Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 317 of 879
Book I Chapter 26 · I.26.4.6–I.26.4.7
Ancient Greek
p. 6304 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 6
Οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν μαθηματικῶν τὸ ἀνώμαλον συγκριτικὸν αἰτιῶνται. Καθάπερ οὖν τῶν προσαυγαζομένων ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου νεφῶν τὰ μὲν ἀραιότερα μέρη λαμπρότερα φαίνεσθαι, τὰ δὲ πυκνότερα ἀμαυρότερα, οὕτως καὶ τῆς σελήνης ἐοικυίας μὲν νεφελοειδεῖ πιλήματι, προσαυγαζομένης δ᾽ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου.
4 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 7
Ξενοφάνης τὸν μὲν ἥλιον χρήσιμον εἶναι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ζῴων γένεσίν τε καὶ διοίκησιν, τὴν δὲ σελήνην παρέλκειν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 26
p. 6314 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Uneven density
Those who follow mathematical astronomy attribute it to uneven composition. Just as the thinner parts of clouds illuminated by the sun appear brighter and the denser parts dimmer, so too with the moon: it resembles a compacted, cloud-like mass and is illuminated by the sun.815
4 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Xenophanes on usefulness
Xenophanes held that the sun is useful for the coming into being and ordering of the world and of the animals in it, whereas the moon is superfluous.816
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 26 · I.26.4.6–I.26.4.7
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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.