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 4 · I.4.8a–I.4.8b

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 83 of 879

Book I Chapter 4 · I.4.8a–I.4.8b

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Ancient Greek

p. 162

8 Ἑρμοῦ πρὸς τὸν υἱόν (αʹ)

I.4.8a

Ὀρθῶς μοι πάντα εἶπας, ὦ πάτερ, ἀλλ’ ἔτι με ἀνάμνησον, τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ κατὰ πρόνοιαν καὶ τίνα ⟨τὰ⟩ κατ’ ἀνάγκην, ὁμοίως καὶ καθ’ εἱμαρμένην;

Ἔφην εἶναι ἐν ἡμῖν, ὦ Τάτ, τρία εἴδη ἀσωμάτων· καὶ τὸ μέν τι ἐστὶ νοητόν, τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἀχρώματον, ἀσχημάτιστον, ἀσώματον, ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς πρώτης καὶ νοητῆς οὐσίας. Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν τούτῳ ἐναντία σχηματότητες ⟨αἷς⟩ τοῦτο ὑποδέχεται. Τὸ γοῦν κινούμενον ὑπὸ τῆς νοητῆς οὐσίας πρός τινα λόγον καὶ ὑποδεχθέν, εὐθέως μεταβάλλεται εἰς ἕτερον εἶδος κινήσεως, τοῦτο δὲ εἴδωλόν ἐστι τοῦ νοήματος τοῦ δημιουργοῦ.

8 Ἑρμοῦ πρὸς τὸν υἱόν (βʹ)

I.4.8b

Τρίτον δέ ἐστιν εἶδος ἀσωμάτων, ὃ περὶ τὰ σώματά ἐστι συμβεβηκός, τόπος, χρόνος, κίνησις, σχῆμα, ἐπιφάνεια, μέγεθος, εἶδος· καὶ τούτων εἰσὶ διαφοραὶ δύο. Αἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν αὐτῶν ἰδίως ποιά, ἃ δὲ τοῦ σώματος. Τὰ μὲν ἰδίως ποιὰ τὸ σχῆμα, ἡ χρόα, τὸ εἶδος, ὁ τόπος, ὁ χρόνος, ἡ κίνησις· τὰ δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἴδιά ἐστι τὸ ἐσχηματισμένον σχῆμα καὶ τὸ κεχρωσμένον χρῶμα, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ μεμορφωμένη μορφὴ καὶ ἡ ἐπιφάνεια καὶ τὸ μέγεθος· ταῦτά ἐστι τούτων μεταξύ.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 4

p. 163

8 Hermes, to his son (1)

I.4.8a

“You have explained everything rightly to me, father. But remind me once more: what things occur according to providence, what ⟨things⟩ according to necessity, and likewise according to fate?”

“I said, Tat, that there are three kinds of incorporeal things in us. One is intelligible: it is colorless, shapeless, bodiless, and derives from the first and intelligible substance itself.¹⁷⁵ There are also configurations in us opposed to this, ⟨by means of which⟩ it receives what comes to it. What is moved by intelligible substance toward a particular rational pattern and received is at once changed into another kind of movement; this is an image of the creator’s thought.¹⁷⁶

8 Hermes, to his son (2)

I.4.8b

“A third kind of incorporeal things consists of what is incidental to bodies: place, time, movement, shape, surface, magnitude, and form. There are two distinctions within these: some are qualities in their own right, others belong to body. Qualities in their own right are shape, color, form, place, time, and movement. What belongs specifically to body is the shape that has been given shape and the color that has been imparted, as well as the form that has been formed, surface, and magnitude. These stand between those.¹⁷⁷

175.The son is addressed as Tat. “Intelligible” describes what is apprehended by intellect rather than by bodily sensation; “incorporeal” means without body. These terms should not be collapsed into “invisible.”

176.The sentence about configurations is strained. The base edition supplies hais, “by means of which”; the English supplies the unstated object “what comes to it.” The apparatus suggests “we receive” for “it receives” and questions whether the final clause about the creator’s thought is an inserted explanation. The printed wording is retained.

177.The repetition of shape, color, and form distinguishes qualities considered in themselves from their realization in a body. The final “these” and “those” are obscure, and the apparatus records divergent readings. The English retains their indeterminacy rather than assigning a new set of referents.

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.