Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 149 of 879
Book I Chapter 10 · I.10.11a–I.10.11b.1
Ancient Greek
p. 29411a ⟨Ἐμπεδοκλέους⟩
11b ⟨Πλουτάρχου⟩ · αʹ
Ἐμπεδοκλῆς Δία μὲν λέγει τὴν ζέσιν ⟨καὶ⟩ τὸν αἰθέρα, Ἥρην δὲ φερέσβιον τὴν γῆν· ἀέρα δὲ τὸν Ἀιδωνέα, ἐπειδὴ φῶς οἰκεῖον οὐκ ἔχει, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων καταλάμπεται· Νῆστιν δὲ καὶ “κρούνωμα βρότειον” τὸ σπέρμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ. Ἐκ τεσσάρων οὖν στοιχείων τὸ πᾶν, τῆς τούτων φύσεως ἐξ ἐναντίων συνεστώσης, ξηρότητός τε καὶ ὑγρότητος καὶ θερμότητος καὶ ψυχρότητος, ὑπὸ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα ἀναλογίας καὶ κράσεως ἓν ἀπεργαζομένης τὸ πᾶν καὶ μεταβολὰς μὲν μερικὰς ὑπομενούσης, τοῦ δὲ παντὸς λύσιν μὴ ἐπιδεχομένης.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 10
p. 29511a ⟨Empedocles⟩
First hear the four roots of everything: shining Zeus, life-bearing Hera, and Aidoneus, and Nestis, who with her tears moistens the mortal wellspring. As these came together, Strife stood apart at the outermost edge.331
11b ⟨Plutarch⟩, part 1
By Zeus Empedocles means boiling heat ⟨and⟩ aether; by life-bearing Hera, earth; and by Aidoneus, air, because it has no light of its own but is illuminated by the sun, moon, and stars. By Nestis and “the mortal wellspring” he means seed and water.332 The universe thus consists of four elements, whose nature is constituted by opposites: dryness and moisture, heat and cold. Through their proportion and mixture with one another, this nature makes the universe one, undergoing changes in its parts but admitting no dissolution of the whole.
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 10 · I.10.11a–I.10.11b.1
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.