From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPachnē is frost.
- In StobaeusArrian says that freezing produces frost and compares frost’s relation to dew with snow’s relation to rain.
- In this edition“Frost” should remain distinct from ice, hail, and snow in each classification.
- A place to beginFrost and dew form one pair in an analogy of frozen and unfrozen water.
- English renderings
- frost
Meaning
Pachnē is frost. Its relation to dew provides a comparison for other forms of atmospheric water.
Use in the book
Arrian says that freezing produces frost and compares frost’s relation to dew with snow’s relation to rain. The analogy distinguishes freezing from the gathering of moisture without freezing. Plato’s quoted classification similarly connects frost with dew congealing on earth, while arranging the other products by location and degree.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
“Frost” should remain distinct from ice, hail, and snow in each classification.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 247. The excerpts preserve different explanatory schemes; their similar vocabulary does not make their accounts identical.