Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 24 · I.24.1f–I.24.1i

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 283 of 879

Book I Chapter 24 · I.24.1f–I.24.1i

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Ancient Greek

p. 562

1f ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.24.1f

Ἀρχέλαος μύδρους ἔφησεν εἶναι τοὺς ἀστέρας, διαπύρους δέ.

1g ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.24.1g

Ἀναξίμανδρος πιλήματα ἀέρος τροχοειδῆ, πυρὸς ἔμπλεα, κατά τι μέρος ἀπὸ στομίων ἐκπνέοντα φλόγας.

Καὶ ἀνωτάτω μὲν πάντων τὸν ἥλιον τετάχθαι, μετ᾽ αὐτὸν δὲ τὴν σελήνην· ὑπὸ δὲ αὐτοὺς τὰ ἀπλανῆ τῶν ἄστρων καὶ τοὺς πλανήτας.

1h ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.24.1h

Μητρόδωρος ὁμοίως περὶ σχήματος τῶν ἀστέρων καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπεφήνατο.

1i ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.24.1i

Παρμενίδης καὶ Ἡράκλειτος πιλήματα πυρὸς τὰ ἄστρα.

Τρέφεσθαι δὲ τοὺς ἀστέρας ἐκ τῆς ἀπὸ γῆς ἀναθυμιάσεως.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 24

p. 563

1f ⟨Aëtius⟩: Archelaus

I.24.1f

Archelaus said that the stars are masses of stone or metal, glowing hot.⁷¹⁴

1g ⟨Aëtius⟩: Anaximander’s wheels

I.24.1g

Anaximander held that the stars are wheel-shaped condensations of air, full of fire, breathing flames through openings at certain points.

The sun is placed highest of all, the moon after it; beneath them are the fixed stars and the planets.⁷¹⁵

1h ⟨Aëtius⟩: Metrodorus

I.24.1h

Metrodorus too made a similar pronouncement about the shape of the stars.⁷¹⁶

1i ⟨Aëtius⟩: Condensed fire

I.24.1i

Parmenides and Heraclitus held that the stars are condensations of fire.

The stars are nourished by the exhalation rising from earth.⁷¹⁷

714.Mydros commonly denotes a lump of metal, but can also refer to stone. LSJ cites mydros diapyros for a red-hot mass of either material. The added diapyrous expressly emphasizes the heat.

715.Pilēmata suggests compressed or felted masses. The account connects the visible flames with openings in the enclosing wheels. Its order places sun and moon above both fixed stars and planets, unlike the arrangements in several neighboring reports.

716.“Shape” is what Stobaeus’s text says. Wachsmuth’s apparatus regards the phrase about shape as an inattentive addition by Stobaeus, since the parallel report concerns the stars’ arrangement. The transmitted wording is retained rather than silently changed to “order.”

717.Anathymiasis is an exhalation or vapor rising from below. The nourishment image makes the stars’ continuing fire dependent on material supplied from earth. Aristotle’s report in 1m explicitly denies the need for such nourishment.

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.