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.24.1k.1–I.24.1l.1

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English Page · Branch 284 of 879

Book I Chapter 24 · I.24.1k.1–I.24.1l.1

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Ancient Greek

p. 564

1k ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 1

I.24.1k.1

Ἀναξιμένης πυρίνην μὲν τὴν φύσιν τῶν ἄστρων, περιέχειν δέ τινα καὶ γεώδη σώματα συμπεριφερόμενα τούτοις ἀόρατα.

Ἥλων δὲ δίκην καταπεπηγέναι τὰ ἄστρα τῷ κρυσταλλοειδεῖ.

1k ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 2

I.24.1k.2

Τὰς δὲ ἐπισημασίας γίγνεσθαι διὰ τὸν ἥλιον μόνον.

Οὐχ ὑπὸ τὴν γῆν δὲ ἀλλὰ περὶ αὐτὴν στρέφεσθαι τοὺς ἀστέρας.

1l ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 1

I.24.1l.1

Πλάτων ἐκ μὲν τοῦ πλείστου μέρους πυρίνους, μετέχοντας δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων στοιχείων.

Κοινῶς δὲ τὸν κόσμον ὅλον καὶ τὰ ἄστρα ἐξ αὑτοῦ τρέφεσθαι.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 24

p. 565

1k ⟨Aëtius⟩: Anaximenes’ starry heaven

I.24.1k.1

Anaximenes held that the stars are fiery in nature, but that their region also contains certain earthy bodies, invisible and revolving together with them.⁷¹⁸

The stars are fixed like nails into the ice-like vault.⁷¹⁹

1k ⟨Aëtius⟩: Weather and motion

I.24.1k.2

The weather signs occur through the sun alone.

The stars turn around the earth, rather than beneath it.⁷²⁰

1l ⟨Aëtius⟩: Plato on composition

I.24.1l.1

Plato held that the stars consist chiefly of fire, but also partake of the other elements.

The whole world, together with the stars, is nourished from itself.⁷²¹

718.“Their region” makes explicit the enclosure understood with periechein, “contain.” The compressed construction does not name its subject. Compare Hippolytus, Refutation I.7, which places earthy bodies in the region of the stars, moving with them.

719.The Greek has only the substantivized adjective krystalloeidei, “the ice-like” or “crystalline”; “vault” identifies the heavenly support understood here. The nail image concerns attachment. The edition’s lettering passes from 1i to 1k, without an omitted passage.

720.The distinction between going around earth and passing beneath it is explicit. Compare Hippolytus, Refutation I.7, where the motion is likened to turning a cap around the head and the sun’s concealment is explained without its passing below earth.

721.The world is self-sustaining as a whole: the clause does not require an external store of nourishment. The reflexive “itself” follows the printed αὑτοῦ. Compare Timaeus 33c-d on the world providing its own nourishment. This remains the doxographer’s summary.

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.