Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 335 of 879
Book I Chapter 29 · I.29.1.4–I.29.1.7
Ancient Greek
p. 6661 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 4
Ἀναξαγόρας, ὅταν ⟨τὸ⟩ θερμὸν εἰς τὸ ψυχρὸν ἐμπέσῃ, (τοῦτο δ᾽ ἐστὶν αἰθέριον μέρος εἰς ἀερῶδες,) τῷ μὲν ψόφῳ βροντὴν ἀποτελεῖ, τῷ δὲ παρὰ τὴν μελανείαν τοῦ νέφους χρώματι τὴν ἀστραπήν· τῷ δὲ πλήθει καὶ μεγέθει τοῦ φωτὸς τὸν κεραυνόν· τῷ δὲ πολυσωματωτέρῳ πυρὶ τὸν τυφῶνα· τῷ δὲ νεφελομιγεῖ τὸν πρηστῆρα.
1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 5
Ἀρχέλαος ταὐτὸ λέγει παρατιθεὶς τὸ τῶν διαπύρων λίθων καθιεμένων εἰς ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ πάθος.
Ξενοφάνης ἀστραπὰς γίνεσθαι λαμπρυνομένων τῶν νεφῶν κατὰ τὴν κίνησιν.
1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 6
Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ἔμπτωσιν φωτὸς εἰς νέφος ἐξείργοντος τὸν ἀνθεστῶτα ἀέρα, οὗ τὴν μὲν σβέσιν καὶ τὴν θραῦσιν κτύπον ἀπεργάζεσθαι, τὴν δὲ λάμψιν ἀστραπήν· κεραυνὸν δὲ τὸν τῆς ἀστραπῆς τόνον.
1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 7
Διογένης ἔμπτωσιν πυρὸς εἰς νέφος ὑγρόν, βροντὴν μὲν τῇ σβέσει ποιοῦν, τῇ δὲ λαμπηδόνι τὴν ἀστραπήν. συναιτιᾶται δὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 29
p. 6671 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras held that, when ⟨the⟩ hot enters the cold (that is, a portion of aether enters a portion of air), its noise produces thunder, and its color against the darkness of the cloud produces lightning. The quantity and magnitude of the light produce a thunderbolt; fire with a greater bodily mass produces a whirlwind, and fire mixed with cloud a fiery whirlwind.862
1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Archelaus and Xenophanes
Archelaus gives the same account, adducing what happens when red-hot stones are lowered into cold water.
Xenophanes held that lightning occurs when clouds become bright in their motion.
1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Empedocles
Empedocles held that light falls into a cloud and excludes the air that resists it. Its quenching and breaking up produce a crash, and its shining produces lightning; a thunderbolt is the intensity of the lightning.863
1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Diogenes
Diogenes held that fire falls into a wet cloud, producing thunder as it is quenched and lightning by its flash. He also regards wind as a contributing cause.
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 29 · I.29.1.4–I.29.1.7
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.