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 41 · I.41.2.1–I.41.2.2

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Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.2.1–I.41.2.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 836

2.1

I.41.2.1

Ἐκ τοῦ Ἀρχύτου Περὶ ἀρχᾶν.

Ἀνάγκα [καὶ] δύο ἀρχὰς εἶμεν τῶν ὄντων, μίαν μὲν τὰν συστοιχίαν ἔχοισαν τῶν τεταγμένων καὶ ὁριστῶν, ἑτέραν δὲ τὰν συστοιχίαν ἔχοισαν τῶν ἀτάκτων καὶ ἀορίστων. Καὶ τὰν μὲν ῥητὰν καὶ λόγον ἔχοισαν καὶ τὰ ἐόντα ὁμοίως συνέχεν καὶ τὰ μὴ ἐόντα ὁρίζεν καὶ συντάσσεν (πλατιάζοισαν γὰρ ἀεὶ τοῖς γινομένοις εὐλόγως καὶ εὐρύθμως ἀνάγεν πάντα καὶ τὸ καθόλω οὐσίας τε καὶ ἰδέας μεταδιδόμεν)· τὰν δ᾽ ἄλογον καὶ ἄρρητον καὶ τὰ συντεταγμένα λυμαίνεσθαι καὶ τὰ ἐς γένεσίν τε καὶ ὠσίαν παραγενόμενα διαλύεν (πλατιάζοισαν γὰρ ἀεὶ τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐξομοιοῦν αὐτᾷ ταῦτα).

2.2

I.41.2.2

Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπείπερ ἀρχαὶ δύο κατὰ γένος ἀντιδιαιρεόμεναι τὰ πράγματα τυγχάνοντι τῷ τὰν μὲν εἶμεν ἀγαθοποιόν, τὰν δ᾽ εἶμεν κακοποιόν, ἀνάγκα καὶ δύο λόγως εἶμεν, τὸν μὲν ἕνα τᾶς ἀγαθοποιῶ φύσιος, τὸν δ᾽ ἕνα τᾶς κακοποιῶ. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ τέχνᾳ καὶ τὰ φύσι γινόμενα δύο τούτων πράτων μετείληφε, τᾶς τε μορφῶς καὶ τᾶς ὠσίας. Καὶ ἁ μὲν μορφὼ ἐντὶ ἁ αἰτία τῶ τόδε τι εἶμεν· ἁ δὲ ὠσία τὸ ὑποκείμενον, παραδεχόμενον τὰν μορφώ.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 41

p. 837

2.1 · Archytas: two opposed principles

I.41.2.1

From Archytas, On Principles.¹⁰⁸²

There must [also] be two principles of existing things: one comprising the series of ordered and determinate things, the other the series of disordered and indeterminate things. The first is expressible and rational; it holds existing things together alike, and determines and orders things that do not exist. For, continually extending its reach among things that come to be, it guides everything rationally and rhythmically and, in general, imparts substance and form. The other is irrational and inexpressible; it damages what has been ordered and dissolves what has attained generation and being. For, continually extending its reach among things, it makes them like itself.¹⁰⁸³

2.2 · Form and the underlying material

I.41.2.2

But since there are two principles dividing things into opposed kinds, one productive of good and the other productive of evil, there must also be two accounts: one of the nature that produces good, the other of the nature that produces evil. For this reason, both things made by art and things produced by nature partake of these two primary factors, form and underlying being. Form is the cause of a thing’s being this particular thing; underlying being is the substrate that receives form.¹⁰⁸⁴

1082.The title attributes this and excerpt 5 to Archytas’ On Principles. Modern scholarship commonly treats the work as Pseudo-Archytas, a later work under his name. The printed Doric dialect is retained; English does not imitate it with an invented dialect.

1083.Systoichia is a corresponding series or column. The two columns oppose order and limit to disorder and indefiniteness. “Things that do not exist” renders the printed negative without replacing it with “things not yet existing.” Square brackets preserve Wachsmuth’s deletion of kai, “also.”

1084.The Doric ōsia corresponds to ousia, but here it is explicitly the receptive substrate. “Underlying being” marks that usage; in the next passage estō similarly denotes the underlying stuff, subsequently identified with matter. Logos can mean account, reason, or ratio according to context.

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.