Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 422 of 879
Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.2.5–I.41.3.1
Ancient Greek
p. 8402.5
Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὸ δι᾽ ὃ κινέεται τὸ κινεόμενον ἐντὶ τὸ πράτως κινέον· ὥστ᾽ ἀνάγκα τρεῖς εἶμεν τὰς ἀρχάς, τάν τε ἐστὼ τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ τὰν μορφὼ καὶ τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶ κινατικὸν καὶ πρᾶτον τᾷ δυνάμι. Τὸ δὲ τοιοῦτον οὐ νόον μόνον εἶμεν δεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ νόω τι κρέσσον· νόω δὲ κρέσσον ἐντί, ὅπερ ὀνομάζομεν θεόν, φανερόν.
2.6
Ὁ μὲν τῶ ἴσω λόγος περὶ τὰν ῥητὰν καὶ λόγον ἔχοισαν φύσιν ἐντί· ὁ δὲ τῶ ἀνίσω περὶ τὰν ἄλογον καὶ ἄρρητον· αὕτα δ᾽ ἐντὶ ἁ ἐστώ· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γένεσις καὶ φθορὰ γίνεται περὶ ταύταν καὶ οὐκ ἄνευ ταύτας.
3.1
Ἐκ τῶν Πορφυρίου πρὸς τὰ νοητὰ ἀφορμῶν.
Τὰ κατηγορούμενα τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ καὶ ἐνύλου ἀληθῶς ἐστὶ ταῦτα, τὸ πάντῃ εἶναι διαπεφορημένον, τὸ μεταβλητὸν εἶναι, τὸ ὑφεστάναι ἐν ἑτερότητι, τὸ σύνθετον εἶναι, τὸ ⟨μὴ⟩ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸ αὐτὸ ὑπάρχειν, τὸ ἐν τόπῳ, τὸ ἐν ὄγκῳ θεωρεῖσθαι καὶ ὅσα τούτοις παραπλήσια·
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 41
p. 8412.5 · Beyond intellect
Likewise, the cause of a moved thing’s motion is also its primary mover. There must therefore be three principles: the stuff of things, form, and that which initiates motion from itself and is first in power. Such a principle must be not merely intellect, but something greater than intellect. And that which we call God is plainly greater than intellect.1087
2.6 · Equality and inequality
The account of the equal concerns expressible and rational nature; that of the unequal concerns irrational and inexpressible nature. The latter is the underlying stuff; that is why coming-to-be and passing-away occur in it, and cannot occur without it.1088
3.1 · Porphyry: the sensible and material
From Porphyry’s Starting Points toward the Intelligible.
These are the things truly predicated of the sensible and material: being dispersed in every direction; being changeable; subsisting in otherness; being composite; ⟨not⟩ existing of itself in its own right; being in a place; being observed in extended mass; and all similar characteristics.1089
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.2.5–I.41.3.1
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.
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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.