Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 38 of 879
Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.29b.7–I.1.29b.8
Ancient Greek
p. 7229b ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ (ζʹ)
Ἀριστοτέλης τὸν μὲν ἀνωτάτω θεὸν εἶδος ⟨χωριστόν⟩, ὁμοίως Πλάτωνι, ἐπιβεβηκότα τῇ σφαίρᾳ τοῦ παντός, ἥτις ἐστὶν αἰθέριον σῶμα, τὸ πέμπτον ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ καλούμενον.
Οἱ Στωικοὶ νοερὸν θεὸν ἀποφαίνονται, πῦρ τεχνικόν, ὁδῷ βαδίζον ἐπὶ γενέσει κόσμου, ἐμπεριειληφὸς πάντας τοὺς σπερματικοὺς λόγους, καθ’ οὓς ἅπαντα καθ’ εἱμαρμένην γίνεται. Καὶ πνεῦμα μὲν ἐνδιῆκον δι’ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου, τὰς δὲ προσηγορίας μεταλαμβάνον δι’ ὅλης τῆς ὕλης, δι’ ἧς κεχώρηκε, παραλλάξαν, θεοὺς δὲ καὶ τὸν κόσμον καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας καὶ τὴν γῆν· ἀνωτάτω δὲ πάντων νοῦν ἐναιθέριον εἶναι θεόν.
29b ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ (ηʹ)
Ἐπίκουρος ἀνθρωποειδεῖς μὲν τοὺς θεούς, λόγῳ δὲ πάντας θεωρητοὺς διὰ τὴν λεπτομέρειαν τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων φύσεως. Ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς ἄλλας τέσσαρας φύσεις κατὰ γένος ἀφθάρτους τάδε· τὰ ἄτομα, τὸ κενόν, τὸ ἄπειρον, τὰς ὁμοιότητας· αὗται δὲ λέγονται ὁμοιομέρειαι καὶ στοιχεῖα.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1
p. 7329b ⟨Aëtius⟩ (7)
Aristotle holds that the highest god is a ⟨separate⟩ form, as in Plato, set over the sphere of the universe, which is an aetherial body, what he calls the fifth body.
The Stoics declare God to be intelligent: a craftsmanlike fire proceeding methodically toward the generation of the cosmos, containing all the seminal rational principles in accordance with which everything comes to be according to fate.73 He is a breath pervading the whole cosmos, taking different names as it varies throughout all the matter it has penetrated. They also hold that the cosmos, the stars, and the earth are gods, and that the highest god of all is mind in the aether.74
29b ⟨Aëtius⟩ (8)
Epicurus holds that the gods have human form, but all are apprehensible by reason because of the extreme fineness of the images’ nature. He also recognizes these four other natures as imperishable in kind: atoms, void, the unlimited, and likenesses. These last are called “like-parted constituents” and elements.75
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.29b.7–I.1.29b.8
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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.