From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSphygmos is a pulse or throbbing movement.
- In StobaeusThe earthquake account describes imprisoned vapor producing throbbing and trembling in the ground.
- In this edition“Throbbing” is clearest in the terrestrial context; “pulse” retains the bodily analogy.
- A place to beginThrobbing characterizes earth disturbed by enclosed vapor.
- English renderings
- pulse; throbbing
Meaning
Sphygmos is a pulse or throbbing movement. Its bodily associations can be extended to explain motion in earth.
Use in the book
The earthquake account describes imprisoned vapor producing throbbing and trembling in the ground. Heavy rain seals the earth and compresses the exhalation within it, increasing the force of impact. Pulse here is an image or description of repeated motion, not the observation of an anatomical artery.
Places to read
- I.36.2.5Throbbing characterizes earth disturbed by enclosed vapor.
Translation in this edition
“Throbbing” is clearest in the terrestrial context; “pulse” retains the bodily analogy.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 250. The sequence is textually disrupted. The edition preserves the printed order while noting a proposed rearrangement.