Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 730 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.40–I.49.58.42
Ancient Greek
p. 145658.40
Περιελιχθεὶς δὲ πολλάκις ὑπὸ γῆς ἐμβάλλει κατωτέρω τοῦ Ταρτάρου· οὗτος δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὃν ἐπονομάζουσι Πυριφλεγέθοντα, οὗ καὶ οἱ ῥύακες ἀποσπάσματα ἀναφυσῶσιν ὅπῃ ἂν τύχωσι τῆς γῆς.
58.41
Τούτου δ᾽ αὖ καταντικρὺ ὁ τέταρτος ἐκπίπτει εἰς τόπον πρῶτον δεινόν τε καὶ ἄγριον, ὡς λέγεται, χρῶμα ἔχοντα ὅλον οἷον ὁ κυανός, ὃν δὴ ἐπονομάζουσι Στύγιον, καὶ τὴν λίμνην ποιεῖ ὁ ποταμὸς ἐμβάλλων, Στύγα·
58.42
Ὁ δ᾽ ἐμπεσὼν ἐνταῦθα καὶ δεινὰς δυνάμεις λαβὼν ἐν τῷ ὕδατι, δὺς κατὰ τῆς γῆς, περιελιττόμενος χωρεῖ ἐναντίως τῷ Πυριφλεγέθοντι καὶ ἀπαντᾷ ἐν τῇ Ἀχερουσίᾳ λίμνῃ ἐξ ἐναντίας· καὶ οὐδὲ τὸ τούτου ὕδωρ οὐδενὶ μίγνυται, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗτος κύκλῳ περιελθὼν ἐμβάλλει εἰς τὸν Τάρταρον ἐναντίως τῷ Πυριφλεγέθοντι· ὄνομα δὲ τούτῳ ἐστίν, ὡς οἱ ποιηταὶ λέγουσι, Κωκυτός.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 145758.40 · Pyriphlegethon and the volcanic streams
“After winding many times beneath the earth, it discharges farther down in Tartarus. This is the river called Pyriphlegethon, fragments of which the volcanic streams blow up wherever they happen to occur upon the earth.”1744
58.41 · The Stygian region and its lake
“Opposite this, in turn, the fourth river first falls into a region that is terrible and savage, as the story goes, colored throughout like dark blue pigment. They call the region Stygian, and the lake the river forms by flowing into it they call Styx.”1745
58.42 · Cocytus flows in the opposite direction
“After falling into this lake and acquiring terrible powers in its water, the river sinks beneath the earth and winds along in the direction opposite to Pyriphlegethon, meeting it at the Acherusian lake from the other side. Its water too mixes with nothing else. It likewise completes a circuit and discharges into Tartarus opposite Pyriphlegethon. Its name, as the poets say, is Cocytus.”1746
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.40–I.49.58.42
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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.
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.