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 31 · I.31.4–I.31.5.2

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English Page · Branch 357 of 879

Book I Chapter 31 · I.31.4–I.31.5.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 710

4 Ξενοφάνης

I.31.4

Ξενοφάνης ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ ἡλίου θερμότητος ὡς ἀρκτικῆς αἰτίας τἀν τοῖς μεταρσίοις συμβαίνειν· ἀνελκομένου γὰρ ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης τοῦ ὑγροῦ τὸ γλυκὺ διὰ τὴν λεπτομέρειαν διακρινόμενον νέφη τε συνιστάνειν ὁμιχλούμενον καὶ καταστάζειν ὄμβρους ὑπὸ πιλήσεως καὶ διατμίζειν τὰ πνεύματα. γράφει γὰρ διαρρήδην·

πηγὴ δ᾽ ἔστι θάλασσ᾽ ὕδατος.

5 Ἐπίκουρος

I.31.5.1

Ἐπίκουρος ἀπὸ τῶν ἀτόμων· στρογγυλαίνεσθαι ⟨δὲ⟩ τὴν χάλαζαν ⟨καὶ⟩ τὸν ὑετὸν ἀπὸ τῆς μακρᾶς καταφορᾶς ὑποπεπλασμένον.

5 · ῥῆσις ἀθετουμένη

I.31.5.2

[Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ἔμπτωσιν φωτὸς εἰς νέφος.]

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 31

p. 711

4 Xenophanes

I.31.4

Xenophanes says that phenomena aloft occur through the sun’s heat as their initiating cause. When moisture is drawn up from the sea, the fresh portion separates because of the fineness of its particles, forms clouds as it becomes mist, drips down in showers under compression, and gives off winds as vapor.⁹¹¹ For he writes expressly:

The sea is the source of water.⁹¹²

5 Epicurus

I.31.5.1

Epicurus says that they arise from atoms. ⟨And⟩ hail becomes rounded, ⟨as does⟩ rain, molded in the course of its long descent.⁹¹³

5 continued: Rejected wording

I.31.5.2

[Empedocles: light falling into a cloud.]⁹¹⁴

911.Glyky, literally “sweet,” distinguishes the fresh component from the sea’s salt water. The report traces cloud, rain, and wind to moisture raised by solar heat. The compressed final phrase, diatmizein ta pneumata, presents the winds as a vaporous outflow.

912.Wachsmuth cites this as Xenophanes, fragment 11 in Karsten’s edition. It is the opening of the verse also known as fragment B30. Only the words quoted here are included.

913.The opening has “atoms,” atomōn, not the conjectured atmōn, “vapors.” The two connectives in angle brackets are supplied in the edition. The final participle is masculine, agreeing with “rain”; the translation retains that connection in this compressed statement.

914.Wachsmuth brackets this entire sentence as rejected, following Diels, who regards it as an erroneous repetition from chapter 29. It is reproduced within brackets on both sides so that its status remains visible. It should not be read as a secure explanation of rain or hail by Empedocles.

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.