Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Book I Chapter 3 · I.3.56h
Ancient Greek
p. 15256 Πορφυρίου (ηʹ)
Γίγνεσθαι δὲ ἐκεῖ ζητήσεις λέγουσι περὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ σώματι ἐκείνῳ γλυφῆς. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστι ῥᾳδίως πάσῃ τῇ ἀνατυπώσει ἐπιστῆσαι, διά τε τὸ πολλὰ εἶναι καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ πάντα τὰ ζῷα καὶ φυτὰ ἐν πάσῃ χώρᾳ ὑπάρχειν.
Ἃ μὲν οὖν Ἰνδοὶ ἱστοροῦσι περὶ τοῦ παρ’ αὐτοῖς δοκιμαστηρίου ὕδατος, ἔστι ταῦτα. Οἶμαι δὲ τούτου καὶ Ἀπολλώνιον τὸν Τυανέα μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ ὕδατος, τοῦ ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ λέγω. Γράφων γὰρ τοῖς Βραχμᾶσιν ὅρκον τινὰ ὀμνύει· “οὐ μὰ τὸ Ταντάλειον ὕδωρ, οὗ με ἐμυήσατε.” Οἶμαι γὰρ Ταντάλου λέγειν τοῦτο, διὰ τὸ ἀεὶ τῇ προσδοκίᾳ κολάζειν τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἐλθεῖν ἐσπουδακότας κἂκ τούτου ποτὸν ἀρύσασθαι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 3
p. 15356 Porphyry (8)
They say that discussions take place there about the carving on that body. For it is not easy to attend to the whole representation, both because its subjects are numerous and because not all animals and plants occur in every country.
Such, then, are the Indians’ accounts of the testing water in their country. I think Apollonius of Tyana also mentioned this water: I mean the water in the cave. For, writing to the Brahmans, he swears an oath: “No, by the water of Tantalus, into whose mysteries you initiated me.” I think he calls it the water of Tantalus because it continually punishes with anticipation those eager to reach it and draw a drink from it.160
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 3 · I.3.56h
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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.
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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.