Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 725 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.29–I.49.58.31
Ancient Greek
p. 144658.29
Καὶ ὅλην μὲν δὴ τὴν γῆν οὕτω πεφυκέναι καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν γῆν· τόπους δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ εἶναι κατὰ τὰ ἔγκοιλα αὐτῆς κύκλῳ περὶ ὅλην πολλούς, τοὺς μὲν βαθυτέρους καὶ ἀναπεπταμένους μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν ᾧ ἡμεῖς οἰκοῦμεν, τοὺς δὲ βαθυτέρους ὄντας τὸ χάσμα αὐτοὺς ἔλαττον ἔχειν τοῦ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν τόπου, ἔστι δ᾽ οὓς καὶ βραχυτέρους τῷ βάθει τοῦ ἐνθάδε εἶναι καὶ πλατυτέρους·
58.30
Τούτους δὲ πάντας ὑπὸ γῆν εἰς ἀλλήλους συντετρῆσθαί τε πολλαχῇ, καὶ ⟨κα⟩τὰ στενώτερα καὶ εὐρύτερα, καὶ διεξόδους ἔχειν· ᾗ πολὺ μὲν ὕδωρ ῥεῖν ἐξ ἀλλήλων εἰς ἀλλήλους ὥσπερ εἰς κρατῆρας, καὶ ἀεννάων ποταμῶν ἀμήχανα μεγέθη ὑπὸ τὴν γῆν καὶ θερμῶν ὑδάτων καὶ ψυχρῶν·
58.31
Πολὺ δὲ πῦρ καὶ πυρὸς μεγάλους ποταμούς, πολλὰ δὲ ὑγροῦ πηλοῦ καὶ καθαρωτέρου καὶ βορβορωδεστέρου, ὥσπερ ἐν Σικελίᾳ οἱ πρὸ τοῦ ῥύακος πηλοῦ ῥέοντες ποταμοὶ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ῥύαξ, ὧν δὴ καὶ ἑκάστους τόπους πληροῦσθαι, ὡς ἂν ἑκάστοις τύχῃ ἑκάστοτε περιρροὴ γιγνομένη.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 144758.29 · The earth’s hollows differ in shape
“Such is the nature of the whole earth and of what surrounds it. But within it there are many regions in its hollows, all around it: some deeper and more widely opened than the one we inhabit, others deeper but with a narrower opening than our region, and still others shallower than ours and wider.”1733
58.30 · Passages connecting the hollows
“All these regions are connected underground by many openings, ⟨through⟩ narrower and wider passages, and have channels by which much water flows from one into another as into mixing bowls. Beneath the earth are immeasurably great perennial rivers, of hot waters as well as cold.”1734
58.31 · Fire and streams of mud
“There is much fire and there are great rivers of fire, and large quantities of liquid clay, some purer and some muddier, like the rivers of clay that flow before the fiery stream in Sicily, and the fiery stream itself. Each region is filled with these substances according to the surrounding flow that happens to reach it on each occasion.”1735
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.29–I.49.58.31
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
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.