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Book I Chapter 30 · I.30.2.4–I.30.2.6
Ancient Greek
p. 7002 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 4
Ἶριν δὲ περὶ μόνον ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην συνίστασθαι, γίνεσθαι δὲ καὶ νύκτωρ, ὀλιγάκις δὲ καὶ πάνυ διὰ πολλοῦ. Κύκλον δὲ μηδέποτε φαίνεσθαι τῆς ἴριδος μηδὲ μεῖζον ἡμικυκλίου τμῆμα. Ποικίλην δ᾽ ἔχειν τὴν ἔμφασιν διὰ τὸ κατὰ τὴν τῆς ὄψεως ἀνάκλασιν φοινικοῦν καὶ πράσινον καὶ ἁλουργὸν προσπίπτειν ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς χρῶμα.
2 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 5
Φοινικοῦν μέν, ὅτι τὸ λαμπρὸν ἐν μέλανι καὶ διὰ μέλανος ὁρώμενον τοιαύτην ἀποτελεῖ χρόαν. τοῖς γοῦν θεωμένοις τὸν ἥλιον δι᾽ ὁμίχλης ἢ διὰ καπνοῦ δοκεῖν ἐρυθρὸν εἶναι· ἢ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν χλωρῶν ξύλων φλόγα πεφοινιγμένην διὰ τὸ πολὺν αὐτῇ καταμεμῖχθαι καπνόν.
2 ⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου⟩ · 6
κατὰ τοῦτο δὴ καὶ τὴν ἐξωτάτω καὶ μείζονα περιφέρειαν τῆς ἴριδος ἐμφαίνειν τὸ φοινικοῦν· διὰ γὰρ μέλανος τοῦ νέφους ἀνακλωμένην τὴν ὄψιν πρὸς λαμπρότατον ὄντα τὸν ἥλιον ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τοιούδε χρώματος. Τὴν δὲ δευτέραν καὶ τρίτην περιφέρειαν διὰ τὴν τῆς ὄψεως ἀσθένειαν τό τε πράσινον καὶ τὸ ἁλουργὲς ἐμφαίνειν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 30
p. 7012 Aristotle: The rainbow’s extent and colors
A rainbow forms only in connection with the sun and moon. It occurs at night too, but rarely and at very long intervals. The rainbow never appears as a complete circle or as an arc greater than a semicircle. Its appearance is varied because, as sight is reflected, scarlet, green, and sea-purple color reaches us from it.899
2 Aristotle: Brightness seen through darkness
It is scarlet because something bright, seen against darkness and through darkness, produces such a hue. Thus the sun appears red to those who view it through mist or smoke; or the flame from green wood appears scarlet because much smoke is mixed with it.900
2 Aristotle: The outer and inner bands
For this reason the outermost and largest band of the rainbow displays scarlet: sight, reflected through the darkness of the cloud toward the sun in its great brilliance, apprehends a color of this kind. The second and third bands display green and sea-purple because of the weakness of sight.901
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 30 · I.30.2.4–I.30.2.6
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
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