From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordOktāedron names a solid with eight faces.
- In StobaeusThe report attributed to Pythagoras associates the octahedron with air, alongside other assignments linking the regular solids to elements and the whole cosmos.
- In this edition“Octahedron” is the precise geometrical term; “eight-faced solid” explains the name.
- A place to beginThe octahedron is assigned to air among five geometrical figures.
- English renderings
- octahedron; eight-faced solid
Meaning
Oktāedron names a solid with eight faces. In the scheme of regular solids, these are triangular faces.
Use in the book
The report attributed to Pythagoras associates the octahedron with air, alongside other assignments linking the regular solids to elements and the whole cosmos. The shape belongs to an explanatory correspondence between geometry and physical bodies, not a report that ordinary visible air consists of readily observable polyhedra.
Places to read
- I.21.6c.2The octahedron is assigned to air among five geometrical figures.
Translation in this edition
“Octahedron” is the precise geometrical term; “eight-faced solid” explains the name.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 186. The scheme resembles the elemental geometry familiar from Plato’s Timaeus, but the attribution of this report must still be given as it stands. Some neighboring assignments contain editorially supplied wording.