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English Page · Branch 426 of 879
Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.5.3–I.41.5.4
Ancient Greek
p. 8485.3
Καὶ δι᾽ αὐτὸ ψευδογραφίαι ἐν γαμετρίᾳ κατὰ σχήματα καὶ ἀριθμὼς ἐμφαίνονται, αἰτιολογίαι δὲ καὶ εἰκοτολογίαι ἐν φυσιολογίᾳ καὶ πολιτικᾷ κατὰ γένεσιν καὶ πράξιας. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν διπλόῳ λόγῳ ἁρμονία τυγχάνει, ποτὶ τὸ νοατὸν [λόγον] ποτιβάλλων ὁ λόγος γινώσκει· τὸ δ᾽ ὅτι συμφωνεῖ ὁ διπλόος λόγος, διὰ τᾶς αἰσθάσιος ἐπιμαρτυρεῖται.
5.4
Καὶ τῶν μαχανικῶν δὲ τοὶ λόγοι ποττὰ νοατὰ ποτιβάλλοντι σχήματα καὶ ἀριθμὼς καὶ ἀναλογίας, τὰ δὲ ἀποτελέσματα ποτὶ τὰ αἰσθητά· μεθ᾽ ὕλας γὰρ ταῦτα θεωρεῖται καὶ κινάσιος. Καθόλω δὲ ἀμάχανον γνώμεν τὸ διὰ τί ἐν ἑκάστῳ μὴ προειδότας τὸ τί ἐντι ἕκαστον. Κρίνεται δὲ τὸ μὲν τί ἐντι ἕκαστον ⟨τῶν⟩ ἐόντων τῷ νόῳ· τὸ δ᾽ ὅτι ἐντὶ ἢ ὅτι οὕτως ἔχει, λόγῳ καὶ αἰσθάσι· λόγῳ μέν, ὅκκα δεῖξίν τινος σαμάνωμεν διὰ συλλογισμῶ, ὑπάρχοντος ἐξ ἀνάγκας· αἰσθάσι δ᾽, ὅκκα ἐπιμαρτυρώμεθα τὸν λόγον διὰ τᾶς αἰσθάσιος.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 41
p. 8495.3 · Mathematical and audible harmony
For this reason, false constructions in geometry become apparent through figures and numbers, while causal and probable accounts in natural and political inquiry become apparent through generation and actions. Reason knows that the octave is in a double ratio by comparing it with the intelligible [ratio]; that the double ratio sounds concordant is confirmed by sense-perception.1097
5.4 · Mechanics and demonstration
The accounts used by practitioners of mechanics likewise compare figures, numbers, and proportions with intelligible things, but their results with perceptible things; for these results are considered together with matter and motion. In general, it is impossible to know the reason why in each case without first knowing what the thing is. What each ⟨of⟩ the existing things is is judged by intellect; that it exists, or that it is so, by argument and sense-perception: by argument when we indicate a demonstration of something through an inference, the fact obtaining necessarily; by perception when we confirm the argument through sense-perception.1098
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.5.3–I.41.5.4
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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.