From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAidios describes what always exists or endures.
- In StobaeusThe collected sayings call God immortal and everlasting, and identify the divine maker as everlasting intellect.
- In this edition“Everlasting” emphasizes continuance; “eternal” may be appropriate in theological descriptions.
- A place to beginSayings attributed to Socrates and Hermes describe everlasting divinity.
- English renderings
- everlasting; eternal
Meaning
Aidios describes what always exists or endures. It often accompanies “immortal,” but the two adjectives answer different questions: duration and liability to death.
Use in the book
The collected sayings call God immortal and everlasting, and identify the divine maker as everlasting intellect. Other passages apply the adjective to heavenly bodies. The predicate alone does not settle how their continuance relates to a maker: the Hermetic account can call bodies everlasting while also describing their production.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
“Everlasting” emphasizes continuance; “eternal” may be appropriate in theological descriptions. Preserve the passage’s separate claims about origin.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 34, 290–291. The sayings in I.1.29a are transmitted attributions, not verified records of historical conversations.