it be self-sufficient,] since it would need something else to preserve it and set it in motion),”591
6 Aristaeus: The source of motion
“it is clear that the principle in itself is ungenerated and eternal, and is the cause of generation and motion. It is itself what moves everything from itself [nature], and, providing other things with self-sufficiency from itself, is itself self-sufficient.592 Images and likenesses of this principle occur both among things that come into being naturally and among those produced by art.”
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.6.1–I.20.6.2
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.