From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordGenētos describes what has an origin through coming to be.
- In StobaeusA Hermetic teacher warns that an unprepared hearer may despise the cosmos after learning that it is generated and may excuse misconduct by blaming fate.
- In this edition“Generated” is useful in technical contrasts; “has come into being” often reads more naturally in continuous prose.
- A place to beginThe teacher fears an ethically damaging interpretation of cosmic generation.
- English renderings
- generated; having come to be
Meaning
Genētos describes what has an origin through coming to be. The word concerns a mode of existence, not by itself a judgment of worthlessness.
Use in the book
A Hermetic teacher warns that an unprepared hearer may despise the cosmos after learning that it is generated and may excuse misconduct by blaming fate. The warning exposes a misuse of the doctrine. In the Timaeus material, generated things can be beautiful when fashioned after an unchanging pattern.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
“Generated” is useful in technical contrasts; “has come into being” often reads more naturally in continuous prose.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 137–138, 278. The Hermetic passage presents a reason for restricting disclosure, not a general equation of generation with unreality or evil.