From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordArchetypos characterizes an original pattern in relation to what resembles it.
- In StobaeusThe report assigned to Arius Didymus describes the particular forms as archetypes with priority over sensible bodies.
- In this edition“Archetype” is retained where the relation to copies is explicit.
- A place to beginParticular forms are archetypes, and their comprehensive unity models the world.
- English renderings
- archetype; original pattern
Meaning
Archetypos characterizes an original pattern in relation to what resembles it. In the selected passage the adjective is used substantivally in the plural.
Use in the book
The report assigned to Arius Didymus describes the particular forms as archetypes with priority over sensible bodies. It then moves to a most perfect substance containing the forms together, presented as the comprehensive model of the cosmos. Priority here is explanatory; the wording alone does not require an earlier moment in time.
Places to read
- I.12.2a.2Particular forms are archetypes, and their comprehensive unity models the world.
Translation in this edition
“Archetype” is retained where the relation to copies is explicit. It should not suggest an inherited psychological image.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 136. The final identification as the world’s pattern is supplied by Wachsmuth from the parallel passage in Eusebius.