DiotimosReading Desk

Being and explanation

Place and space

τόπος; χώρα

topos; chōra

These spatial terms acquire different definitions in different reports.

From the book

Stobaeus, Volume I

John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Browse this book’s lexicon →

Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordThese spatial terms acquire different definitions in different reports.
  • In StobaeusStrato defines place through the interval between container and contained.
  • In this edition“Place” and “space” preserve the paired terminology where it is explicit.
  • A place to beginPlace is an interval in the report of Strato.
English renderings
place; space

Meaning

These spatial terms acquire different definitions in different reports. Topos may also be a topic of discussion; chōra can designate a region or an occupied area as well as space in a technical distinction.

Use in the book

Strato defines place through the interval between container and contained. Zeno and his followers distinguish void, place, and space by bodily occupation. In the inquiry into souls’ entry, topos introduces the topic being examined rather than a physical location.

Places to read

  1. I.18.1bPlace is an interval in the report of Strato.
  2. I.18.1dVoid, place, and space are distinguished by whether body occupies them.
  3. I.49.41.3Topos is the topic under which the manner of the soul’s entry is investigated.

Translation in this edition

“Place” and “space” preserve the paired terminology where it is explicit. A local non-spatial use of topos can be “topic.” The lexicon does not impose one definition on all the reports.

Source note

Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 156–157, 381. At I.49.41.3 the printed topos is retained and interpreted as “topic”; it is not replaced by the conjectured tropos, “manner.”