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 57 · I.57.heading–I.57.1.2

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Book I Chapter 57 · I.57.heading–I.57.1.2

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Ancient Greek

p. 1684

Κεφάλαιον ΝΖʹ

I.57.heading

Περὶ φωνῆς καὶ εἰ ἀσώματος ἡ φωνὴ καὶ ⟨πόθεν αἰσθητικὴ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ⟩ τί αὐτῆς τὸ ἡγεμονικόν.

1.1

I.57.1.1

⟨Ἀετίου.⟩

Πλάτων τὴν φωνὴν ὁρίζεται πνεῦμα διὰ στόματος ἀπὸ διανοίας καὶ πληγὴν ὑπ᾽ ἀέρος δι᾽ ὤτων καὶ ἐγκεφάλου καὶ αἵματος μέχρι ψυχῆς διαδιδομένην.

1.2

I.57.1.2

Λέγεται δὲ καὶ καταχρηστικῶς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων φωνὴ καὶ τῶν ἀψύχων, ὡς χρεμετισμοὶ καὶ ψόφοι. Κυρίως δὲ φωνὴ ἔναρθρός ἐστιν, ἔστι γὰρ φωτίζουσα τὸ νοούμενον.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 57

p. 1685

Chapter 57 · Voice

I.57.heading

On voice, whether voice is incorporeal, ⟨whence the soul has the power of perception, and⟩ what its ruling part is.²⁰⁵⁰

1.1 · Breath and a transmitted blow

I.57.1.1

⟨Aëtius.⟩

Plato defines voice as breath passing through the mouth from thought, and as a blow delivered by air and transmitted through the ears, brain, and blood as far as the soul.²⁰⁵¹

1.2 · Voice in the strict and extended senses

I.57.1.2

The word voice is also used in an extended sense of nonrational animals and of inanimate things, as with neighing and noises. Strictly speaking, however, voice is articulate, for it illuminates what is thought.²⁰⁵²

2050.The editor supplies the middle clause of this heading, referring to his Prolegomena. The heading announces more questions than the short surviving excerpt answers. The single excerpt has no printed number; 1 and its decimal subdivisions are modern comparison locators, as also in chapters 58 and 60.

2051.The supplied Latin attribution identifies Aëtius IV.19.11, Diels p. 407, line 13. This formulation differs from I.53.5.2: here ears, brain, and blood are explicitly linked under through. Phōnē is voice or sound; the first definition connects it with thought, while the second describes its physical transmission.

2052.Katachrēstikōs marks an extended or improper use of a word, contrasted with its strict use. The explanation associates phōnē with phōtizein, to illuminate: articulate speech makes thought clear. This is the passage’s explanatory wordplay, not a claim about a securely established linguistic derivation. This completes chapter 57.

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.