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 30 · I.30.1.6–I.30.1.7

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Book I Chapter 30 · I.30.1.6–I.30.1.7

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Ancient Greek

p. 694

1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 6

I.30.1.6

Εἰσὶ δὲ αἱ ῥανίδες οὐ σχήματος μορφαί, ἀλλὰ χρώματος. Καὶ ἔχει τὸ μὲν πρῶτον φοινικοῦν, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἁλουργὲς καὶ πορφυροῦν, τὸ δὲ τρίτον κυανοῦν καὶ πράσινον.

1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 7

I.30.1.7

Μήποτε τὸ φοινίκινον, ὅτι ἡ λαμπρότης τοῦ ἡλίου προσπεσοῦσα καὶ ἡ λαμπηδὼν ἀκραιφνὴς ἀνακλωμένη ἐρυθρὸν ποιεῖ καὶ φοινίκειον χρῶμα· τὸ δεύτερον μέρος ἐπιθολούμενον καὶ ἐκκαιόμενον μᾶλλον τῆς λαμπηδόνος διὰ τὰς ῥανίδας, ἁλουργές ⟨ἄνεσις γὰρ τοῦ ἐρυθροῦ τοῦτο· ἔτι δὲ πάλιν ἐπιθολούμενον⟩ τὸ δροσίζον εἰς πράσινον μεταβάλλει.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 30

p. 695

1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: The three colors

I.30.1.6

The droplets present images of color, not of shape. The first part is scarlet, the second sea-purple and purple, and the third dark blue and green.⁸⁹²

1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Changes in radiance

I.30.1.7

Perhaps the scarlet arises because the sun’s brightness strikes the droplets and its radiance, reflected without admixture, produces a red and scarlet color. The second part, becoming clouded and more burned out in its radiance through the droplets, is sea-purple.⁸⁹³ ⟨For this is a weakening of the red; and, becoming clouded yet again,⟩ the dew-like moisture changes to green.⁸⁹⁴

892.The compressed Greek literally calls the droplets “forms not of shape, but of color”; the translation understands this as what their reflections present. Halourges, “sea-purple,” and porphyroun, “purple,” are both retained. This order differs from the scarlet, green, and sea-purple of the Aristotelian account below.

893.The printed ekkaiomenon refers to burning; “burned out in its radiance” is a tentative rendering of a difficult construction. The parallel in Pseudo-Plutarch, Placita III.5 (894e), reads ekluomenon, “weakened.” That smoother wording has not replaced the supplied edition’s Greek.

894.Heeren supplies the words in angle brackets from the parallel Placita account. The following drosizon, “dew-like moisture,” is Diels’s correction from the parallel transmitted under Galen’s name; the manuscripts here have diorizon, “that which marks off.” These editorial decisions are retained as printed.

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.