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Book I Chapter 19 · I.19.2.3–I.19.2.4
Ancient Greek
p. 4362 Ἑρμοῦ · 3
Τὰς γὰρ ἄρκτους ταύτας, ἃς ὁρᾷς μήτε δυνούσας μήτε ἀνατελλούσας, περὶ δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ στρεφομένας, οἴει κινεῖσθαι ἢ ἑστάναι;
⟨ἈΣΚ.⟩ Κινεῖσθαι, ὦ Τρισμέγιστε.
⟨ἙΡΜ.⟩ Κίνησιν ποίαν, ὦ Ἀσκληπιέ;
⟨ἈΣΚ.⟩ Τὴν περὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἀναστρεφομένην.
⟨ἙΡΜ.⟩ Ἡ δὲ περιφορὰ ἡ περὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κίνησίς ἐστιν ὑπὸ στάσεως κατεχομένη· τὸ γὰρ περὶ αὐτὸ κωλύει τὸ ὑπὲρ αὐτό, οὕτω καὶ ἡ ἐναντία φορὰ ἕστηκεν ἑδραία, ὑπὸ τῆς ἐναντιότητος στηριζομένη.
2 Ἑρμοῦ · 4
Παράδειγμα δέ σοι ἐπίγειον τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐμπῖπτον φράσω· τὰ ἐπίγεια ζῷα, οἷον τὸν ἄνθρωπον λέγω, νηχόμενα θεώρησον· φερομένου γὰρ τοῦ ὕδατος ἡ ἀντιτυπία τῶν ποδῶν καὶ τῶν χειρῶν στάσις γίνεται τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τοῦ μὴ συγκατενεχθῆναι τῷ ὕδατι.
⟨ἈΣΚ.⟩ Σαφὲς τὸ παράδειγμα, ὦ Τρισμέγιστε.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 19
p. 4372 Hermes: The Bears
For those Bears you see neither setting nor rising, but turning about the same point: do you think they move or stand still?
⟨Asclepius⟩ They move, Trismegistus.
⟨Hermes⟩ With what sort of motion, Asclepius?
⟨Asclepius⟩ Motion that turns around the same point.
⟨Hermes⟩ Revolution is motion around the same point, held in place by stillness. For going around it prevents going beyond it. So too the opposed motion stands firm, supported by the opposition.536
2 Hermes: The swimmer
I will give you an earthly example visible to your eyes. Consider land animals swimming: a human being, for instance. As the water flows, the resistance of the feet and hands provides the person with stability, preventing them from being swept along with the water.
⟨Asclepius⟩ The example is clear, Trismegistus.537
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 19 · I.19.2.3–I.19.2.4
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.