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 52 · I.52.heading–I.52.2

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Book I Chapter 52 · I.52.heading–I.52.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 1626

Κεφάλαιον ΝΒʹ

I.52.heading

Περὶ ὁράσεως καὶ κατοπτρικῶν ἐμφάσεων.

1

I.52.1

⟨Ἀετίου.⟩

Λεύκιππος Δημόκριτος Ἐπίκουρος κατὰ εἰδώλων εἴσκρισιν οἴονται τὸ ὁρατικὸν συμβαίνειν πάθος.

[Καὶ κατὰ τινων ἀκτίνων ἔκκρισιν μετὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ ὑποκείμενον ἔνστασιν πάλιν ὑποστρεφουσῶν πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν.]

2

I.52.2

⟨Ἀετίου.⟩

Τιμαγόρας, εἷς τῶν παραχαραξάντων ἐν συγγραφαῖς τὴν Ἐπικούρειον αἵρεσιν, ἀντὶ τῶν εἰδώλων ταῖς ἀπορροίαις χρῆται.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 52

p. 1627

Chapter 52 · Sight and mirrors

I.52.heading

On sight and images in mirrors.¹⁹⁷⁴

1 · Incoming images and a rejected addition

I.52.1

⟨Aëtius.⟩

Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus think that visual experience occurs through the entry of images.

[And through the emission of certain rays which, after meeting the object, return again to the eye.]¹⁹⁷⁵

2 · Effluences

I.52.2

⟨Aëtius.⟩

Timagoras, one of those who distorted the Epicurean school’s doctrine in their writings, employs effluences in place of images.¹⁹⁷⁶

1974.The heading is absent from FPL and was restored by Heeren from Photius p. 112b31-32. Emphaseis are appearances or reflected images. The chapter juxtaposes incoming images, outgoing rays, and accounts involving the intervening medium; their differences are preserved.

1975.The supplied locator is Aëtius IV.13.1 and 2a, Diels p. 403. Eidōla are images entering the perceiver. The outgoing-ray explanation is bracketed as an addition imported into the Laurentian collection from the work cited as Plutarch, Placita IV.13. It is not silently combined with the three named thinkers’ account. Compare excerpt 10.

1976.The supplied group attribution covers excerpts 2-8: Aëtius IV.13.6-12, Diels p. 403. Paracharassein literally evokes altering a stamp or counterfeiting; distorted retains the report’s critical tone. Aporroiai are streams or emanations flowing from objects, here distinguished from images.

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.