Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

Explore the Lexicon

Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 29 · I.29.2.1–I.29.2.3

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 341 of 879

Book I Chapter 29 · I.29.2.1–I.29.2.3

Book Mode

Ancient Greek

p. 678

2 Ἀρριανοῦ · 1

I.29.2.1

Ὅσοι δὲ ξηροὶ ἀτμοί, ῥυέντες μὲν εὐθὺς ἀνέμους εἰργάσαντο, ἐν νέφει δὲ ἀποληφθέντες, ἔπειτα ῥηγνύντες βίᾳ τὸ νέφος βροντάς τε καὶ ἀστραπὰς ἐξέφηναν· ἐκπίπτοντες δ᾽ ἐπὶ μέγα, διάπυροι μὲν κεραυνοί· ἀθρόοι δὲ καὶ ἡμίπυροι πρηστῆρες· ὅσοι δὲ ἔρημοι πυρὸς τυφῶνες· οἱ δὲ ἔτι ἀνειμένοι ἐκνεφίαι· κατασκήψαντες δὲ ἐς γῆν ξύμπαντα ταῦτα σκηπτοὶ κλῄζονται.

2 Ἀρριανοῦ · 2

I.29.2.2

Οὐ δι᾽ ἴσου δὲ αἱ κοιλότητες τῶν νεφῶν καὶ ⟨αἱ⟩ ῥήξεις αἱ ἐπ᾽ αὐταῖς βροντὰς ἔχουσιν.

2 Ἀρριανοῦ · 3

I.29.2.3

Ἀστραπὴ δὲ ὑπὸ τῇ ῥήξει ἐκτρίβεται καὶ ἐξάπτει τὸ πνεῦμα, ὡς ἐκλάμψαι ἐπὶ μέγα. Καὶ γίγνεται μὲν ἀστραπὴ μετὰ βροντήν, ὀξυτέρα δὲ τοσόνδε, ὅσον ὄψις ἀκοῆς ὀξύτερον· καθότι ἀκοὴ μὲν πελαζούσης τῆς φωνῆς αἰσθάνεται, ὄψις δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ ὁρώμενον αὐτὸ ἐκπέμπεται.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 29

p. 679

2 Arrian: Dry vapors and their forms

I.29.2.1

Dry vapors, flowing forth at once, produce winds; but when they are trapped in a cloud and then violently burst it open, they give rise to thunder and lightning. When they burst out on a great scale, those that are incandescent are thunderbolts; those that are compact and half burning are fiery whirlwinds; those without fire are whirlwinds; and those still loose are squalls.⁸⁷² When they strike the earth, all these are called “striking bolts.”⁸⁷³

2 Arrian: Cavities and ruptures

I.29.2.2

The cavities of clouds and ⟨the⟩ ruptures occurring in them do not produce thunder to the same degree.⁸⁷⁴

2 Arrian: Why the flash is seen first

I.29.2.3

Lightning is produced by friction during the rupture and ignites the wind, making it flash out over a great extent. Lightning occurs after thunder, but it is quicker by as much as sight is quicker than hearing: hearing perceives the sound as it approaches, whereas sight is sent out toward the visible object itself.⁸⁷⁵

872.“Still loose” translates eti aneimenoi provisionally. Wachsmuth calls the phrase corrupt and suggests, without printing it, a reading meaning “still coiling.” The Greek retains the printed words; the precise distinction intended here remains uncertain.

873.Skēptoi is related to the verb kataskēptein, to swoop or strike down. Here it is a collective name for these phenomena when they strike the ground.

874.The printed ou di’ isou, “not equally,” supplies a comparison whose exact point is not developed. It does not specify which produces more thunder. Usener supplies the article before “ruptures.”

875.This explanation treats sight as something sent out to its object, while sound must approach the hearer. It therefore differs both from the simultaneous production described under Chrysippus and from an explanation in terms of light traveling from the flash to the observer.

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.