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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 253 of 879
Book I Chapter 21 · I.21.5.3–I.21.5.5
Ancient Greek
p. 5025 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 3
Περὶ δὲ ταύτην τὸ ὕδωρ περικεχύσθαι σφαιρικῶς, ὁμαλωτέραν τὴν ἰσχὺν διειληχός. Τῆς γὰρ γῆς ἐξοχάς τινας ἐχούσης ἀνωμάλους διὰ τοῦ ὕδατος εἰς ὕψος ἀνηκούσας, ταύτας δὴ νήσους καλεῖσθαι· τούτων δὲ τὰς ἐπὶ πλεῖον διηκούσας ἠπείρους προσηγορεῦσθαι ὑπ᾽ ἀγνοίας τοῦ περιέχεσθαι καὶ ταύτας πελάγεσι μεγάλοις.
5 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 4
Ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος τὸν ἀέρα ἐξῆφθαι καθάπερ ἐξατμισθέντα, καὶ περικεχύσθαι σφαιρικῶς· ἐκ δὲ τούτου τὸν αἰθέρα ἀραιότατον ὄντα καὶ εἰλικρινέστατον. Τὸν μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὴν διακόσμησιν λεγόμενον κόσμον εἰς ταύτας διακεκρίσθαι τὰς φύσεις· τὸ δὲ περιφερόμενον αὐτῷ ἐγκυκλίως αἰθέρα εἶναι, ἐν ᾧ τὰ ἄστρα καθίδρυται, τά τε ἀπλανῆ καὶ τὰ πλανώμενα, θεῖα τὴν φύσιν ὄντα καὶ ἔμψυχα καὶ διοικούμενα κατὰ τὴν πρόνοιαν.
5 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 5
Τῶν μὲν οὖν ἀπλανῶν ἄστρων ἀκατάληπτον εἶναι τὸ πλῆθος, τὰ δὲ πλανώμενα ἑπτὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν εἶναι, πάντα δὲ τὰ πλανώμενα ταπεινότερα τῶν ἀπλανῶν. Τετάχθαι δὲ τὰ μὲν ἀπλανῆ ἐπὶ μιᾶς ἐπιφανείας, ὡς καὶ ὁρᾶται· τὰ δὲ πλανώμενα ἐπ᾽ ἄλλης καὶ ἄλλης σφαίρας· περιέχεσθαι δὲ πάσας τὰς τῶν πλανωμένων ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀπλανῶν σφαίρας.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 21
p. 5035 ⟨Arius Didymus⟩: Seas and continents
Water is poured spherically around earth, having its force more evenly distributed. For earth has certain uneven projections rising up through the water, and these are called islands; those extending farther have been called continents, through ignorance of the fact that they too are surrounded by great seas.630
5 ⟨Arius Didymus⟩: Air, aether, and stars
Air rises from the water as though evaporated, and is poured spherically around it; from air comes aether, which is most rarefied and most pure. The world so called in respect of its ordering is divided into these natures. What revolves in a circle around it is aether, in which the stars are established, both the fixed and the wandering, divine in nature, endowed with soul, and governed according to providence.631
5 ⟨Arius Didymus⟩: The celestial spheres
The number of fixed stars cannot be grasped, while the wandering stars are seven in number, and all the wandering stars lie below the fixed stars. The fixed stars are arranged upon a single surface, as is also observed; the wandering stars occupy separate spheres, and all their spheres are enclosed by the sphere of the fixed stars.632
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 21 · I.21.5.3–I.21.5.5
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.