Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 533 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.15.2–I.49.15.3
Ancient Greek
p. 106215.2
Διὸ δὴ καὶ ὁ μέν τις δίνην περιτιθεὶς τῇ γῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ μένειν δὴ ποιεῖ τὴν γῆν, ὁ δὲ ὥσπερ καρδόπῳ πλατείᾳ βάθρον τὸν ἀέρα ὑπερείδει· τὴν δὲ τοῦ ὡς οἷόν τε βέλτιστα αὐτὰ τεθῆναι δύναμιν οὕτω νῦν κεῖσθαι, ταύτην οὔτε ζητοῦσιν οὔτε τινὰ οἴονται δαιμονίαν ἰσχὺν ἔχειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡγοῦνται τούτου ἄν ποτε Ἄτλαντα ἰσχυρότερον καὶ ἀθανατώτερον καὶ μᾶλλον ἅπαντα συνέχοντα ἐξευρεῖν καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ δέον συνιδεῖν καὶ συνδέειν οὐδὲν οἴονται.
15.3
Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν τῆς τοιαύτης αἰτίας, ὅπῃ ποτὲ ἔχει, μαθητὴς ὁτουοῦν ἥδιστ᾽ ἂν γενοίμην· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ταύτης ἐστερήθην καὶ οὔτ᾽ αὐτὸς εὑρεῖν οὔτε παρ᾽ ἄλλου μαθεῖν οἷός τε ἐγενόμην, τὸν δεύτερον πλοῦν ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς αἰτίας ζήτησιν ᾗ πεπραγμάτευμαι, βούλει σοι, ἔφη, ἐπίδειξιν ποιήσομαι, ὦ Κέβης; - Ὑπερφυῶς μὲν οὖν, ἔφη, ὡς βούλομαι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 106315.2 · What holds the earth in place?
That is why one person surrounds the earth with a vortex and so makes it remain beneath the heaven, while another props air beneath it as a support, as though beneath a broad kneading trough. But the power by which things have been placed as well as possible and now lie as they do: this they neither seek nor suppose to possess any divine strength. Instead, they think they may one day discover an Atlas stronger and more immortal than this, holding everything together more fully; they do not believe that what is good and necessary truly comprehends and binds anything.1332
15.3 · A second voyage in search of causes
“I would most gladly become anyone’s pupil in the matter of a cause of that kind, whatever its true character may be. But since I was deprived of it and could neither discover it myself nor learn it from someone else, would you like me to show you, Cebes,” he said, “how I have pursued a second voyage in the search for the cause?”
“Very much indeed,” he said.1333
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.15.2–I.49.15.3
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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.
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.