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.49.68.19–I.49.68.21

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 772 of 879

Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.68.19–I.49.68.21

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Ancient Greek

p. 1540

68.19

I.49.68.19

Τὸ δὲ διάστημα τοῦτο, ὦ τέκνον Ὧρε, μοιρῶν μέν ἐστι γενικῶν τεσσάρων [εἰδικῶν δὲ χωρῶν ἑξήκοντα]. Ὧν ἡ μὲν ἀπὸ γῆς ἄνω χωρῶν ἐστι τεσσάρων, ὡς τὴν γῆν κατά τινας λόφους καὶ ἀκρωρείας ἀνατεῖναι καὶ φθάνειν ἄχρι τοσούτου· ὑπὲρ γὰρ ταύτας αὐτὴν ἀναβῆναι τὸ ὕψος οὐκ ἔχει φύσιν.

68.20

I.49.68.20

Ἡ δ᾽ ἀπὸ ταύτης δευτέρα ἐστὶ χωρῶν ὀκτὼ [ἐν αἷς γίγνονται ἀνέμων κινήσεις] (πρόσεχε, παῖ, ἀρρήτων γὰρ ἐπακούεις μυστηρίων γῆς τε καὶ οὐρανοῦ καὶ παντὸς τοῦ μέσου ἱεροῦ πνεύματος), ὅπου ἡ τοῦ ἀνέμου κίνησις καὶ ἡ τῶν ὀρνέων πτῆσις· ὑπὲρ γὰρ ταύτης οὔτε ἀὴρ κινεῖται οὔτε ζῷον βαστάζει.

68.21

I.49.68.21

Ἔχει μέντοι παρὰ τῆς φύσεως ταύτην τὴν ἐξουσίαν ὁ ἀὴρ οὗτος, ὥστε καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἰδίαις ὀκτὼ χώραις καὶ ἐν ταῖς τῆς γῆς τέτταρσι περιπολεῖν μεθ᾽ ὧν ἔχει ζῴων, τῆς γῆς εἰς τὰς αὐτοῦ ἐπαναβῆναι ⟨μὴ⟩ δυναμένης.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49

p. 1541

68.19 · Four broad divisions

I.49.68.19

“This interval, my child Horus, consists of four broad divisions [and sixty particular regions]. The first, extending upward from the earth, contains four regions, since the earth rises in certain hills and mountain summits and reaches that far. Its height does not naturally allow it to ascend beyond these.”¹⁸⁵⁵

68.20 · The second division and its mysteries

I.49.68.20

“The second division above this contains eight regions [in which the movements of winds occur]. Attend, child, for you are hearing secret mysteries of earth and heaven and all the sacred breath between them. Here are the movement of wind and the flight of birds, for above this division air neither moves nor supports a living creature.”¹⁸⁵⁶

68.21 · The reach of the lower air

I.49.68.21

“This air has by nature the power to circulate, together with the living creatures it contains, both in its own eight regions and in the earth’s four, while the earth is ⟨not⟩ able to rise into its regions.”¹⁸⁵⁷

1855.The editor rejects the bracketed statement of sixty particular regions here, although the total is retained later. The four broad divisions contain progressively more regions. The final Greek construction is compressed; English provisionally makes the earth’s height the subject, without adopting an apparatus emendation.

1856.The rejected phrase about wind remains bracketed. The subsequent statement about wind is retained, so the repetition can be assessed. Arrhēta mystēria are mysteries not to be divulged. The claims about motion and living creatures describe the dialogue’s layered cosmology; the passage soon assigns finer air to higher divisions.

1857.The supplied mē, not, is credited in the apparatus to Heeren with Canter’s interpretation. It establishes the asymmetry: this air enters the earth’s regions, but earth does not reach into the air’s own eight regions. The numbers four and eight remain separate.

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.