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Book I Chapter 4 · I.4.7c.1–I.4.7c.2
Ancient Greek
p. 1607c ⟨Ἀετίου Δόξαι⟩ (αʹ)
Πυθαγόρας ἀνάγκην ἔφη περικεῖσθαι τῷ κόσμῳ.
Παρμενίδου καὶ Δημοκρίτου. οὗτοι πάντα κατ’ ἀνάγκην· τὴν δ’ αὐτὴν εἶναι εἱμαρμένην καὶ δίκην καὶ πρόνοιαν καὶ κοσμοποιόν.
Λεύκιππος πάντα κατ’ ἀνάγκην, τὴν δ’ αὐτὴν ὑπάρχειν εἱμαρμένην· λέγει γὰρ ἐν τῷ Περὶ νοῦ· “Οὐδὲν χρῆμα μάτην γίνεται, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐκ λόγου τε καὶ ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης.”
7c ⟨Ἀετίου Δόξαι⟩ (βʹ)
Πλάτων ὁτὲ μὲν τὴν ὕλην, ὁτὲ δὲ τὴν τοῦ ποιοῦντος πρὸς τὴν ὕλην σχέσιν. Καὶ τὰ μὲν εἰς πρόνοιαν ἀνάγει, τὰ δὲ εἰς ἀνάγκην. Λέγει γοῦν ἐν τῷ Τιμαίῳ· “Μεμιγμένη γὰρ οὖν ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου γένεσις, ἐξ ἀνάγκης τε καὶ νοῦ συστάσεως ἐγεννήθη, νοῦ δὲ ἀνάγκης ἄρχοντος.”
Ἐμπεδοκλῆς αἰτίαν χρηστικὴν τῶν ἀρχῶν καὶ τῶν στοιχείων.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 4
p. 1617c ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩ (1)
Pythagoras said that necessity surrounds the cosmos.
Parmenides and Democritus: these hold that everything happens by necessity, and that necessity is also fate, justice, providence, and the maker of the cosmos.171
Leucippus holds that everything happens by necessity, and that this is also fate. For he says in On Mind: “Nothing happens without a reason; everything happens from a rational ground and under necessity.”172
7c ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩ (2)
Plato identifies necessity sometimes with matter, sometimes with the relation of the maker to matter. He refers some things to providence and others to necessity. Thus he says in the Timaeus: “The coming-to-be of this cosmos was mixed: it arose from the combination of necessity and intellect, with intellect ruling necessity.”173
Empedocles identifies it with the cause that makes use of the principles and the elements.174
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 4 · I.4.7c.1–I.4.7c.2
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
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.