Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

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 25 · I.25.1g–I.25.2

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 294 of 879

Book I Chapter 25 · I.25.1g–I.25.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 584

1g ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.25.1g

Ἡράκλειτος καὶ Ἑκαταῖος ἄναμμα νοερὸν τὸ ἐκ θαλάττης εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον. Σκαφοειδῆ δ᾽ εἶναι, ὑπόκυρτον. Γίνεσθαι δὲ τὴν ἔκλειψιν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σκαφοειδοῦς στροφήν, ὥστε τὸ μὲν κοῖλον ἄνω γίγνεσθαι, τὸ δὲ κυρτὸν κάτω πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν ὄψιν. Τὸ δὲ μέγεθος ἔχειν “εὖρος ποδὸς ἀνθρωπείου”.

1h ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.25.1h

Ἀλκμαίων πλατὺν εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον.

1i ⟨Ἀετίου⟩

I.25.1i

Οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι σφαιροειδῆ τὸν ἥλιον. Ἔκλειψιν δὲ γίγνεσθαι σελήνης αὐτὸν ὑπερχομένης.

2 Πορφυρίου

I.25.2

Πορφυρίου ἐκ τοῦ Περὶ ἀγαλμάτων.

Καθάπερ καὶ ὁ ἥλιος τὸν ἐναντίον τῷ πόλῳ ποιεῖται δρόμον [ὥσπερ δοκεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν ὁ ἥλιος εἰς τἀναντία περιφέρειν] αὐτὸς ἀπὸ δυσμῶν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολὰς φερόμενος.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 25

p. 585

1g ⟨Aëtius⟩: Heraclitus and Hecataeus

I.25.1g

Heraclitus and Hecataeus held that the sun is an intelligent kindling of fire arising from the sea. Its shape is that of a bowl, slightly convex. An eclipse occurs when the bowl turns, bringing its hollow side upward and its convex side downward toward our sight. Its size is “the breadth of a human foot.”⁷⁴⁹

1h ⟨Aëtius⟩: Alcmaeon

I.25.1h

Alcmaeon held that the sun is flat.

1i ⟨Aëtius⟩: The Pythagoreans

I.25.1i

The Pythagoreans held that the sun is spherical. An eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of it.⁷⁵⁰

2 Porphyry, from On Images

I.25.2

From Porphyry’s On Images.

Just as the sun too follows a course contrary to the revolving heavens, itself moving from west to east.⁷⁵¹

749.The bowl has a hollow inner surface and a convex outer surface. The turning hides the luminous hollow from the observer. The foot comparison is translated as printed, without adding a viewing distance. “Intelligent” renders noeron; the report’s attribution is retained.

750.Hyperchesthai describes the moon’s passage across the sun as seen by an observer. The English expresses the obscuration without implying that the moon lies farther away than the sun.

751.Polos here denotes the revolving sky. The sun’s contrary course is its movement against the stars. Wachsmuth brackets as an interpolation, following Usener, the words “as though the sun appears to carry heaven around in the opposite direction.” They remain on the Greek side but are not incorporated into the translated sentence.

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.