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 28 · I.28.1b.1–I.28.1b.3

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 329 of 879

Book I Chapter 28 · I.28.1b.1–I.28.1b.3

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Ancient Greek

p. 654

1b · 1

I.28.1b.1

Χαλδαίοις μὲν δὴ λόγος περὶ κομητῶν ὧδε γιγνώσκειν, ὅτι εἰσί τινες καὶ ἄλλοι ἔξω τῶν φαινομένων πλανητῶν ἀστέρες, οἳ τέως μὲν ἀφανεῖς εἰσιν, ὅτι ἐπὶ πολὺ ἄνω που ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν φέρονται, ἤδη δὲ καὶ ταπεινωθέντες ὤφθησαν οὕτως ὡς ξένοι ἐνεχθέντες εἰς τὰ ὅλα· καὶ τούτους κομήτας καλεῖν φίλον τοῖς οὐ γιγνώσκουσιν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐκ τῶν πολλῶν ἀστέρων εἰσίν. ἀφανίζεσθαι δὲ δοκοῦσιν, ἐπειδὰν ἀνενεχθῶσιν εἰς τὴν σφῶν χώραν, δύντες εἰς τὸ βάθος τοῦ αἰθέρος, ὥσπερ εἰς τὸν τοῦ πελάγους βυθὸν οἱ ἰχθῦς.

1b · 2

I.28.1b.2

Οἱ δὲ ὑπ᾽ ἀνέμων ἢ θυέλλης ἀναφέρεσθαί τινα γεώδη ἐς τὸν ἄνω ἀέρα ἐδόξασαν καὶ ταῦτα ἐκπυρωθέντα καὶ εἰς τὴν δίνην ἐμπεσόντα τοῦ αἰθέρος ξυμπερινοστεῖν τῷ παντὶ ἐπὶ χρόνον, ἔπειτα ἀπαναλωθέντα πρὸς τοῦ πυρὸς ἀφανῆ καθίστασθαι, καὶ τοὺς κομήτας δὴ καλουμένους ἀστέρας ταῦτα εἶναι.

1b · 3

I.28.1b.3

Δημοκρίτου δὲ ὁ λόγος λεγόμενός ἐστιν, ὡς κατ᾽ ἀντίλαμψιν τῶν πλανωμένων ἀστέρων πρὸς ἀλλήλους τε καὶ τοὺς ἀπλανεῖς οἱ κομῆται ξυνίστασθαι δοκοῦσι, καθάπερ πλειόνων κατόπτρων ἀντιλαμπόντων σφίσιν ἤδη τινὰ ὤφθη ἀστεροειδῆ φαντάσματα.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 28

p. 655

1b The Chaldean account

I.28.1b.1

The Chaldeans are said to understand comets in this way: there are other stars besides the visible planets. For a time they are invisible because they travel somewhere very far above us; but they have also been seen after descending, as though strangers had been brought into the universe. Those who do not know that these too belong to the multitude of stars like to call them comets. They seem to disappear when they are carried back up to their own region, sinking into the depths of the aether as fish sink into the depths of the sea.⁸⁴⁷

1b Earthy material carried aloft

I.28.1b.2

Others supposed that certain earthy materials are carried by winds or a tempest into the upper air. Set on fire and caught in the whirl of the aether, they revolve with the universe for a time; then, consumed by the fire, they become invisible. These are the stars called comets.⁸⁴⁸

1b The account attributed to Democritus

I.28.1b.3

The account attributed to Democritus is that comets seem to form through the mutual reflection of the wandering stars with one another and with the fixed stars, just as star-like images have sometimes been seen when several mirrors reflect into one another.⁸⁴⁹

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.