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 55 · I.55.2.2–I.55.2.4

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 838 of 879

Book I Chapter 55 · I.55.2.2–I.55.2.4

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Ancient Greek

p. 1672

2.2

I.55.2.2

Ὅσα μὲν γὰρ εἰσιόντα περὶ τὰ φλέβια, οἷόν περ δοκίμια τῆς γλώττης τεταμένα ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν, εἰς τὰ νοτερὰ τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ἁπαλὰ ἐμπίπτοντα γήινα μέρη κατατηκόμενα ξυνάγει τὰ φλέβια καὶ ἀποξηραίνει, τραχύτερα μὲν ὄντα στυφνά, ἧττον δὲ τραχύνοντα αὐστηρὰ φαίνεται.

2.3

I.55.2.3

Τὰ δὲ τούτων τε ῥυπτικὰ καὶ πᾶν τὸ περὶ τὴν γλῶτταν ἀποπλύνοντα πέρα μὲν τοῦ μετρίου τοῦτο δρῶντα καὶ προσεπιλαμβανόμενα, ὥστε ἀποτήκειν αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως, οἷον ἡ τῶν νίτρων δύναμις, πικρὰ πάνθ᾽ οὕτως ὠνόμασται·

2.4

I.55.2.4

τὰ δ᾽ ὑποδεέστερα τῆς νιτρώδους ἕξεως ἐπὶ τὸ μέτριον τε τῇ ῥύψει χρώμενα ἁλυκὰ ἄνευ πικρότητος τραχείας καὶ φίλα μᾶλλον ἡμῖν φαντάζεται.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 55

p. 1673

2.2 · Astringent and austere tastes

I.55.2.2

“For earthy particles entering around the little vessels, which are like testing instruments of the tongue stretched toward the heart, fall upon the moist, soft parts of the flesh and dissolve, drawing the little vessels together and drying them. When rougher, they seem astringent; when they roughen less, austere.”²⁰³⁷

2.3 · Bitter cleansing

I.55.2.3

“Those that cleanse these parts and wash away everything around the tongue, when they do so beyond measure and attack further, so as to dissolve the tongue’s own substance, as does the power of natron, have all accordingly been called bitter.”²⁰³⁸

2.4 · Milder cleansing and saltiness

I.55.2.4

“Those less powerful than the natron-like condition, using their cleansing action in moderation, appear salty without harsh bitterness, and more agreeable to us.”²⁰³⁹

2037.The passage itself describes the tongue’s small vessels as testing instruments directed toward the heart. Earthy particles are the subject of the actions. Styphna and austēra name stronger and weaker degrees of the drying, contracting effect, rendered astringent and austere; the latter word describes a taste, not a moral disposition.

2038.Rhyptika means cleansing or scouring. The explanation links bitterness with a cleansing action strong enough to affect the tongue’s own tissue. Nitra is rendered natron, an alkaline cleansing substance, without identifying it with a single pure modern compound. The example belongs to the ancient classification.

2039.The comparative contrast is between excessive and moderate cleansing. Halyka means salty. The English follows the printed nitrōdous, natron-like; the difference between this word and the spelling reported for Plato is orthographic, not an additional ingredient.

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.