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English Page · Branch 436 of 879
Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.7.2–I.41.7.3
Ancient Greek
p. 8687.2
Καὶ ἡ φύσις πάντων, φύουσα τὰ γιγνόμενα, φυὴν παρέχει τοῖς φυομένοις, σπείρουσα μὲν τὰ ἑαυτῆς σπέρματα, γενέσεις ⟨δ᾽⟩ ἔχουσα δι᾽ ὕλην κινητήν. Κινουμένη δὲ θερμαίνεται καὶ γίνεται ⟨ἡ⟩ ὕλη πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ, τὸ μὲν σθεναρὸν καὶ ἰσχυρόν, τὸ δὲ πάσχον. Τὸ δὲ πῦρ ἐναντιούμενον τῷ ὕδατι ἐξήρανε τοῦ ὕδατος, καὶ ἐγένετο ⟨ἡ γῆ⟩ ὀχουμένη ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος. Περιξηραινομένου δὲ ἀτμὸς ἐγένετο ἐκ τῶν τριῶν, τοῦ τε ὕδατος ⟨καὶ⟩ τῆς γῆς καὶ τοῦ πυρός, καὶ ἐγένετο ἀήρ.
7.3
Ταῦτα συνῆλθε κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἁρμονίας λόγον, θερμὸν ψυχρῷ, ξηρὸν ὑγρῷ, καὶ ἐκ τῆς συμπνοίας τούτων ἐγένετο πνεῦμα καὶ σπέρμα ἀνάλογον τῷ περιέχοντι πνεύματι. Τοῦτο δὲ ἐς τὴν μήτραν ἐμπεσὸν οὐκ ἠρεμεῖ ἐν τῷ σπέρματι, οὐκ ἠρεμοῦν δὲ μεταβάλλει τὸ σπέρμα, μεταβαλλόμενον δὲ αὔξην ἴσχει καὶ μέγεθος. Ἐπὶ τῷ μεγέθει δὲ εἴδωλον ἐπισπᾶται σχήματος καὶ σχηματίζεται· ὀχεῖται δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ σχήματι τὸ εἶδος, δι᾽ οὗ καὶ εἰδωλοποιεῖται τὸ εἰδωλοποιούμενον.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 41
p. 8697.2 · The formation of the elements
The nature of all things brings forth what comes to be and gives growth to what grows, sowing its own seeds ⟨and⟩ producing generations through movable matter. As it moves, ⟨the⟩ matter grows warm and becomes fire and water, the one vigorous and strong, the other passive. Fire, opposing water, dried out some of the water, and ⟨earth⟩ came to be, borne upon the water. As the drying continued, vapor arose from the three - water ⟨and⟩ earth and fire - and air came to be.1119
7.3 · Seed, growth, and shape
These came together according to the ratio of harmony, hot with cold and dry with wet. From their breathing together arose breath and seed corresponding to the surrounding breath. When this breath enters the womb, it does not rest within the seed; through its unrest it changes the seed, and as the seed changes it acquires growth and size. With its increase in size it draws to itself an image of a shape and takes shape. Form is borne upon the shape, and through it what is being fashioned into an image receives its image.1120
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.7.2–I.41.7.3
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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.
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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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