From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordGēraskein is to grow old.
- In StobaeusThe Hermetic animal catalogue describes a serpent becoming young again even after growing old, comparing its renewal with divine nature.
- In this edition“Growing old” preserves the verbal process; “old age” names the resulting condition.
- A place to beginA serpent’s renewed youth is contrasted with its prior aging.
- English renderings
- growing old; aging
Meaning
Gēraskein is to grow old. The process can be contrasted with renewed youth in accounts of exceptional creatures.
Use in the book
The Hermetic animal catalogue describes a serpent becoming young again even after growing old, comparing its renewal with divine nature. Aging supplies the condition from which renewal occurs. The excerpt leaves the mechanism unspecified, so the explanation should not add an unmentioned process such as shedding skin.
Places to read
- I.49.44.49A serpent’s renewed youth is contrasted with its prior aging.
Translation in this edition
“Growing old” preserves the verbal process; “old age” names the resulting condition.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 398–399. The catalogue contains idealized claims about exemplary animals, including sleepless lions and harmless serpents; these remain features of its narrative.