Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

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.39.1.6–I.39.1.9

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Facing Pages · Branch 382 of 879

Book I Chapter 39 · I.39.1.6–I.39.1.9

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Ancient Greek

p. 760

6

I.39.1.6

καὶ τὰ διαπνοὰς ἔχοντα φαραγγώδεις καὶ ὑπάντρους (τὸ γὰρ πνεῦμα διαυλωνίζον ταύτῃ ψύχει, καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς λάκκοις)·

7

I.39.1.7

καὶ ⟨τὰ⟩ διὰ πάγους ῥέοντα καὶ ἐνίκμου (ψυχρὸν γὰρ ὁ λίθος καὶ μᾶλλον ὁ τοιοῦτος).

8

I.39.1.8

Εἰ δ᾽ ὥσπερ γλυκὺ πᾶν ὕδωρ, οὕτω καὶ ψυχρόν (οἰκεῖα γὰρ ἄμφω τῆς φύσεως), ἡ θερμότης ὡς ἡ τῶν χυλῶν ποιότης γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἀφ᾽ ἑτέρων.

9

I.39.1.9

Συμβαίνει δ᾽ οὖν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ λόγου τούτου μὴ εἶναι τοῦ ὕδατος καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸ διαφοράν, ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἄλλων δυνάμεσι διαφέρειν, εἴπερ τὰ μὲν τὴν γῆν, τὰ δὲ τὸ πῦρ, τὰ δὲ τὸν ἀέρα ποιεῖν συμβέβηκεν.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 39

p. 761

6 · Air passages

I.39.1.6

also those with air passages like ravines and caves (for the wind, channeled through in this way, cools them, as it does in wells);⁹⁸³

7 · Moist rock

I.39.1.7

and ⟨those⟩ that flow through rock, moist rock at that (for stone is cold, and such stone especially so).⁹⁸⁴

8 · Water’s own nature

I.39.1.8

But if all water is cold just as it is fresh (for both belong to its nature), its heat, like the quality of its tastes, would arise from other things.⁹⁸⁵

9 · The source of the differences

I.39.1.9

Thus this argument too implies that water has no difference in itself, but differs through the powers of other things, if indeed some effects are produced by earth, others by fire, and others by air.⁹⁸⁶

983.Diaulōnizon describes air passing through as through a pipe or channel. The comparison concerns cooling by a draft. Lakkoi can mean pits or wells; “wells” is used here in the discussion of water.

984.The printed wording is grammatically uneven: pagous is accusative plural, while enikmou, “moist,” is genitive singular. Wachsmuth asks whether pagou should be read, but does not put that change into the text. The Greek retains his printing; the English gives the apparent sense. Although pagos can also mean frost, the following reference to stone supports “rock” here.

985.“Fresh” renders glyky, literally “sweet,” in the contrast with salty or otherwise flavored water. The claim concerns water’s own nature, before the acquired qualities discussed above. The conditional opening follows Usener’s repair as printed by Wachsmuth. “Like” follows Wachsmuth’s hōs, which compares the origin of heat with that of taste.

986.The conclusion returns to the three causes named at the beginning. It distinguishes water considered in itself from the differing qualities produced in it by other things. Wachsmuth understands the preceding “other things” (heterōn) in the same sense as “other things” (allōn) here, rather than as other hot or cold waters.

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.