From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Ocean
ὠκεανός
ōkeanosŌkeanos can name Ocean as a divine figure or the great encompassing body of water.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordŌkeanos can name Ocean as a divine figure or the great encompassing body of water.
- In StobaeusThe sea beyond the inhabited world is called both Atlantic and Ocean, flowing around the inhabited region.
- In this edition“Ocean” preserves the named encompassing sea; distinguish this use from explicit poetic personification.
- A place to beginThe inner sea is described as an inlet of the encompassing Ocean.
- English renderings
- Ocean; encompassing ocean
Meaning
Ōkeanos can name Ocean as a divine figure or the great encompassing body of water. The selected geographical account uses the latter sense.
Use in the book
The sea beyond the inhabited world is called both Atlantic and Ocean, flowing around the inhabited region. Through the Pillars of Heracles it enters the inner sea, described as an inlet expanding into connected gulfs. Ocean provides the larger geographical frame within which the Mediterranean is situated.
Places to read
- I.40.1.17The inner sea is described as an inlet of the encompassing Ocean.
Translation in this edition
“Ocean” preserves the named encompassing sea; distinguish this use from explicit poetic personification.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 259. The Pillars of Heracles designate the western entrance to the Mediterranean at the Strait of Gibraltar.
From the book
The Green Notebook
Maurice de Guérin · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Ocean
Océan; mer; mers
Océan gives the sea a vast, often individualized presence; mer can name the same waters more generally.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordOcéan gives the sea a vast, often individualized presence; mer can name the same waters more generally.
- In GuérinThe first sight of the ocean is preceded by glimpses and anticipation.
- In this editionThe English preserves Ocean with a capital where the French prints Océan.
- A reading distinctionThe December 7–21 main text belongs to the 1864 editor’s substituted loose-sheet version.
Meaning
Océan gives the sea a vast, often individualized presence; mer can name the same waters more generally. Guérin’s capitalization contributes to this presence, but the two words are not a stable division between a symbolic ocean and an ordinary sea.
Use in the book
The first sight of the ocean is preceded by glimpses and anticipation. In April 1833 the sea is initially heard beyond the dark town: a great monotonous voice reaches him before its full extent can be seen. The next morning its apparent infinity exceeds the soul’s capacity to order what it feels. God, the Flood, exploration, catastrophe, and literature crowd into the experience; the paragraph admits that the impression remains unsettled.
The December coastal entries become more discriminating. Guérin corrects his impulse to rank the calm sea above the storm: serenity is his preference, not an objective measure of the two sublimities. With Hippolyte he hears breaking and withdrawing waves, watches clouds and seabirds, and feels his body shaken on the cliff. Oceanic grandeur requires a small, vulnerable observer rather than abolishing that observer.
The sea’s voice also enters household time, accompanying meals, walks, work, and affection. Departure turns coastline into an image he tries to retain; later inward life borrows oceanic depth and coastal boundaries. The range extends from overwhelming first encounter to intimate recurring company. Even when ocean imagery describes thought, it keeps the distinction between the exposed shore and the inaccessible offshore expanse.
Places to read
- 29 March 1833 · ¶1A distant luminous strip prepares the first full encounter
- 15 April 1833 · ¶1Sound precedes sight, and the first oceanic impression defeats settled verbal ordering
- 8 December 1833 · ¶1The judgment of two kinds of sublimity is explicitly corrected
- 9 December 1833 · ¶2Patient listening distinguishes the sounds of incoming and outgoing water
- 22 October 1834 · ¶1The shore’s expendable waves and untouched offshore waters become an anatomy of thought
Translation in this edition
The English preserves Ocean with a capital where the French prints Océan. It also keeps the change to the serene, blue sea for mer sereine et bleue in December, allowing the shift of diction within one scene to remain visible.
Source note
The December 7–21 main text belongs to the 1864 editor’s substituted loose-sheet version. The separately supplied 1861 coastal passages are another printed witness, not additional paragraphs to insert into this main sequence.