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 14 · I.14.heading–I.14.1a.3

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Book I Chapter 14 · I.14.heading–I.14.1a.3

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Ancient Greek

p. 352

Κεφάλαιον ΙΔʹ

I.14.heading

Περὶ σωμάτων καὶ περὶ τῆς τούτων τομῆς καὶ περὶ ἐλαχίστου.

1a ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 1

I.14.1a.1

Σῶμά ἐστι τὸ τριχῇ διαστατόν, πλάτει, βάθει, μήκει· ἢ ὄγκος ἀντίτυπος, ὅσον ἐφ’ αὑτῷ.

1a ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 2

I.14.1a.2

Πλάτων μήτε βαρὺ μήτε κοῦφον εἶναί τι φύσει ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ τόπῳ ὑπάρχον, ἐν δὲ τῷ ἀλλοτρίῳ γενόμενον τότε νεῦσιν ἴσχειν, ἐκ δὲ τῆς νεύσεως ῥοπὴν ἤτοι πρὸς βαρύτητα ἢ κουφότητα.

1a ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 3

I.14.1a.3

Ἀριστοτέλης βαρύτατον μὲν εἶναι τὴν γῆν, κουφότατον δὲ τὸ πῦρ, ἀέρα δὲ καὶ ὕδωρ ἄλλοτ’ ἄλλως.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 14

p. 353

Chapter 14: Bodies and their division

I.14.heading

On bodies, on their division, and on the smallest.

1a ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: Body

I.14.1a.1

A body is what has three dimensions: breadth, depth, and length; or a bulk that offers resistance, so far as depends on itself.⁴⁰²

1a ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: Plato

I.14.1a.2

Plato held that nothing is by nature either heavy or light when it is in its own place. When it comes to be in a place foreign to it, however, it then acquires an inclination, and from this inclination a tendency toward either heaviness or lightness.⁴⁰³

1a ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: Aristotle

I.14.1a.3

Aristotle held earth to be the heaviest and fire the lightest, while air and water are now one way, now the other.⁴⁰⁴

402.The two definitions emphasize extension and resistance respectively. Antitypos describes resistance to penetration. The qualification “so far as depends on itself” belongs to the second definition. Wachsmuth supplies the attribution to Aëtius, as he does for the other excerpts so labeled in this chapter.

403.The report makes heaviness and lightness depend on a body’s relation to its proper place. Neusis, “inclination,” and rhopē, “tendency,” describe its directed movement. Wachsmuth refers to Plato, Timaeus 62 and following; this is a summary, not a direct quotation from that dialogue.

404.Air and water occupy an intermediate position: the same element may be light in relation to one and heavy in relation to another. The terse “now one way, now the other” preserves the contrast in the report.

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.