Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 261 of 879
Book I Chapter 21 · I.21.9.3–I.21.9.5
Ancient Greek
p. 5189 Ἑρμοῦ · 3
⟨ἙΡΜ.⟩ Ὑπὸ δὲ τὸν κύκλον τοῦ σώματος τούτου τετάχθαι τοὺς τριάκοντα ἓξ δεκανούς, μέσους τοῦ παντὸς κύκλου ⟨καὶ⟩ τοῦ ζωδιακοῦ, διορίζοντας ἀμφοτέρους τοὺς κύκλους, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνον μὲν κουφίζοντας τὸν ζωδιακόν, [καθορίζοντας,] συμφερομένους ⟨δὲ⟩ τοῖς πλάνησι, καὶ ἰσοδυναμεῖν τῇ τοῦ παντὸς φορᾷ κατὰ τὸ ἐναλλὰξ τοῖς ⟨θ᾽⟩ ἑπτά·
9 Ἑρμοῦ · 4
καὶ τὸ μὲν περιεκτικὸν ἐπέχειν σῶμα (ἔσχατον γὰρ ἂν ἦν ἐν τῇ φορᾷ, αὐτὸ καθ᾽ αὑτὸ ὄν, τῷ τάχει)· ἐπισπεύδειν δὲ τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἄλλους κύκλους διὰ τὸ βραδυτέραν κίνησιν κινεῖσθαι τοῦ παντὸς κύκλου. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἀνάγκη αὐτοὺς κινεῖσθαι καὶ ⟨τὸν⟩ τοῦ παντός.
9 Ἑρμοῦ · 5
Νοήσωμεν οὖν καὶ [τὰς] τῶν ἑπτὰ καὶ ⟨τοῦ⟩ παντὸς τὸν κύκλον, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ ἅπαντα ὡσπερεὶ φύλακας αὐτοὺς περιΐστασθαι, καὶ συνέχοντας τὰ πάντα καὶ τηροῦντας τὴν τῶν πάντων εὐταξίαν.
⟨ΤΑΤ⟩ Οὕτως γὰρ νοῶ, πάτερ, ἐξ ὧν λέγεις.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 21
p. 5199 Hermes: The place of the decans
⟨HERMES⟩ Beneath the circle of this body are stationed the thirty-six decans, between the circle of the universe ⟨and⟩ the zodiacal circle. They mark off both circles and, as it were, hold up that zodiacal circle [define its bounds], ⟨while⟩ moving along with the wanderers; they equal the power of the universe’s motion ⟨and⟩, in alternation, that of the seven.652
9 Hermes: Regulating the circles
They hold back the encompassing body, for by itself it would reach an extreme in the speed of its motion; but they hasten the other seven circles, because these move more slowly than the circle of the universe. Accordingly, they must move, as must ⟨the circle⟩ of the universe.653
9 Hermes: Guardians of order
Let us therefore conceive of them as guardians stationed around the circle of the seven and ⟨of the⟩ universe, or rather around everything in the world, holding all things together and preserving the good order of them all.
⟨TAT⟩ That is how I understand it, father, from what you say.654
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 21 · I.21.9.3–I.21.9.5
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.