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Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.41–I.40.1.43
Ancient Greek
p. 79241
ὃ δὴ πρότερον τῆς βροντῆς προσέπεσεν ὕστερον γενόμενον, ἐπεὶ τὸ ἀκουστὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ ὁρατοῦ πέφυκε φθάνεσθαι· τοῦ μὲν καὶ πόρρωθεν δηλουμένου, τοῦ δὲ ἐπειδὰν ἐμπελάσῃ τῇ ἀκοῇ· καὶ ὅταν τὸ μὲν τάχιστον ᾖ τῶν ὄντων, λέγω δὲ τὸ πυρῶδες, τὸ δὲ ἧττον ταχύ, τὸ ἀερῶδες, ἐν τῇ πλήξει πρὸς ἀκοὴν ἀφικνούμενον.
42
Τὸ δὲ ἀστράψαν, ἀναπυρωθὲν βιαίως καὶ ἄχρι τῆς γῆς διελθόν, κεραυνὸς καλεῖται· ἐὰν δὲ ἡμίπυρον ᾖ, σφοδρὸν ἄλλως καὶ ἀθρόον, πρηστήρ· ἐὰν δὲ ἄπυρον παντελῶς, τυφών. Ἕκαστον δὲ τούτων κάτω σκῆψαν εἰς γῆν σκηπτὸς ὀνομάζεται.
43
Τῶν δὲ κεραυνῶν οἱ μὲν αἰθαλώδεις ψολόεντες λέγονται· οἱ δὲ ταχέως διᾴττοντες ἀργῆτες· ἑλικίαι δὲ οἱ γραμμοειδῶς φερόμενοι· σκηπτοὶ δὲ ὅσοι κατασκήπτουσιν εἴς τι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 40
p. 79341 · Why the flash appears first
it reaches us before the thunder although it comes into being later, because what is audible naturally arrives after what is visible. The latter is apparent even from far away, the former only when it comes close to the hearing; and this is so when the one, I mean the fiery element, is the swiftest of things, while the other, the airy element, is less swift, reaching the hearing in the impact.1025
42 · Thunderbolt, fiery blast, and whirlwind
What flashes, is violently kindled, and passes all the way to the earth is called a thunderbolt. If it is only partly fiery, but otherwise violent and concentrated, it is a fiery storm blast; if entirely without fire, a whirlwind. Each of these, when it strikes down upon the earth, is called a striking bolt.1026
43 · Kinds of thunderbolt
Of thunderbolts, the smoky ones are called smoldering, those that dart swiftly bright, those that travel in a streak winding, and those that strike something striking bolts.1027
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.41–I.40.1.43
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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.
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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.