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 49 · I.49.1b.2–I.49.1b.3

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English Page · Branch 492 of 879

Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.1b.2–I.49.1b.3

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Ancient Greek

p. 980

1b.2

I.49.1b.2

Δημόκριτος πυρῶδες σύγκριμα ἐκ τῶν λόγῳ θεωρητῶν, σφαιρικὰς μὲν ἐχόντων τὰς ἰδέας, πυρίνην δὲ τὴν δύναμιν, ὅπερ σῶμα εἶναι.

Ἡράκλειτος φωτοειδῆ τὴν ψυχὴν ὡρίσατο.

Λεύκιππος ἐκ πυρὸς εἶναι τὴν ψυχήν.

Διογένης ὁ Ἀπολλωνιάτης ἐξ ἀέρος τὴν ψυχήν.

Ἵππων ἐξ ὕδατος τὴν ψυχήν.

1b.3

I.49.1b.3

Ξέναρχος ὁ Περιπατητικὸς καὶ τινες ἕτεροι τῆς αὐτῆς αἱρέσεως τὴν κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τελειότητα καὶ ἐντελέχειαν, καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν οὖσαν ἅμα καὶ μετὰ τοῦ σώματος συντεταγμένην.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 981

1b.2 · Democritus and further elemental accounts

I.49.1b.2

Democritus calls it a fiery compound of things discernible by reason, spherical in their shapes and fiery in their power; this compound is a body.¹²⁵²

Heraclitus defined the soul as like light.

Leucippus holds that the soul is made of fire.

Diogenes of Apollonia holds that the soul is made of air.

Hippon holds that the soul is made of water.¹²⁵³

1b.3 · Xenarchus: form and the body

I.49.1b.3

Xenarchus the Peripatetic and certain others of the same school call it perfection and actuality in respect of form, existing in its own right and at the same time ordered together with the body.¹²⁵⁴

1252.The things discernible by reason are the constituents of the compound; the report describes their shapes and power without printing the word “atoms.” Logōi theōrētōn does not here make them incorporeal. Wachsmuth retains hoper, “which,” referring to the compound, rather than Usener’s proposed dioper, “therefore.”

1253.The wording distinguishes “like light” from “made of fire.” These are brief reports under the philosophers’ names, not necessarily quotations of their own words. The English supplies “holds” where Greek gives only the name and a compressed predicate.

1254.The report joins two claims: soul has its own standing, yet is coordinated with body. “In its own right” renders kath’ heautēn without deciding the stronger question of separate existence. Hairesis here is a philosophical school; “Peripatetic” identifies the Aristotelian tradition.

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.