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 14 · I.14.1l.1–I.14.2

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English Page · Branch 184 of 879

Book I Chapter 14 · I.14.1l.1–I.14.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 364

1l ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 1

I.14.1l.1

Σῶμά ἐστι τὸ τριχῇ διαστατόν, πλάτει, βάθει, μήκει· ταῦτα δὲ πλεοναχῶς λέγεσθαι, ὅτε μὲν γὰρ μῆκος εἶναι λέγεσθαι τὸ μέγιστον διάστημα τοῦ σώματος, ὅτε δὲ μόνον τὸ κάτωθεν ἄνω· καὶ πλάτος ὅτε ⟨μὲν⟩ τὸ δεύτερον διάστημα, ὅτε δὲ τὸ ἐκ δεξιᾶς καὶ ἐξ εὐωνύμου· καὶ βάθος ὅτε μὲν τὸ εἰς ἑαυτὸ διάστημα, ὅτε δὲ τὸ πρόσω καὶ ὀπίσω·

1l ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 2

I.14.1l.2

κατὰ μὲν τὸν πρότερον λόγον οὔτε τῶν σφαιρῶν οὔτε τῶν τετραγώνων καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων οὐδὲν τῶν διαστημάτων τούτων ἐχόντων, κατὰ δὲ τὸν δεύτερον παντὸς σώματος τὰς τρεῖς ἔχοντος διαστάσεις διὰ τὸ κατὰ πᾶσαν θέσιν ὑπὸ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον πίπτειν αὐτό.

2 Παρμενίδου

I.14.2

Πάντοθεν εὐκύκλου σφαίρης ἐναλίγκιον ὄγκῳ, μεσσόθεν ἰσοπαλὲς πάντῃ· τὸ γὰρ οὔτε τι μεῖζον οὔτε τι βαιότερον πελέναι χρεόν ἐστι τῇ ἢ τῇ.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 14

p. 365

1l ⟨Arius Didymus: The Stoics⟩, part 1

I.14.1l.1

A body is what has three dimensions: breadth, depth, and length. These terms are used in more than one way. Sometimes length is said to be the greatest extent of a body, sometimes only its extent from below upward; and breadth is sometimes ⟨on the one hand⟩ the second extent, sometimes the extent to right and left; and depth is sometimes its inward extent, sometimes the extent forward and backward.⁴²²

1l ⟨Arius Didymus: The Stoics⟩, part 2

I.14.1l.2

According to the first account, neither spheres nor square bodies and similar things have any of these extents; according to the second, every body has the three dimensions, since in every position it falls under this account.⁴²³

2 Parmenides

I.14.2

From every side like the bulk of a well-rounded sphere, equally balanced from the center in every direction; for it must be neither any greater nor any smaller here or there.⁴²⁴

422.The first usage begins by ranking extents; the second names directions. “Inward extent” follows Wachsmuth’s to eis heauto diastēma, a difficult phrase. His apparatus records Usener’s alternative “the smallest extent,” which would complete the ranking explicitly. The facing Greek retains the printed reading and the supplied men, rendered “on the one hand.”

423.The first usage cannot distinguish a uniquely greatest and second extent in such symmetrical bodies. The claim is therefore about the applicability of the dimensional names under that definition, not a denial that spheres have spatial extension. Tetragōna, literally “square things,” is rendered “square bodies” in this three-dimensional context.

424.These verses compare what-is to a sphere, emphasizing balance and the absence of greater or lesser being in different directions. The comparison should not by itself be turned into a statement about the shape of the earth. Wachsmuth also cites Plato, Sophist 244e, for the transmission of this passage; the Greek here follows the supplied scan.

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.