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.55.2.5–I.55.2.7

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Book I Chapter 55 · I.55.2.5–I.55.2.7

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Ancient Greek

p. 1674

2.5

I.55.2.5

Τὰ δὲ τοῦ στόματος θερμότητι κοινωνήσαντα καὶ λίαν μὲν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ συνεκπυρούμενα καὶ πάλιν αὐτὰ ἀντικάοντα τὸ διαθερμῆναν, φερόμενά τε ὑπὸ κουφότητος ἄνω πρὸς τὰς κεφαλῆς αἰσθήσεις, τέμνοντα πάνθ᾽ ὅσοις ἂν προσπίπτῃ, διὰ ταύτας τὰς δυνάμεις δριμέα πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐλέχθη.

2.6

I.55.2.6

Τῶν δὲ αὐτῶν προλελεπτυσμένων μὲν ὑπὸ σηπεδόνος, εἰς δὲ τὰς στενὰς φλέβας ἐνδυομένων, καὶ τοῖς ἐνοῦσιν αὐτόθι μέρεσι γεώδεσι καὶ ὅσα ἀέρος ξυμμετρίαν ἔχοντα, ὥστε κινήσαντα περὶ ἄλληλα ποιεῖν κυκᾶσθαι, κυκώμενα δὲ περιπίπτειν τε, καὶ εἰς ἕτερα ἐνδυόμενα ἕτερα κοῖλα ἀπεργάζεσθαι, περιγιγνόμενα τοῖς εἰσιοῦσιν·

2.7

I.55.2.7

ἃ δὴ νοτίδος περὶ ἀέρα κοίλης περιταθείσης, τοτὲ μὲν γεώδους, τοτὲ δὲ καθαρᾶς, νοτερὰ ἀγγεῖα ἀέρος ὕδατα κοῖλα περιφερῆ τε γενέσθαι, καὶ τὰ μὲν τῆς καθαρᾶς διαφανεῖς περιστῆναι, κληθείσας ὄνομα πομφόλυγας,

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 55

p. 1675

2.5 · Pungency and heat

I.55.2.5

“Those that share in the mouth’s heat and are intensely kindled along with it, then in turn burn what warmed them, and are carried upward by their lightness toward the senses of the head, cutting everything they encounter: all such things were called pungent because of these powers.”²⁰⁴⁰

2.6 · Decay, circulation, and enclosure

I.55.2.6

“Some of these same substances, refined beforehand by decay, enter the narrow passages and are proportioned to the earthy particles there and to whatever air is present. They set these in motion, making them circulate around one another; as they circulate, they collide, and, entering into one another, form hollows by enclosing what enters.”²⁰⁴¹

2.7 · The formation of bubbles

I.55.2.7

“When moisture, sometimes earthy and sometimes pure, is stretched in a hollow shell around air, these become moist containers of air, hollow and rounded bodies of water. Those formed from pure moisture stand transparent around it and are given the name bubbles.”²⁰⁴²

2040.The printed kai lian men, and intensely, is retained; the apparatus records the different phrase kai leiainomena, and being smoothed, in Plato. The Greek’s unbalanced construction is smoothed in English without importing that reading. Drimea is pungent or acrid: the description combines reciprocal heating, upward movement, and cutting.

2041.The Greek shifts from genitive participles to other constructions; the English gives a provisional continuous account while retaining the actions in order. It takes the stated proportion as relating the entering substances to the earthy and airy contents of the passages. Perigignomena is read as enclosing, in preparation for the following account of moist walls around air. No missing Greek is supplied.

2042.The syntax continues the preceding difficult sentence. The English understands hydata koila peripherē as hollow, rounded bodies of water: the moisture surrounds the enclosed air. Pompholyges are bubbles. The distinction between pure and earthy moisture leads to the next contrast.

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.