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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 384 of 879
Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.3–I.40.1.5
Ancient Greek
p. 7643
Τοῦ δὲ σύμπαντος οὐρανοῦ τε καὶ κόσμου σφαιροειδοῦς ὄντος καὶ κινουμένου, καθάπερ εἶπον, ἐνδελεχῶς, δύο ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀκίνητά ἐστι σημεῖα καταντικρὺ ἀλλήλοις, καθάπερ τόρνῳ κυκλοφορουμένης σφαίρας, παραμένοντα καὶ συνέχοντα τὴν σφαῖραν, περὶ ἃ ὁ πᾶς ὄγκος κύκλῳ στρέφεται. Καλοῦνται δὲ οὗτοι πόλοι, δι᾽ ὧν εἰ νοήσαιμεν ἐπεζευγμένην εὐθεῖαν, ἥντιν᾽ ἄξονα καλοῦσι, διάμετρος ἔσται τοῦ κόσμου, μέσην μὲν ἔχουσα τὴν γῆν, τοὺς δὲ δύο πόλους πέρατα.
4
Τῶν δ᾽ ἀκινήτων πόλων τούτων ὁ μὲν ἀεὶ φανερός ἐστιν, ὑπὲρ κορυφὴν ὢν κατὰ ⟨τὸ⟩ βόρειον κλίμα, ἀρκτικὸς καλούμενος, ⟨ὁ δὲ ὑπὸ γῆν ἀεὶ κατακέκρυπται, κατὰ τὸ νότιον, ἀνταρκτικὸς καλούμενος.⟩
5
Οὐρανοῦ δὲ καὶ ἄστρων οὐσίαν μὲν αἰθέρα ⟨καλοῦμεν⟩, οὐχ, ὡς τινες, διὰ τὸ πυρώδη οὖσαν αἴθεσθαι, πλημμελοῦντες περὶ τὴν πλεῖστον πυρὸς ἀπηλλαγμένην δύναμιν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ ἀεὶ θεῖν κυκλοφορουμένην, στοιχεῖον οὖσαν ἕτερον τῶν τεττάρων ἀκήρατόν τε καὶ θεῖον.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 40
p. 7653 · The celestial axis
Since the whole heaven and cosmos is spherical and moves continuously, as I have said, there must be two motionless points directly opposite one another. As with a sphere revolving on a lathe, they remain fixed and hold the sphere together, while its entire bulk turns in a circle around them. These are called poles. If we imagine a straight line joining them, which is called the axis, it will be a diameter of the cosmos, with the earth at its center and the two poles as its ends.990
4 · The two poles
Of these motionless poles, one is always visible, above us toward ⟨the⟩ northern region, and is called the arctic pole; ⟨the other is always hidden beneath the earth, toward the south, and is called the antarctic pole.⟩991
5 · The fifth element
The substance of heaven and the stars ⟨we call⟩ aether, not, as some do, because it is fiery and burns, thereby misunderstanding a power that is very far removed from fire, but because it always runs in a circular course. It is an element different from the four, uncorrupted and divine.992
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.3–I.40.1.5
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.
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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.
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