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Book I Chapter 53 · I.53.5.2–I.53.5.3
Ancient Greek
p. 16605.2
Ὅλως μὲν οὖν φωνὴν θῶμεν τὴν δι᾽ ὤτων ὑπ᾽ ἀέρος ἐγκεφάλου τε καὶ αἵματος μέχρι ψυχῆς πληγὴν διαδιδομένην, τὴν δὲ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς κίνησιν ἀπὸ κεφαλῆς μὲν ἀρχομένην, τελευτῶσαν δὲ περὶ τὴν τοῦ ἥπατος ἕδραν ἀκοήν·
5.3
ὅση δὲ αὐτῆς ταχεῖα, ὀξεῖαν, ὅση δὲ βραδυτέρα, βαρυτέραν· τὴν δὲ ὁμαλὴν λείαν· τὴν δὲ ἐναντίαν τραχεῖαν· μεγάλην δὲ τὴν πολλήν, ὅση δ᾽ ἐναντία, σμικράν. Τὰ δὲ περὶ ξυμφωνίας αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς ὕστερον λεχθησομένοις ἀνάγκη ῥηθῆναι.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 53
p. 16615.2 · Sound and its movement through the body
“In general, then, let us define sound as a blow delivered by air through the ears to the brain and blood and transmitted as far as the soul; and hearing as the movement caused by that blow, beginning in the head and ending around the seat of the liver.”2022
5.3 · Pitch, texture, and loudness
“When this movement is swift, let us call the sound high-pitched; when slower, lower-pitched; when even, smooth; when the opposite, rough; when abundant, loud; and when the opposite, soft. Their concords must be discussed among the matters to be treated later.”2023
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 53 · I.53.5.2–I.53.5.3
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.