From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAgalma can denote an image, especially one associated with a god.
- In StobaeusBardisanes’s reported inquiry describes a seated divine image on the head of the larger statue.
- In this edition“Image of a god” is explicit and avoids an unsupported identification.
- A place to beginA seated image of a god rests on the larger statue.
- English renderings
- sacred image; divine image
Meaning
Agalma can denote an image, especially one associated with a god. The context supplies its sacred role.
Use in the book
Bardisanes’s reported inquiry describes a seated divine image on the head of the larger statue. The two objects should remain distinct: the larger statue’s material and mixed bodily features are discussed separately from the image above it. The deity represented is not named in the excerpt.
Places to read
- I.3.56eA seated image of a god rests on the larger statue.
Translation in this edition
“Image of a god” is explicit and avoids an unsupported identification.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 68–69. The account is mediated through Bardisanes and Porphyry; the report’s extraordinary material claims are preserved as testimony.