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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 387 of 879
Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.11–I.40.1.13
Ancient Greek
p. 77011
⟨κεφ. 3⟩ Ἑξῆς δὲ τῆς ἀερίου φύσεως γῆ τε καὶ θάλασσα ἐρήρεισται, φυτοῖς τε βρύουσα καὶ ζῴοις, πηγαῖς τε καὶ ποταμοῖς τοῖς μὲν ἀνὰ γῆν ἑλιττομένοις, τοῖς δὲ ἀνερευγομένοις εἰς θάλατταν. Πεποίκιλται δὲ χλόαις μυρίαις, ὄρεσί τε ὑψηλοῖς, βαθυξύλοις τε δρυμοῖς καὶ πόλεσιν, ἃς τὸ σοφὸν ζῷον ἄνθρωπος ἱδρύσατο, νήσοις τε ἐναλίοις.
12
Τὴν μὲν οὖν οἰκουμένην ὁ πολὺς λόγος εἴς τε νήσους καὶ ἠπείρους διεῖλεν, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι καὶ ἡ σύμπασα μία νῆσός ἐστιν, ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀτλαντικῆς καλουμένης θαλάσσης περιρρεομένη· πολλὰς δὲ καὶ ἄλλας ⟨εἰκὸς⟩ τῇδε ἀντιπόρθμους ἀπῳκίσθαι, τὰς μὲν μείζους αὐτῆς, τὰς δὲ ἐλάττους, ἡμῖν δὲ πάσας πλὴν τῆσδε ἀοράτους.
13
Ὅπερ γὰρ αἱ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν νῆσοι πρὸς ταῦτα τὰ πελάγη πεπόνθασι, τοῦτο ἥδε ἡ οἰκουμένη πολλαί τε ἕτεραι πρὸς σύμπασαν τὴν θάλατταν. Καὶ αὗται μὲν μεγάλαι τινές εἰσι νῆσοι μεγάλοις περικλυζόμεναι πελάγεσιν. Ἡ δὲ σύμπασα τοῦ ὑγροῦ φύσις ἐπιπολάζουσα κατὰ τὰς τοῦ ὑγροῦ ποιότητας καὶ τὰ κοιλώματα, τὰς καλουμένας ἀναπεφυκυῖα οἰκουμένας, ἑξῆς ἂν εἴη τῆς ἀερίου μάλιστα φύσεως.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 40
p. 77111 · Land and sea
⟨Chapter 3⟩ Next to the nature of air, earth and sea are set in place, abounding in plants and animals, springs and rivers, some winding through the land and others pouring into the sea. This region is varied with countless stretches of green growth, high mountains, deeply wooded forests, cities founded by the wise animal, the human being, and islands in the sea.
12 · The inhabited world as an island
The common account divides the inhabited world into islands and continents, overlooking the fact that the whole of it is itself a single island, surrounded by the sea called the Atlantic. ⟨It is likely⟩ that many others lie apart from it across the water, some larger and some smaller, all invisible to us except this one.998
13 · The surrounding waters
For the relation of our local islands to these seas is the relation of this inhabited world, and many others, to the entire sea. These are great islands washed round by great seas. The whole body of liquid, lying at the surface according to the properties of liquid and the hollows, with the so-called inhabited worlds growing up from it, would be for the most part next to the nature of air.999
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.11–I.40.1.13
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.