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 48 · I.48.6.1–I.48.6.2

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Book I Chapter 48 · I.48.6.1–I.48.6.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 964

6.1 · Ἀρχύτου

I.48.6.1

Ἀρχύτου ἐκ τοῦ Περὶ νόω καὶ αἰσθάσιος.

Αἴσθασις μὲν ἐν σώματι γίνεται, νόος δ᾽ ἐν ψυχᾷ. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀρχὰ τῶν αἰσθατῶν ὑπάρχει, τὸ δὲ τῶν νοατῶν. Πλάθεος μὲν γὰρ μέτρον ἀριθμός, μάκεος δὲ πούς, ῥοπᾶς δὲ καὶ σταθμῶ ζυγόν, ὀρθότατος δὲ καὶ εὐθύτατος κανὼν καὶ στάθμα ὀρθὰ γωνία· οὕτως δὲ καὶ τῶν μὲν αἰσθατῶν αἴσθασις [μέτρον], τῶν δὲ νοατῶν νόος ἀρχὰ καὶ μέτρον ἐντί.

6.2

I.48.6.2

Καὶ ὁ μὲν νόος ἀρχὰ νοατῶν τε ⟨καὶ⟩ φύσι πράτων· ἁ δὲ αἴσθασις ⟨δευτέρων τε φύσι καὶ τῶν παρ᾽⟩ ἁμῖν· ὁ μὲν γάρ ἐντι ἀρχὰ τᾷ ψυχᾷ, ἁ δὲ τῷ σώματι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν νόος τῶν τιμιαιτάτων ἐντὶ κριτάς, ἁ δ᾽ αἴσθασις τῶν χρησιμωτάτων. Ἁ μὲν γὰρ αἴσθασις τῶ σώματος ἕνεκε συνέστακε καὶ τᾶς εἰς τοῦτο λειτουργίας· ὁ δὲ νόος ⟨τᾶς ψυχᾶς ἕνεκε⟩ καὶ τᾶς εἰς ταύταν πολυφραδμοσύνας.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 48

p. 965

6.1 · Archytas: the measures of things

I.48.6.1

From Archytas, from On Intellect and Perception.

Perception occurs in body, intellect in soul. The former is a principle for perceptible things, the latter for intelligibles. For number is the measure of multitude, a foot of length, a balance of downward inclination and weight, and a rule, a plumb line, and a right angle of uprightness and straightness. So too perception is the principle and measure of perceptibles [measure], and intellect of intelligibles.¹²³⁵

6.2 · The purposes of perception and intellect

I.48.6.2

Intellect is a principle for things intelligible ⟨and⟩ primary by nature; perception for things ⟨secondary by nature and those in relation to⟩ us. For the former is a principle for soul, the latter for body. Intellect judges the most worthy things, perception the most useful. Perception is constituted for the sake of the body and the service directed to it; intellect ⟨for the sake of soul⟩ and the resourceful understanding directed to it.¹²³⁶

1235.This Doric work is transmitted under Archytas’s name but belongs to the Pseudo-Archytan writings; see De Cesaris and Horky, “Hellenistic Pythagorean Epistemology” (2018). The Greek retains its dialect. The compressed list of measuring tools follows Wachsmuth, including words Meineke proposed deleting. “Principle and measure” governs both faculties in the English; the earlier redundant metron, rejected by Wachsmuth, remains bracketed.

1236.The substantial supplement after “perception” is Usener’s, printed by Wachsmuth; it restores the contrast between what is primary in nature and what is accessible to us. The soul’s purpose-clause is also supplied. Polyphradmosynē denotes breadth or resourcefulness of understanding. The contrast concerns the objects and purposes of the faculties, not an assertion that sensory service is worthless.

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.