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Book I Chapter 29 · I.29.heading–I.29.1.3
Ancient Greek
p. 664Κεφάλαιον ΚΘʹ
Περὶ βροντῶν ἀστραπῶν κεραυνῶν πρηστήρων τυφώνων.
1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 1
Ἀναξίμανδρος ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος ταῦτ᾽ εἶπε συμβαίνειν· ὅταν γὰρ περιληφθὲν νέφει παχεῖ βιασάμενον ἐκπέσῃ τῇ λεπτομερείᾳ καὶ κουφότητι, τόθ᾽ ἡ μὲν ῥῆξις τὸν ψόφον, ἡ δὲ διαστολὴ παρὰ τὴν μελανείαν τοῦ νέφους τὸν διαυγασμὸν ἀποτελεῖ.
1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 2
Ἀναξιμένης ταὐτὰ τούτῳ παρατιθεὶς τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, ἥτις σχιζομένη ταῖς κώπαις παραστίλβει.
1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 3
Μητρόδωρος, ὅταν εἰς νέφος πεπηγὸς ὑπὸ πυκνότητος ἐμπέσῃ πνεῦμα, τῇ μὲν συνθραύσει τὸν κτύπον ἀποτελεῖ, τῇ δὲ πληγῇ καὶ τῷ σχισμῷ διαυγάζει, τῇ δ᾽ ὀξύτητι τῆς φορᾶς, προσλαμβάνον τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου θερμότητα, κεραυνοβολεῖ· τοῦ δὲ κεραυνοῦ τὴν ἀσθένειαν εἰς πρηστῆρα περιίστησιν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 29
p. 665Chapter 29: Thunder and lightning
On thunder, lightning, thunderbolts, fiery whirlwinds, and whirlwinds.860
1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Anaximander
Anaximander said that these phenomena arise from wind. When wind enclosed in a thick cloud forces its way out through the fineness of its particles and its lightness, the rupture produces the noise, while the opening produces the flash against the darkness of the cloud.861
1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Anaximenes
Anaximenes held the same view, adducing what happens at sea, where the water sparkles as the oars cleave it.
1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Metrodorus
Metrodorus held that, when wind strikes a cloud solidified by its density, the shattering produces the crash, while the impact and splitting produce a flash. Through the swiftness of its motion, taking on additional heat from the sun, it discharges a thunderbolt; the weakening of the thunderbolt turns it into a fiery whirlwind.
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 29 · I.29.heading–I.29.1.3
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.