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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

John Stobaeus

Stobaeus, Volume I

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.34–I.49.58.35

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Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.58.34–I.49.58.35

Ancient Greek

p. 1450

58.34

I.49.58.34

Αἰωρεῖται δὲ καὶ κυμαίνει ἄνω καὶ κάτω, καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ περὶ αὐτὸν ταὐτὸν ποιεῖ· ξυνέπεται γὰρ αὐτὸ καὶ ὅταν εἰς τὸ ἐπέκεινα τῆς γῆς ὁρμήσῃ καὶ ὅταν εἰς τὸ ἐπὶ τάδε, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀναπνεόντων ἀεὶ ἐκπνεῖ τε καὶ ἀναπνεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ῥέον, ⟨οὕτω καὶ ἐκεῖ ξυναιωρουμένων τῷ ὑγρῷ τὸ πνεῦμα⟩ δεινούς τινας ἀνέμους καὶ ἀμηχάνους παρέχεται καὶ εἰσιὸν καὶ ἐξιόν.

58.35

I.49.58.35

Ὅταν δὲ οὖν ὑποχωρήσῃ τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν δὴ κάτω καλούμενον, τοῖς κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνα τὰ ῥεύματα τῆς γῆς εἰσρεῖ καὶ πληροῖ αὐτὰ ὥσπερ ἐπαντλοῦντες· ὅταν τε αὖ ἐκεῖθεν ἀπολίπῃ, δεῦρο δὴ ὁρμήσῃ, τὰ ἐνθάδε πληροῖ αὖθις, τὰ δὲ πληρωθέντα ῥεῖ διὰ τῶν ὀχετῶν καὶ διὰ τῆς γῆς, καὶ εἰς τοὺς τόπους ἕκαστα ἀφικνούμενα, εἰς οὓς ἑκάστοις ὁδοποιεῖται, θάλαττάν τε καὶ λίμνας καὶ ποταμοὺς καὶ κρήνας ποιεῖ·

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Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1451

58.34 · The earth’s movement resembles breathing

I.49.58.34

“It sways and surges up and down, and the air and the breath around it do the same. For it accompanies the fluid both when it rushes toward the far side of the earth and when it rushes toward this side. Just as in breathing creatures the flowing breath continually passes out and in, ⟨so there too the breath, swaying together with the fluid,⟩ produces terrible winds of immense force as it enters and leaves.”1738

58.35 · The alternating filling of the channels

I.49.58.35

“When the water withdraws into the region called below, it flows into the streams in those parts of the earth and fills them, as though people were pouring water into them. When it leaves there again and rushes this way, it fills the channels here in turn. What has filled them flows through the conduits and through the earth, each portion reaching the places to which a way has been made for it, and forms sea, lakes, rivers, and springs.”1739

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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.