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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 33 of 879
Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.29a–I.1.29b.1
Ancient Greek
p. 6229a
Θαλῆς ἐρωτηθείς, Τί πρεσβύτατον τῶν ὄντων; ἀπεκρίνατο· Θεός, ἀγέννητον γάρ.
Σωκράτης ἐρωτηθείς, Τί θεός; εἶπε· Τὸ ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀΐδιον.
Ἑρμῆς ἐρωτηθείς, Τί θεός; εἶπεν· Ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργός, σοφώτατος νοῦς καὶ ἀΐδιος.
29b ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ (αʹ)
Θαλῆς νοῦν τοῦ κόσμου τὸν θεόν, τὸ δὲ πᾶν ἔμψυχον ἅμα καὶ δαιμόνων πλῆρες· διήκειν δὲ καὶ διὰ τοῦ στοιχειώδους ὑγροῦ δύναμιν θείαν κινητικὴν αὐτοῦ.
Ἀναξίμανδρος ἀπεφήνατο τοὺς ἀπείρους οὐρανοὺς θεούς.
Ἀναξιμένης τὸν ἀέρα. δεῖ δ’ ὑπακούειν ἐπὶ τῶν οὕτως λεγομένων τὰς ἐνδηκούσας τοῖς στοιχείοις ἢ τοῖς σώμασι δυνάμεις.
Ἀρχέλαος ἀέρα καὶ νοῦν τὸν θεόν, οὐ μέντοι κοσμοποιὸν τὸν νοῦν.
Ἀναξαγόρας νοῦν κοσμοποιὸν τὸν θεόν.
Δημόκριτος νοῦν τὸν θεὸν ἐν πυρὶ σφαιροειδεῖ.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1
p. 6329a
Asked, “What is the oldest of all things?” Thales replied, “God, for he is unbegotten.”
Asked, “What is God?” Socrates said, “That which is immortal and eternal.”
Asked, “What is God?” Hermes said, “The maker of the universe, supremely wise and eternal mind.”65
29b ⟨Aëtius⟩ (1)
Thales identifies God as the mind of the cosmos, and the universe as both ensouled and full of divine spirits. A divine power that sets the elemental moisture in motion also pervades it.66
Anaximander declared the boundless heavens to be gods.
Anaximenes identified God with air. In statements of this kind, one must understand the powers residing in the elements or bodies.
Archelaus identified God with air and mind, though not a mind that makes the cosmos.
Anaxagoras identified God with a mind that makes the cosmos.
Democritus identified God with mind in spherical fire.
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.29a–I.1.29b.1
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.