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 24 · I.24.heading–I.24.1b

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Book I Chapter 24 · I.24.heading–I.24.1b

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Ancient Greek

p. 558

Κεφάλαιον ΚΔʹ

I.24.heading

Περὶ οὐσίας ἄστρων καὶ σχημάτων, κινήσεώς τε καὶ ἐπισημασίας.

1a ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.24.1a

Θαλῆς γεώδη μέν, ἔμπυρα δὲ τὰ ἄστρα.

1b ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.24.1b

Ἐμπεδοκλῆς πύρινα ἐκ τοῦ πυρώδους, ὅπερ ὁ ἀὴρ ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιέχων [ἐξανέλαμψεν ἤτοι] ἐξανέθλιψε κατὰ τὴν πρώτην διάκρισιν.

Καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀπλανεῖς ἀστέρας συνδεδέσθαι τῷ κρυστάλλῳ, τοὺς δὲ πλανήτας ἀνεῖσθαι.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 24

p. 559

Chapter 24: The Stars

I.24.heading

On the substance and shapes of the stars, their motion and weather signs.⁷⁰⁶

1a ⟨Aëtius⟩: Thales

I.24.1a

Thales held that the stars are earthy, but on fire.⁷⁰⁷

1b ⟨Aëtius⟩: Empedocles

I.24.1b

Empedocles held that the stars are fiery, formed from the fiery substance which air contained within itself and squeezed out at the first separation.⁷⁰⁸

The fixed stars are fastened to the icy vault, while the planets are unattached.⁷⁰⁹

706.“Stars” in this chapter can include the planets, sun, and moon. Episēmasia concerns weather signs or the changes of weather associated with celestial appearances. The reports disagree about both their causes and their relation to stellar risings and settings.

707.Earthy composition and being on fire are distinct claims. The brief report does not say that the stars consist simply of the element fire. The supplied Aëtius labels identify the editor’s reconstructed doxographical source.

708.The rejected words [exanelampsen ētoi], approximately “flashed forth, that is,” remain on the Greek side. Following Wachsmuth’s deletion, the English renders the retained verb “squeezed out.” The printed subject is air; the apparatus records a proposed substitution of aether.

709.Krystallos means ice or crystal. “Icy vault” connects this compressed wording with Empedocles’ heaven of air solidified like ice in I.23.1.2. “Fixed” describes the stars’ mutual arrangement and attachment, not absence of the heaven’s common rotation; the wandering stars are the planets.

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.