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Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.3.3–I.20.4
Ancient Greek
p. 4703 Ὀκέλλου · 3
Ἐπεὶ δ’ ἐν τῷ παντὶ τὸ μὲν γένεσις τὸ δὲ αἰτία γενέσιος, καὶ γένεσις μὲν ὅπου μεταβολὰ καὶ ἔκβασις τῶ ὑποκειμένω, αἰτία δὲ γενέσιος ὅπου ταυτότας καὶ ὑπόστασις τῶ ὑποκειμένω, φανερὸν ὅτι περὶ μὲν τὰν αἰτίαν τὰν γενέσιος τό τε ποιεῖν καὶ ⟨τὸ⟩ κινεῖν ἐστι, περὶ δὲ τὸ δεχόμενον τὰν γένεσιν τό τε πάσχειν καὶ τὸ κινεῖσθαι.
4 ⟨Τοῦ αὐτοῦ⟩
Πράτως γὰρ ὕλα τὸ πανδεχές, κοινὸν γὰρ ὑπόκειται πᾶσιν· ὥστε πρᾶτον μὲν τὸ δυνάμει σῶμα αἰσθητόν, ἀρχά· δεύτερον δὲ αἱ ἐναντιώσεις, οἷον θερμότας καὶ ψυχρότας καὶ ὑγρότας καὶ ξηρότας· τρίτον δὲ πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ γᾶ καὶ ἀήρ, ταῦτα γὰρ μεταβάλλοντι ἐς ἄλλαλα, αἱ δὲ ἐναντιώσεις ⟨οὐ⟩ μεταβάλλοντι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 20
p. 4713 Ocellus: Generation and its cause
“Since within the universe there is, on the one hand, generation and, on the other, its cause, and generation occurs where the underlying subject changes and departs from its condition, while the cause of generation is found where the underlying subject retains its identity and persists, it is clear that acting and imparting motion belong to the cause of generation, whereas being affected and being moved belong to what receives generation.”584
4 ⟨The same author⟩: Matter, qualities, elements
For first comes matter, which receives everything, since it underlies all things in common. Thus, first there is what is potentially a perceptible body, a principle;585 second, the oppositions, such as heat and cold, wetness and dryness; third, fire, water, earth, and air. These change into one another, but the oppositions do ⟨not⟩ change into one another.586
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 20 · I.20.3.3–I.20.4
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.