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Facing Pages · Branch 76 of 879
Book I Chapter 3 · I.3.56d–I.3.56e
Ancient Greek
p. 14856 Πορφυρίου (δʹ)
Ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδριάντι λέγουσι γεγλύφθαι περὶ τὸν μαζὸν τὸν δεξιὸν ἥλιον καὶ περὶ τὸν ἀριστερὸν σελήνην καὶ κατὰ τῶν δύο βραχιόνων .... τέχνῃ γεγλύφθαι ἀγγέλων ἀριθμὸν καὶ ὅσα ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, τουτέστιν οὐρανὸν καὶ ὄρη καὶ θάλασσαν καὶ ποταμοὺς καὶ ὠκεανὸν καὶ φυτὰ καὶ ζῷα καὶ ἁπλῶς ὅσα ἐστί. Τοῦτον τὸν ἀνδριάντα φασὶ δεδωκέναι τὸν θεὸν τῷ υἱῷ, ὁπηνίκα τὸν κόσμον ἔκτιζεν, ἵνα θεατὸν ἔχῃ παράδειγμα.
56 Πορφυρίου (εʹ)
Ἐξήτασα δὲ (φησὶ) ποίας ἐστὶν ὕλης, καὶ διεβεβαιοῦτο ὁ Σανδάλης, ἐμαρτύρουν δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι, μηδένα εἰδέναι ποίας ὕλης ἐστὶν ὁ ἀνδριὰς ἐκεῖνος· οὔτε γὰρ χρυσός ἐστιν οὔτε ἀργύρεος οὔτε χάλκεος οὔτε λίθινος οὔτε ἄλλης ὕλης, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον παραπλήσιός ἐστι ξύλῳ στερεοτάτῳ καὶ ἀσηπτοτάτῳ· μὴ εἶναι δὲ ξύλον.
Προσετίθεσαν δὲ λέγοντες, ὅτι τῶν βασιλέων τις ἠθέλησεν ἀφελέσθαι τρίχα ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ, καὶ αἷμα ῥεῦσαι καὶ φοβηθῆναι τὸν βασιλέα ἐκεῖνον, ὡς μόλις εὐξαμένων τῶν Βραχμάνων ἀνακτήσασθαι ἑαυτόν. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ κεφαλῇ τούτου λέγουσι θεοῦ ἄγαλμα εἶναι ὡς ἐπὶ θρόνου τινὸς καθήμενον.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 3
p. 14956 Porphyry (4)
“They say that on this statue a sun has been carved at the right breast and a moon at the left, and along both arms, with ... artistry, a number of angels have been carved, together with everything in the cosmos: heaven, mountains, sea, rivers, ocean, plants, animals, and, in a word, everything that exists. They say God gave this statue to his son when he was creating the cosmos, so that he might have a visible model.”156
56 Porphyry (5)
“I inquired,” he says, “what material it was made of. Sandales firmly declared, and the others supported his testimony, that no one knew the material of that statue. It is neither gold nor silver nor bronze nor stone nor any other material, but resembles extremely hard and decay-resistant wood; yet it is not wood.157
“They added that one of the kings wished to remove a hair from those around its neck, and blood flowed. The king became so frightened that he scarcely recovered himself after the Brahmans had prayed. On its head, they say, there is an image of a god, seated as though on a throne.”
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 3 · I.3.56d–I.3.56e
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.
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