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.49.50.1–I.49.50.3

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 682 of 879

Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.50.1–I.49.50.3

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Ancient Greek

p. 1360

50.1

I.49.50.1

Πορφυρίου ἐκ τῶν περὶ Στυγός. Τοῦ δὲ Ἀπολλοδώρου ἐν τῷ εἰκοστῷ τοῦ περὶ τῶν θεῶν συγγράμματος, ὅ ἐστι περὶ τοῦ Ἅδου, τάδε περὶ τῆς Στυγὸς λεγόμενα εὕρομεν.

50.2

I.49.50.2

“Ἀρκτέον γὰρ ἀπὸ τούτων, τῆς τε ἐκ τῶν ὀνομάτων παρεμφάσεως οὐ καταφρονητέον. Ἐκ γὰρ τοιούτων ὁρμώμενοι πιθανῶς καὶ τοὺς ἐν Ἅδου νομιζομένους ποταμοὺς κατωνομάκασιν. Ἀχέροντα μὲν διὰ τὰ ἄχη, ὡς καὶ Μελανιππίδης ἐν Περσεφόνῃ·

50.3

I.49.50.3

καλεῖται δ᾽ ἐν κόλποισι γαίας ἄχεα ⟨βροτ⟩οῖσιν προχέων Ἀχέρων.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1361

50.1 · Porphyry on Apollodorus’s account of Hades

I.49.50.1

Porphyry, from the writings On the Styx. In the twentieth book of Apollodorus’s work On the Gods, which deals with Hades, we found the following statements about the Styx.¹⁶³⁷

50.2 · Interpreting the rivers’ names

I.49.50.2

“For we must begin with these matters, and we must not disregard the suggestion conveyed by the names. Starting from considerations of this sort, people have plausibly named even the rivers believed to exist in Hades: Acheron, for example, from achē, ‘sorrows,’ as Melanippides too says in Persephone:¹⁶³⁸

50.3 · Melanippides on Acheron

I.49.50.3

And in earth’s hollows he is called Acheron, pouring forth sorrows for ⟨mortals⟩.¹⁶³⁹

1637.The outer author is Porphyry, who introduces a quotation from Apollodorus. Wachsmuth cites the latter as fragment 10 in Müller, Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum I, p. 429, and Heyne I, p. 391. Those are editorial finding aids, not words in the ancient passage. The following explanation begins with Acheron before reaching Styx.

1638.The interpretive argument rests on similarities of sound: Acheron is connected with achē, “sorrows.” These are the author’s explanations of mythical names, not established linguistic derivations. Wachsmuth begins Apollodorus’s quotation here, although the apparatus records proposals assigning the opening sentences to Porphyry. The facing text follows the printed quotation boundary.

1639.Wachsmuth cites Melanippides, fragment 3, Bergk, third edition, p. 1245. The restored letters form part of brotoisin, “for mortals”; the translation marks the complete word. Word order is adjusted across the two English lines to make the name’s relation to the verb clear, while retaining the verse as two lines.

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.