From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMegethos is magnitude or size, distinguished from the number of things and from a thing’s possession of magnitude.
- In StobaeusDiodorus’s smallest bodies are said to be infinite in number but bounded in magnitude.
- In this edition“Magnitude” suits the mathematical distinction; “size” often makes a statement about individual bodies clearer.
- A place to beginAn infinite number of bodies can each have bounded size.
- English renderings
- magnitude; size
Meaning
Megethos is magnitude or size, distinguished from the number of things and from a thing’s possession of magnitude.
Use in the book
Diodorus’s smallest bodies are said to be infinite in number but bounded in magnitude. The qualifications prevent two different senses of infinity from being confused. The Aristotelian report separately lists length, breadth, and depth as magnitudes, then names the things that possess them.
Places to read
- I.10.16a.4An infinite number of bodies can each have bounded size.
- I.14.1c.1Magnitudes are distinguished from the continua possessing magnitude.
Translation in this edition
“Magnitude” suits the mathematical distinction; “size” often makes a statement about individual bodies clearer.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 128, 141. Diodorus’s bodies are also called partless; bounded magnitude does not by itself state their divisibility.