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 12 · I.12.heading–I.12.1a.2

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Book I Chapter 12 · I.12.heading–I.12.1a.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 332

Κεφάλαιον ΙΒʹ

I.12.heading

Περὶ ἰδεῶν.

1a ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 1

I.12.1a.1

Ἰδέα ἐστὶν οὐσία ἀσώματος, αἰτία τῶν οἷα ἐστὶν αὐτὴ καὶ παράδειγμα τῆς τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἐχόντων αἰσθητῶν ὑποστάσεως, αὐτὴ μὲν ὑφεστῶσα καθ’ ἑαυτὴν [ἐν], εἰκονίζουσα δὲ τὰς ἀμόρφους ὕλας καὶ αἰτία γιγνομένη τῆς τούτων διατάξεως, πατρὸς ἐπέχουσα τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς τάξιν.

1a ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 2

I.12.1a.2

Πυθαγόρας τὰ λεγόμενα εἴδη καὶ τὰς ἰδέας ἐν τοῖς ἀριθμοῖς καὶ ταῖς ἁρμονίαις αὐτῶν καὶ τοῖς καλουμένοις γεωμετρικοῖς ἐτίθετο ἀχώριστα τῶν σωμάτων.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 12

p. 333

Chapter 12: Forms

I.12.heading

On forms.

1a ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: the definition

I.12.1a.1

A form is an incorporeal substance, the cause of things being such as it itself is, and a pattern for the subsistence of sensible things constituted according to nature.³⁷⁵ It subsists on its own [in], but impresses its likeness upon formless materials and becomes the cause of their ordering, occupying the position of a father in relation to sensible things.³⁷⁶

1a ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: Pythagoras

I.12.1a.2

Pythagoras placed the so-called forms and ideas in numbers, in their harmonies, and in what are called geometrical entities, holding them to be inseparable from bodies.³⁷⁷

375.Idea is rendered “form” here, rather than “idea” in the everyday sense of a thought. The opening phrase after “cause” is grammatically defective in the printed Greek. “Of things being such as it itself is” gives the apparent sense, supported by the fuller definition in excerpt 2a; it does not silently replace the facing text with a conjecture. Wachsmuth’s supplied Latin attribution to Aëtius is rendered in the headings.

376.The isolated en, “in,” is bracketed as rejected by Wachsmuth. The English retains it in brackets so that the editorial problem remains visible. The father analogy corresponds to the pattern’s role in the Timaeus passage quoted in I.11.3; matter there is compared to a mother.

377.The report uses both eidē and ideai, here distinguished as “forms” and “ideas” to retain the paired wording. It expressly adds “inseparable from bodies”; this qualification belongs to the ancient account under Pythagoras’s name.

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.