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Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.60–I.40.1.62
Ancient Greek
p. 80660
Οὕτως οὖν καὶ τὴν τῶν ὅλων σύστασιν, οὐρανοῦ λέγω καὶ γῆς τοῦ τε σύμπαντος κόσμου, διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐναντιωτάτων κράσεως ἀρχῶν μία διεκόσμησεν ἁρμονία· ξηρὸν γὰρ ὑγρῷ ψυχρόν τε θερμῷ μιγέν, βαρεῖ τε κοῦφον καὶ ὀρθὸν περιφερεῖ, γῆν τε πᾶσαν … καὶ αἰθέρα καὶ ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὸν ὅλον οὐρανὸν ἐκόσμησε μία δὴ διὰ πάντων διήκουσα δύναμις,
61
ἐκ τῶν ἀμίκτων καὶ ἑτεροίων, ἀέρος τε καὶ γῆς καὶ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος, τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον δημιουργήσασα καὶ μιᾷ περιλαβοῦσα σφαίρας ἐπιφανείᾳ, τάς τε ἐναντιωτάτας ἐν αὐτῷ φύσεις ἀλλήλαις ἀναγκάσασα ὁμολογῆσαι καὶ ἐκ τούτων μηχανησαμένη τῷ παντὶ σωτηρίαν.
62
Αἰτία δὲ ταύτης ⟨μὲν⟩ ἡ ⟨τῶν στοιχείων ὁμολογία⟩, τῆς ⟨δὲ⟩ ὁμολογίας ἰσομοιρία καὶ τὸ μηδὲν αὐτῶν πλέον ⟨ἕτερον⟩ ἑτέρου δύνασθαι· τὴν γὰρ ἴσην ἀντίτασιν ἔχει τά τε βαρέα πρὸς τὰ κοῦφα καὶ τὰ θερμὰ πρὸς τὰ θάτερα, τῆς φύσεως ἐπὶ τῶν μειζόνων διδασκούσης, ὅτι τὸ ἴσον σωστικόν πώς ἐστιν ὁμονοίας, ἡ δὲ ὁμόνοια τοῦ πάντων γεννήτορός τε καὶ περικαλλεστάτου κόσμου.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 40
p. 80760 · One harmony of the whole
In this way a single harmony has ordered the constitution of all things, heaven and earth and the entire cosmos, through the blending of the most contrary principles. Dry is mixed with moist, cold with hot, light with heavy, and straight with curved. The whole earth … and aether, sun, moon, and all heaven have been ordered by one power extending through everything,1044
61 · Agreement and preservation
fashioning the entire cosmos from unmixing and unlike things, air, earth, fire, and water, enclosing it within a single spherical surface, compelling the most contrary natures within it to agree with one another, and through them securing the preservation of the whole.1045
62 · Equal powers
The cause of this preservation ⟨on the one hand⟩ is the ⟨agreement of the elements⟩; the cause of agreement ⟨in turn⟩ is their equal share and the fact that no ⟨one⟩ of them has greater power than another. Heavy things offer an equal counter-tension to light things, and hot things to their opposites. Nature thus teaches in the greater things that equality in some way preserves concord, and concord preserves the cosmos, begetter of all things and supremely beautiful.1046
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.60–I.40.1.62
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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.
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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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