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 50 · I.50.heading–I.50.2a

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Book I Chapter 50 · I.50.heading–I.50.2a

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Ancient Greek

p. 1580

Κεφάλαιον Νʹ

I.50.heading

Περὶ αἰσθήσεως καὶ αἰσθητῶν καὶ εἰ ἀληθεῖς αἱ αἰσθήσεις.

1

I.50.1

⟨Ἀετίου.⟩

Ἐπίκουρος· τό ⟨τε⟩ μόριόν ἐστιν ἡ αἴσθησις, ἥτις ἐστί⟨ν ἡ⟩ δύναμις, καὶ τὸ ἐπαίσθημα, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ ἐνέργημα· ὥστε διχῶς παρ᾽ αὐτῷ λέγεσθαι αἴσθησιν μὲν τὴν δύναμιν, αἴσθησιν δὲ τὸ ἐνέργημα.

2a

I.50.2a

⟨Ἀετίου.⟩

Πλάτων τὴν αἴσθησιν ἀποφαίνεται ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος κοινωνίαν πρὸς τὰ ἐκτός· ἡ μὲν γὰρ δύναμις ψυχῆς, τὸ δὲ ὄργανον σώματος, ἄμφω δὲ διὰ φαντασίας ἀντιληπτικὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 50

p. 1581

Chapter 50 · On perception

I.50.heading

On perception, perceptible things, and whether perceptions are true.¹⁹⁰⁹

1 · Capacity and activity

I.50.1

⟨Aëtius.⟩

Epicurus: perception is ⟨both⟩ the part, which is ⟨the⟩ capacity, and the perceptual experience, which is the activity. Thus he uses the term in two ways, calling both the capacity and the activity perception.¹⁹¹⁰

2a · Soul and body in partnership

I.50.2a

⟨Aëtius.⟩

Plato declares perception to be a partnership of soul and body directed toward external things. For the capacity belongs to the soul, the instrument to the body, and both apprehend external things through an impression.¹⁹¹¹

1909.The editor restores this heading from Photius and the Laurentian table of contents; it is absent from the three witnesses designated FPL. Aisthēsis can mean the capacity for perception, an act of perceiving, or a particular sense. The chapter collects differing accounts, without requiring agreement among them. Decimal subdivisions within longer excerpts are modern comparison divisions.

1910.The supplied attribution is printed in Latin, with the locator Aëtius IV.8.2, Diels p. 394. The compressed wording identifies perception with a part, morion, and with its experienced activity; part is retained rather than silently replaced by organ. The two textual supplements are marked; the second includes a Greek final n as well as the article translated the.

1911.The editor supplies Aëtius IV.8.3, Diels p. 394. Koinōnia is participation or partnership; the report assigns different functions to soul and body. Phantasia is here impression or presentation, without the implication that its object is imaginary. The printed numbering 2a and 2b is preserved.

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.