Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.63–I.40.1.65
Ancient Greek
p. 80863
Τίς γὰρ ἂν εἴη φύσις τοῦδε κρείττων; Ἣν γὰρ ἂν εἴπῃ τις μέρος ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ, τό τε καλὸν πᾶν ἐπώνυμόν ἐστι τούτου καὶ τὸ τεταγμένον, ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου λεγόμενον κεκοσμῆσθαι.
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Τί δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ μέρους δύναιτο ἂν ἐξισωθῆναι τῇ κατ᾽ οὐρανὸν τάξει καὶ φορᾷ τῶν ἄστρων ἡλίου τε καὶ σελήνης κινουμένων ⟨ἐν⟩ ἀκριβεστάτοις μέτροις ἐξ αἰῶνος εἰς ἕτερον αἰῶνα; Τίς δὲ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἀψεύδεια τοιάδε, ἥν⟨τινα⟩ φυλάττουσιν αἱ καλαὶ καὶ γόνιμοι τῶν ὅλων ὧραι, θέρη τε καὶ χειμῶνας ἐπάγουσαι τεταγμένως, ἡμέρας ⟨τε⟩ καὶ νύκτας εἰς μηνὸς ἀποτέλεσμα καὶ ἐνιαυτοῦ;
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Καὶ μὴν μεγέθει μὲν οὗτος ἀνυπέρθετος, κινήσει δ᾽ ὀξύτατος, λαμπρότητι δὲ τηλαυγέστατος, δυνάμει δὲ ἀγήρως καὶ ἄφθαρτος. Οὗτος ἐναλίων ζῴων καὶ πεζῶν καὶ ἀερίων φύσεις ἐχώρισε καὶ βίους ἐμέτρησε ταῖς αὐτοῦ κινήσεσιν. Ἐκ τούτου πάντα ἐμπνεῖται καὶ ψυχὴν ἴσχει τὰ ζῷα.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 40
p. 80963 · Order and beauty
For what nature could be better than this? Whatever anyone might name is a part of it. Everything beautiful and orderly bears its name, being called “ordered” from the word “cosmos.”1047
64 · Celestial measure and the seasons
What particular thing could equal the order in heaven and the motion of the stars, sun, and moon, moving ⟨in⟩ the most exact measures from age to age? What reliability could match that which the beautiful and fruitful seasons of the universe maintain, bringing summers and winters in due order, ⟨both⟩ days and nights to complete month and year?1048
65 · The cosmos and living things
The cosmos is unsurpassed in magnitude, swiftest in motion, most far-shining in brightness, and ageless and imperishable in power. It has distinguished the natures of creatures of sea, land, and air, and measured their lives by its own motions. From it all living creatures receive breath and possess life.1049
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.63–I.40.1.65
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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.