Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 340 of 879
Book I Chapter 29 · I.29.1.18–I.29.1.19
Ancient Greek
p. 6761 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 3
Κεραυνὸν δ᾽, ὅταν πολὺ καὶ λεπτὸν περιληφθὲν ἐν τοῖς νέφεσι πνεῦμα πυρωθὲν ἐκθλιφθῇ καὶ μετ᾽ ἰσχυρᾶς ἐπὶ γῆν κατασκήψῃ φορᾶς, ἐὰν μὲν ᾖ πάνυ λεπτὸν καὶ διὰ τοῦτ᾽ οὐκ ἐπικαῖον, ἀργῆτα λέγεσθαι κατὰ τοὺς ποιητάς· ἐὰν δ᾽ ἧττον, ἐπικαῖον, ψολόεντα. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὴν λεπτότητα καὶ πρὶν ἐκπυρῶσαι φερόμενον οἴχεσθαι διὰ τάχους, ὡς μηδ᾽ ἐπιμελᾶναί τι τῶν ὑποκειμένων· τὸν δὲ οἷον καὶ βραδύτερον, ἐπιχρῶσαι μὲν ὥσπερ ἀπ᾽ αἰθάλου, παρενεχθῆναι δὲ μηδὲν ἀφανίσαντα.
1 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 4
Διὸ καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀντιτυπήσαντα φλέγεσθαι, τὰ δ᾽ εἰς τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἀραιότητας ὑποδεξάμενα μηδὲν πάσχειν. Ἤδη γοῦν ἀσπίδος πληγείσης τακῆναι μὲν τὸ χάλκωμα, τὸ δὲ ξύλον μηδὲν παθεῖν, φθάσαντος τοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τὴν τῆς ὕλης μανότητα πρὸ τῆς καύσεως διεκδραμεῖν· καὶ δι᾽ ἱματίων ὁμοίως διελθὸν οὐ κατέκαυσεν, ἀλλ᾽ οἷον τρύχος ἐποίησε. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων διετάττετο οὕτως.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 29
p. 6771 Aristotle on bright and smoky thunderbolts
A thunderbolt occurs when a large quantity of fine wind enclosed in the clouds is ignited, squeezed out, and hurled to earth with powerful momentum. If it is exceedingly fine and therefore does not scorch, it is called “bright,” in the poets’ language; if it is less fine and does scorch, “smoky.” The former, because of its fineness, passes swiftly on before it can set anything alight, without even blackening anything beneath it. The latter, being somewhat slower, stains things as though with soot, but passes by without destroying anything.870
1 Aristotle on resistance and passage
Hence things that resist it are burned, while those that admit it into their pores suffer no harm. Thus, when a shield was struck, its bronze covering melted but the wood suffered no harm: because the material was porous, the wind passed through before burning could occur. Likewise, when it passed through clothing, it did not burn it up but reduced it to something like rags. Such was his account of these matters.871
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 29 · I.29.1.18–I.29.1.19
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.
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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.