Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 244 of 879
Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.7.7–I.20.8.1
Ancient Greek
p. 4847 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 7
Καθόλου νομίζειν τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἡμᾶς εἶναι ταῖς οὐσίαις ἀπίθανον εἶναι φαίνεται· πολλάκις γὰρ συμβαίνει τὴν μὲν οὐσίαν ὑπάρχειν πρὸ τῆς γενέσεως, εἰ τύχοι, τῆς Σωκράτους, τὸν δὲ Σωκράτην μηδέπω ὑπάρχειν, καὶ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωκράτους ἀναίρεσιν ὑπομένειν μὲν τὴν οὐσίαν, αὐτὸν δὲ μηκέτ’ εἶναι.
8 Πλάτωνος Τίμαιος · 1
Πλάτωνος ἐν τῷ Τιμαίῳ.
[Ὅτι τὰ στοιχεῖα εἰς ἄλληλα μεταβάλλεται.] Πῶς οὖν δὴ τοῦτο αὐτὸ καὶ πῇ καὶ τί περὶ αὐτῶν εἰκότως διαπορηθέντες ἂν λέγοιμεν; Πρῶτον μὲν ὃ δὴ νῦν ὕδωρ ὠνομάκαμεν πηγνύμενον, ὡς δοκοῦμεν, λίθους καὶ γῆν γιγνόμενον ὁρῶμεν, τηκόμενον δὲ καὶ διακρινόμενον αὖ ταὐτὸν τοῦτο πνεῦμα καὶ ἀέρα, ξυγκαυθέντα δὲ ἀέρα πῦρ, ἀνάπαλιν δὲ πῦρ ξυγκριθὲν καὶ κατασβεσθὲν εἰς ἰδέαν τε ἀπιὸν αὖθις ἀέρος [πῦρ],
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 20
p. 4857 Mnesarchus: Socrates and his substance
In general, it seems implausible to suppose that we are identical with our substances. For it often happens that the substance exists before the birth of, say, Socrates, while Socrates himself does not yet exist; and after Socrates’s destruction the substance persists, while he himself no longer exists.606
8 Plato, Timaeus: The cycle of elements
Plato, in the Timaeus.607
[That the elements change into one another.] How, then, and in what way, are we to discuss this very matter, and what might we reasonably say about them after examining the difficulties? First, we see what we have just called water, when it solidifies, becoming, as we suppose, stones and earth; and this same thing, when it melts and separates, becoming breath and air; air, when set alight, becoming fire; and, conversely, fire, when condensed and extinguished, passing back again into the form of air [fire].608
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.7.7–I.20.8.1
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.