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 21 · I.21.6d–I.21.6f

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Book I Chapter 21 · I.21.6d–I.21.6f

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Ancient Greek

p. 508

6d ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.21.6d

Φιλόλαος ἔφησε τὸ μὲν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πυρὸς ῥυέντος, τὸ δὲ ἐξ ὕδατος σεληνιακοῦ περιστροφῇ τοῦ ἀέρος ἀποχυθέντος εἶναι τὰς ἀναθυμιάσεις τροφὰς τοῦ κόσμου. Τὸ δὲ ἡγεμονικὸν ἐν τῷ μεσαιτάτῳ πυρί, ὅπερ τρόπεως δίκην προϋπεβάλλετο τῇ τοῦ παντὸς ⟨σφαίρᾳ⟩ ὁ δημιουργὸς θεός.

6e ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.21.6e

Κλεάνθης ὁ Στωικὸς ἐν ἡλίῳ ἔφησεν εἶναι τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν τοῦ κόσμου.

Ἀρχέδημος τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν τοῦ κόσμου ἐν γῇ ὑπάρχειν ἀπεφήνατο.

6f ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.21.6f

Ἡράκλειτος οὐ κατὰ χρόνον εἶναι γενητὸν τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλὰ κατ᾽ ἐπίνοιαν.

Ἐπίδικος ὑπὸ φύσεως γεγενῆσθαι τὸν κόσμον.

Ἀρχέλαος ὑπὸ θερμοῦ καὶ ἐμψυχρίας συστῆναι τὸν κόσμον.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 21

p. 509

6d ⟨Aëtius⟩: Philolaus

I.21.6d

Philolaus said that the exhalations, arising partly from fire flowing from heaven and partly from lunar water poured out through the revolution of the air, are the world’s nourishment. Its ruling part is in the fire at the very center, which the craftsman God laid down first, like a keel, beneath the ⟨sphere⟩ of the universe.⁶³⁹

6e ⟨Aëtius⟩: Where the ruling part lies

I.21.6e

Cleanthes the Stoic said that the ruling part of the world is in the sun.

Archedemus declared that the ruling part of the world is in earth.⁶⁴⁰

6f ⟨Aëtius⟩: Accounts of formation

I.21.6f

Heraclitus held that the world is generated not in time but in conception.

Epidicus held that the world came into being through nature.

Archelaus held that the world was constituted through heat and cooling.⁶⁴¹

639.The obscure fire and lunar-water wording also appears in I.20.1g, there in a report about destruction. Here it concerns nourishment. The central fire is likened to a ship’s keel, the structural foundation laid first; “sphere” is supplied by the editor. The imagery is transmitted as a report about Philolaus.

640.The reports give distinct locations for the directing center. Archedemus is the name retained by Wachsmuth; his apparatus rejects an earlier alteration to Archidamus.

641.The printed names are retained. Wachsmuth notes a tentative conjecture “Heraclides” for “Heraclitus” and a variant of “Epidicus.” “Heat and cooling” follows the editor’s repairs of corrupt readings. A stray repetition from I.10.12, noted in the apparatus but omitted from the base text, is not inserted here.

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.