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 11 · I.11.5a.1–I.11.5b

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Book I Chapter 11 · I.11.5a.1–I.11.5b

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Ancient Greek

p. 328

5a ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 1

I.11.5a.1

Ζήνωνος. Οὐσίαν δὲ εἶναι τὴν τῶν ὄντων πάντων πρώτην ὕλην, ταύτην δὲ πᾶσαν ἀΐδιον καὶ οὔτε πλείω γιγνομένην οὔτε ἐλάττω· τὰ δὲ μέρη ταύτης οὐκ ἀεὶ ταὐτὰ διαμένειν, ἀλλὰ διαιρεῖσθαι καὶ συγχεῖσθαι. Διὰ ταύτης δὲ διαθεῖν τὸν τοῦ παντὸς λόγον, ὃν ἔνιοι εἱμαρμένην καλοῦσιν, οἷον περ καὶ ἐν τῇ γονῇ τὸ σπέρμα.

5a ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 2

I.11.5a.2

Χρυσίππου Στωικοῦ. Τῶν κατὰ ποιότητα ὑφισταμένων πρώτην ὕλην· ταύτην δὲ ἀΐδιον, οὔτε αὔξησιν οὔτε μείωσιν ὑπομένουσαν, διαίρεσιν δὲ καὶ σύγχυσιν ἐπιδεχομένην κατὰ μέρη, ὥστε φθορὰς γίγνεσθαι ἔκ τινων μερῶν εἴς τινα [οὐ] κατὰ διαίρεσιν, ἅμα κατ’ ἀναλογίαν τῇ συγχύσει τινῶν γιγνομένων ἔκ τινων.

5b ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.11.5b

Οἱ δὲ ὕδωρ λέγοντες ἢ πῦρ ἢ ἀέρα ἢ γῆν τὴν ὕλην οὐκέτι ἄμορφον αὐτὴν λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ σῶμα· οἱ δὲ τἀμερῆ καὶ τὰς ἀτόμους ἄμορφον.

Οἱ Στωικοὶ σῶμα τὴν ὕλην ἀποφαίνονται.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 11

p. 329

5a ⟨Arius Didymus⟩: Zeno

I.11.5a.1

Zeno. Substance is the primary matter of all existing things. This, taken as a whole, is eternal and becomes neither greater nor less; its parts, however, do not always remain the same, but are divided and blended together. Through it runs the rational principle of the universe, which some call fate, just as the seed runs through the generative fluid.³⁷⁰

5a ⟨Arius Didymus⟩: Chrysippus

I.11.5a.2

Chrysippus the Stoic. It is the primary matter of things that subsist with a quality. This is eternal, undergoing neither increase nor decrease, but admitting division and blending in its parts, so that some parts pass away into others [not] through division, while at the same time, correspondingly, some arise from others through blending.³⁷¹

5b ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩

I.11.5b

Those who say that matter is water, fire, air, or earth no longer describe it as formless, but as a body; those who posit partless bodies and atoms describe it as formless.³⁷²

The Stoics declare matter to be a body.

370.The account distinguishes the persistence of matter as a whole from changes in its parts. Logos is the rational principle pervading it; the seed analogy describes that principle’s presence and productive role. Compare I.10.16c, where the elements undergo a cycle of transformation.

371.“It” continues the definition of substance in the preceding report. The Greek sentence about division and blending has been textually repaired; the bracketed “not” is retained as a word rejected by Wachsmuth. Without it, division corresponds to passing-away and blending to coming-to-be. Neither changes the total amount of matter.

372.The condensed contrast uses “formless” without further explanation of its application to partless bodies and atoms. The final assertion that matter is a body should be kept distinct from the Aristotelian report in excerpt 4, where it is called corporeal but not a body.

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.