Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 164 of 879
Book I Chapter 11 · I.11.3.3–I.11.3.4
Ancient Greek
p. 3243 Πλάτωνος Τιμαίου · 1
“Ὁ αὐτὸς δὴ λόγος καὶ περὶ τῆς τὰ πάντα δεχομένης σώματα φύσεως· ταὐτὸν ἀεὶ προσρητέον αὐτήν· ἐκ γὰρ τῆς ἑαυτῆς τὸ παράπαν οὐκ ἐξίσταται δυνάμεως. Δέχεται γὰρ ἀεὶ τὰ πάντα καὶ μορφὴν οὐδεμίαν ποτέ οὐδενὶ τῶν εἰσιόντων ὁμοίως εἴληφεν οὐδαμῇ οὐδαμῶς· ἐκμαγεῖον γὰρ φύσει παντὶ κεῖται κινούμενόν τε καὶ διασχηματιζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν εἰσιόντων. Φαίνεται δὲ δι’ ἐκεῖνα ἄλλοτε ἀλλοῖον.
3 Πλάτωνος Τιμαίου · 2
Τὰ δ’ εἰσιόντα καὶ ἐξιόντα τῶν ὄντων ἀεὶ μιμήματα, τυπωθέντα ἀπ’ αὐτῶν τρόπον τινὰ δύσφραστον καὶ θαυμαστόν, ὃν εἰσαῦθις μέτιμεν. Ἐν δ’ οὖν τῷ παρόντι διανοηθῆναι ⟨χρὴ⟩ γένη τριττά, τὸ μὲν γιγνόμενον, τὸ δ’ ἐν ᾧ γίγνεται, τὸ δὲ ὅθεν ἀφομοιούμενον φύεται τὸ γιγνόμενον. Καὶ δὴ καὶ προσεικάσαι πρέπον τὸ μὲν δεχόμενον μητρί, τὸ δὲ ὅθεν πατρί, τὴν δὲ μεταξὺ τούτων φύσιν ἐκγόνῳ.”
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 11
p. 3253 Plato, Timaeus (50b-c), part 1
“The same account applies to the nature that receives all bodies: we must always call it the same, for it never departs at all from its own capacity. It always receives everything, and has never in any respect or manner taken a form like any of the things that enter it. By nature it lies ready as an impression-receiving medium for everything, moved and variously shaped by what enters it; because of these things it appears different at different times.366
3 Plato, Timaeus (50c-d), part 2
What enters and leaves consists of imitations of the things that always are, impressed from them in a manner difficult to describe and wonderful, which we shall pursue on another occasion. For the present, then, we ⟨must⟩ conceive three kinds: what comes to be; that in which it comes to be; and that after whose likeness what comes to be arises. It is fitting to compare what receives to a mother, the source of the likeness to a father, and the nature between them to an offspring.”367
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 11 · I.11.3.3–I.11.3.4
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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.