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.14.1f.1–I.14.1f.3

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Facing Pages · Branch 181 of 879

Book I Chapter 14 · I.14.1f.1–I.14.1f.3

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Ancient Greek

p. 358

1f ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 1

I.14.1f.1

Οἱ Στωικοὶ δύο μὲν ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων κοῦφα, πῦρ καὶ ἀέρα· δύο δὲ βαρέα, ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν. Κοῦφον γὰρ ὑπάρχει φύσει, ὃ νεύει ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου μέσου, βαρὺ δὲ τὸ εἰς μέσον. Καὶ τὸ μὲν περίγειον φῶς κατ’ εὐθεῖαν, τὸ δ’ αἰθέριον περιφερῶς κινεῖται.

1f ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 2

I.14.1f.2

Ἐπίκουρος ἀπερίληπτα εἶναι τὰ ⟨ἄτομα⟩ σώματα. καὶ τὰ πρῶτα δὲ ἁπλᾶ· τά τε ἐξ ἐκείνων συγκρίματα βάρος ἔχειν. Κινεῖσθαι δὲ τὰ ἄτομα τότε μὲν κατὰ στάθμην, τότε δὲ κατὰ παρέγκλισιν· τὰ δὲ ἄνω κινούμενα κατὰ πληγὴν καὶ ἀποπαλμόν.

1f ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 3

I.14.1f.3

Δημόκριτος τὰ πρῶτά φησι σώματα (ταῦτα δ’ ἦν τὰ ναστά) βάρος μὲν οὐκ ἔχειν, κινεῖσθαι ⟨δὲ⟩ κατ’ ἀλληλοτυπίαν ἐν τῷ ἀπείρῳ. Δυνατὸν εἶναι κοσμιαίαν ὑπάρχειν ἄτομον.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 14

p. 359

1f ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: The Stoics

I.14.1f.1

The Stoics held two of the four elements to be light, fire and air, and two heavy, water and earth. For what inclines away from its own center is light by nature, while what inclines toward the center is heavy. Light near the earth moves in a straight line; light in the aether moves in a circle.⁴¹¹

1f ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: Epicurus

I.14.1f.2

Epicurus held ⟨atomic⟩ bodies to be imperceptible. The primary bodies, moreover, are simple; and the compounds formed from them have weight.⁴¹² The atoms move sometimes along a plumb line, sometimes by a swerve; those that move upward do so through impact and rebound.⁴¹³

1f ⟨Aëtius, Opinions⟩: Democritus

I.14.1f.3

Democritus says that the primary bodies (these were the solid bodies) have no weight, ⟨but⟩ move through collisions with one another in the infinite. It is possible for an atom to be as large as a world.⁴¹⁴

411.“Light” first renders kouphon, the opposite of heavy; in the final sentence it renders phōs, luminous light. The Greek changes words. The distinction between straight and circular movement belongs to the ancient account of earthly and celestial regions.

412.Aperilēpta, literally “not to be grasped,” is taken here in a perceptual sense. “Atomic” is supplied in the base edition. The following sentence is textually troubled, as Wachsmuth’s apparatus records; this translation follows his printed punctuation and takes “simple” as a predicate. The syntax does not securely establish how the primary bodies are connected to the statement about weight. Compare Aëtius I.12.5, collected as Epicurus, fragment 275 Usener.

413.A stathmē is a measuring line, here a plumb line marking straight downward movement. Parenklisis names the swerve away from that course; upward movement is separately assigned to a blow and rebound.

414.Nasta means solid or compact bodies. The startling claim of a world-sized atom distinguishes indivisibility from smallness: “atom” need not mean a tiny object in this report. The denial of weight is also retained as reported, without harmonizing it with other ancient accounts.

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.