Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 235 of 879
Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.2.3–I.20.2.4
Ancient Greek
p. 4662 Φιλολάου Περὶ ψυχᾶς · 3
ἐπεὶ δέ γα καὶ τὸ κινέον ἐξ αἰῶνος ἐς αἰῶνα περιπολεῖ, τὸ δὲ κινεόμενον ὡς τὸ κινέον ἄγει οὕτω διατίθεται, ἀνάγκα τὸ μὲν ἀεικίνατον τὸ δὲ ἀειπαθὲς εἶμεν· καὶ τὸ μὲν νῶ καὶ ψυχᾶς ἀνάκωμα πᾶν τὸ δὲ γενέσιος καὶ μεταβολᾶς, καὶ τὸ μὲν πρότερον τᾷ δυνάμι καὶ ὑπερέχον τὸ δ’ ὕστερον καὶ καθυπερεχόμενον· τὸ δὲ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τούτων, τῶ μὲν ἀεὶ θέοντος θείω τῶ δὲ ἀεὶ μεταβάλλοντος γενατῶ, κόσμος.
2 Φιλολάου Περὶ ψυχᾶς · 4
Διὸ καὶ καλῶς ἔχει λέγεν, κόσμον εἶμεν ἐνέργειαν ἀΐδιον θεῶ τε καὶ γενέσιος κατὰ συνακολουθίαν τᾶς μεταβλατικᾶς φύσιος. Καὶ ὁ μὲν εἷς ἀεὶ διαμένει κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχων, τὰ δὲ καὶ γινόμενα καὶ φθειρόμενα πολλά· καὶ τὰ ἐν φθορᾷ ἐόντα καὶ φύσι καὶ μορφᾷ σῴζεται τᾷ γονᾷ πάλιν τὰν αὐτὰν [μορφὰν] ἀποκαθιστάντα τῷ γεννάσαντι πατρὶ καὶ δαμιοεργῷ.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 20
p. 4672 Philolaus: The mover and the moved
“Since the mover revolves from eternity to eternity, while what is moved takes its condition from the way the mover leads it, the one must be ever moving and the other ever undergoing affection. The one is wholly the province of mind and soul, the other of generation and change.577 The one is prior in power and superior; the other is posterior and subordinate. What is composed of both of these, the ever-running divine and the ever-changing generated, is the world.”578
2 Philolaus: Continuity through generation
“It is therefore right to say that the world is an eternal activity of God and of generation, in accordance with the coordinated sequence of changing nature.579 The world, being one, always endures in the same state and the same way; but the things that come into being and perish are many. Even things undergoing destruction are preserved in their nature and form through generation, restoring the same [form] once again to the father and craftsman who begot them.”580
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.2.3–I.20.2.4
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.