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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 1 · I.1.36d

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 46 of 879

Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.36d

Ancient Greek

p. 88

36 Ἀριστοτέλους πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον (δʹ)

I.1.36d

αἵ τε καρπὸν ὀπώρας ἡδύν, ἄλλως δὲ δυσθησαύριστον φέρουσαι,

ὄχναι καὶ ῥοιαὶ καὶ μηλέαι ἀγλαόκαρποι,

τῶν τε ζῴων τά τε ἄγρια καὶ ἥμερα, τά τ’ ἐν ἀέρι καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ ⟨ἐν⟩ ὕδατι βοσκόμενα γίνεται τε καὶ ἀκμάζει καὶ φθείρεται τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ πειθόμενα θεσμῷ. Πᾶν γὰρ ἑρπετὸν πληγῇ νέμεται, ὥς φησιν Ἡράκλειτος.

Εἷς δὲ ὢν πολυώνυμός ἐστι, κατονομαζόμενος τοῖς πάθεσι πᾶσιν, ἅπερ αὐτὸς νεοχμοῖ. Καλοῦμεν γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ Ζῆνα καὶ Δία, παραλλήλως χρώμενοι τοῖς ὀνόμασιν, ὡς ἂν εἰ λέγοιμεν, δι’ ὃν ζῶμεν. Κρόνου δὲ παῖς καὶ Χρόνου λέγεται, διήκων ἐξ αἰῶνος ἀτέρμονος εἰς ἕτερον αἰῶνα, ἀστραπαῖός τε καὶ βρονταῖος ⟨καὶ αἴθριος⟩ καὶ αἰθέριος, κεραύνιός τε καὶ ὑέτιος ἀπὸ τῶν ὑετῶν τε καὶ κεραυνῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων καλεῖται.

88

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1

p. 89

36 Aristotle, from the letter to Alexander (4)

I.1.36d

and those that bear sweet seasonal fruit which is otherwise hard to store,

“pear trees, pomegranates, and apple trees with splendid fruit,”

and animals, wild and tame, those that feed in air, on earth, and ⟨in⟩ water—all come into being, flourish, and perish in obedience to God’s ordinance. For, as Heraclitus says, “Every creeping thing is driven by a blow.”88

Though one, he has many names, receiving them from all the changes he himself brings about. We call him both Zēna and Dia, using the names together as though saying “through whom we live.” He is called the child of Kronos and of Chronos, passing from one boundless age into another. He is called god of lightning and thunder, ⟨and of clear skies⟩ and of aether, of the thunderbolt and of rain, from rains, thunderbolts, and the other phenomena.89

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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.