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.52.20.1–I.52.20.2

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Book I Chapter 52 · I.52.20.1–I.52.20.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 1644

20.1

I.52.20.1

⟨Ἐν ταὐτῷ.⟩ [εἰς τὸ περὶ χρωμάτων].

Ἔστι γένος ἡμῖν αἰσθητικόν, ὃ διελέσθαι δεῖ συχνὰ ἐν αὐτῷ ποικίλματα κεκτημένον, ἃ ξύμπαντα μὲν χρόας ἐκαλέσαμεν, φλόγα τῶν σωμάτων ἑκάστων ἀπορρέουσαν, ὄψει σύμμετρα μόρια ἔχουσαν πρὸς αἴσθησιν· ὄψεως δ᾽ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν αὐτὸ περὶ τῶν αἰτίων τῆς γενέσεως ἐρρήθη·

20.2

I.52.20.2

τῇδ᾽ οὖν τῶν χρωμάτων πέρι μάλιστα εἰκὸς πρέπει τ᾽ ἂν τὸν ἐπιεικῆ λόγῳ διεξελθεῖν, τὰ φερόμενα ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων μόρια ἐμπίπτοντά τε εἰς τὴν ὄψιν, τὰ μὲν ἐλάττω, τὰ δὲ μείζω, τὰ δὲ ἴσα τῆς αὐτῆς ὄψεως μέρεσιν εἶναι.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 52

p. 1645

20.1 · The class of colors

I.52.20.1

⟨In the same work.⟩ [For the section on colors.]

“There is a perceptible class for us to distinguish, containing many varieties within it, all of which we have called colors: a flame flowing from each body, with particles proportioned to sight so as to be perceived. As for sight, the matter of the causes of its generation was discussed earlier.”²⁰⁰³

20.2 · Particles and the visual stream

I.52.20.2

“Accordingly, this is the most likely way to proceed concerning colors, and it would be fitting for a reasonable person to explain in words: the particles traveling from other things and striking the visual stream are some smaller, some larger, and some equal to the parts of that visual stream itself.”²⁰⁰⁴

2003.The edition identifies Timaeus 67c-68d. The work reference is supplied; the bracketed direction is rejected as an old reader’s cross-reference to I.16, where almost all this passage recurs. The present wording differs at several points, and is translated independently as printed. Aisthētikon is here provisionally perceptible, referring to the class being distinguished; the wording does not call it the fourth class as the earlier extract does.

2004.The printed ton epieikē logōi is grammatically awkward. The translation provisionally takes ton epieikē as a reasonable person and logōi as in words; the apparatus records epieikē logon, a reasonable account, in another reading, but it is not silently adopted. Opsis is rendered visual stream where the account treats it as composed of particles.

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.