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 49 · I.49.32.7–I.49.32.9

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.32.7–I.49.32.9

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Ancient Greek

p. 1152

32.7

I.49.32.7

ὡς δ᾽ Ἀριστοτέλης ἱστορεῖ, Πλάτων ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς ἰδέας καὶ τοῦ πρώτου μήκους ⟨καὶ πλάτους⟩ καὶ βάθους αὐτὸ τὸ ζῷον προϋποτιθέμενος καὶ τὸ μὲν ἓν νοῦν, τὴν δὲ δυάδα ἐπιστήμην, δόξαν δὲ τὸν τοῦ ἐπιπέδου ἀριθμόν, τὸν δὲ τοῦ στερεοῦ [τὴν] αἴσθησιν διοριζόμενος.

32.8

I.49.32.8

Ἔτι τοίνυν τὴν ἁρμονίαν ἴδωμεν, οὐ τὴν ἐν σώμασιν ἐνιδρυμένην, ἀλλ᾽ ἥτις ἐστὶ μαθηματική. Ταύτην τοίνυν, ὡς μὲν ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, τὴν τὰ διαφέροντα ὁπωσοῦν σύμμετρα καὶ προσήγορα ἀπεργαζομένην ἀναφέρει εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν Μοδέρατος· τὴν δ᾽ ὡς ἐν οὐσίαις καὶ ζωαῖς καὶ γενέσει πάντων μεσότητα καὶ σύνδεσιν ὁ Τίμαιος αὐτῇ ἀνατίθησι,

32.9

I.49.32.9

τὴν δ᾽ ὡς ἐν λόγοις τοῖς κατ᾽ οὐσίαν προϋπάρχουσι Πλωτῖνος καὶ Πορφύριος καὶ Ἀμέλιος παραδεδώκασι, τὴν δὲ συνδιαπλεκομένην τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ ἀχώριστον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πολλοὶ δή τινες τῶν Πλατωνικῶν καὶ Πυθαγορείων προκρίνουσιν.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1153

32.7 · Plato’s numerical account as reported by Aristotle

I.49.32.7

and Plato, as Aristotle reports, by presupposing the living being itself as constituted from the form of the one and from primary length ⟨and breadth⟩ and depth, and by defining the one as intellect, the dyad as knowledge, the number of the plane as opinion, and that of the solid as [the] perception.¹⁴²⁰

32.8 · Mathematical harmony

I.49.32.8

Let us also consider harmony, not the harmony established in bodies, but mathematical harmony. In general terms, Moderatus refers to soul the harmony that makes things differing in any way commensurate and congenial. Timaeus attributes to it harmony as a mean and a bond in substances, lives, and the coming-to-be of all things;¹⁴²¹

32.9 · Harmony in principles and in the cosmos

I.49.32.9

Plotinus, Porphyry, and Amelius have handed down harmony as residing in rational principles that preexist in substance. Many Platonists and Pythagoreans prefer the harmony interwoven with the cosmos and inseparable from heaven.¹⁴²²

1420.The source cites Aristotle, On the Soul I.2, 404b18-24. The account is mediated through Aristotle and should not be treated as a direct quotation from a Platonic dialogue. The dimension “and breadth” is supplied; the article before perception is rejected. Both signs remain visible in the English. The sequence links numerical or dimensional terms with kinds of cognition.

1421.Harmonia is a fitting together. The passage explicitly shifts from bodily harmony to mathematical relation. “Commensurate and congenial” renders symmetra kai prosēgora. The source’s reference identifies Timaeus of Locri, p. 99a and following, rather than simply naming Plato’s Timaeus without distinction.

1422.These are further placements of harmony, continuing the preceding sentence. The first places it in antecedent logoi; the second associates it inseparably with the ordered universe. “Preexist in substance” preserves the qualification kat’ ousian, rather than making the priority merely chronological.

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.