Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 39 · I.39.heading–I.39.1.2

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Facing Pages · Branch 380 of 879

Book I Chapter 39 · I.39.heading–I.39.1.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 756

Κεφάλαιον ΛΘʹ

I.39.heading

Περὶ ὑδάτων.

⟨Ἀρείου Διδύμου ἐπιτομῆς.⟩

Ἀριστοτέλους · 1

I.39.1.1

Ἀριστοτέλους. Τὰς δὲ τῶν ὑδάτων δυνάμεις καὶ τοὺς χυλοὺς καὶ τὰς ἄλλας πάσας ποιότητας, ὡς εἰπεῖν συλλαβόντι, γίνεσθαι παρὰ τρεῖς αἰτίας. Ἢ γὰρ παρὰ τὴν τῆς γῆς διαφοράν· (ἐν οἵᾳ γὰρ ἂν ἕκαστον ᾖ καὶ δι᾽ οἵας ἂν ῥέῃ, τοιοῦτον ἴσχειν τὸν χυλόν, οἷον ἁλυκὸν ἢ νιτρῶδες ἢ πικρὸν ἢ τῶν ἄλλων ὁποιονοῦν·)

2

I.39.1.2

ἢ παρὰ τὴν τῆς καπνώδους καὶ πυρώδους ἀναθυμιάσεως μῖξιν· (ἀπολίθωσιν γὰρ καὶ πῆξιν ἁλῶν καὶ νίτρων, ἔτι τε βαρύτητας καὶ κουφότητας καὶ παχύτητας καὶ λεπτότητας καὶ τὰς ἄλλας δυνάμεις ἀπεργάζεσθαι τὴν τοῦ θερμοῦ καὶ καπνώδους μῖξιν·) ἢ παρὰ τὸν ἀέρα.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 39

p. 757

Chapter 39: On waters

I.39.heading

On waters.

⟨From the epitome of Arius Didymus.⟩⁹⁷⁵

Aristotle’s account · 1

I.39.1.1

Aristotle’s account. The properties of waters, their tastes, and all their other qualities arise, to sum the matter up, from three causes.⁹⁷⁶ Either they are due to differences in the earth (for each water takes on a taste corresponding to the kind of earth in which it lies and through which it flows: salty, alkaline, bitter, or any of the other tastes);⁹⁷⁷

2 · Exhalation and air

I.39.1.2

or they are due to the admixture of a smoky and fiery exhalation (for the admixture of what is hot and smoky produces petrification and the solidification of salts and alkalis, as well as heaviness and lightness, thickness and thinness, and the other properties); or they are due to the air.⁹⁷⁸

975.Wachsmuth’s supplied Latin heading, translated on both sides, identifies the epitome of Arius Didymus, physical fragment 14a in the additions to Diels, p. 854. The Greek attribution “Aristotle’s account” follows. It stands in the margin of manuscript F and in the text of P. The chapter is one continuous excerpt; the numbered subdivisions below are for comparison of the facing text.

976.Dynameis, here “properties,” are the powers or characteristics by which waters act or differ; the term need not refer specifically to medicinal effects. Chyloi are tastes or flavors in this passage, as the following examples show.

977.“Alkaline” renders nitrōdes, like nitron, the mineral alkali also called soda. It is a description of taste in the ancient account. Compare the lexicon’s identification of the Chalastra variety of nitron as soda (LSJ, s.v. Chalastraîos).

978.The exhalation is a material rising from the earth. Compare Aristotle, Meteorology II.3, on dry exhalation and the earthy admixtures that alter water’s taste. That parallel helps explain the theory; this epitome is not a quotation of that passage. “Thickness” follows the printed pachytētas, contrasted with thinness; the apparatus also records a reading meaning swiftness.

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.