From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordElachiston means smallest in the relevant comparison.
- In StobaeusPosidonius distinguishes the point-like boundary between past and future from the smallest stretch of time perceived as now.
- In this editionTranslate the qualifying phrase with the superlative: “smallest perceptible” is more exact than an unqualified “instant.”
- A place to beginThe smallest perceptible present has duration, unlike a point-like boundary.
- English renderings
- smallest; minimum
Meaning
Elachiston means smallest in the relevant comparison. A perceptual minimum need not be a mathematically indivisible point or an atomic body.
Use in the book
Posidonius distinguishes the point-like boundary between past and future from the smallest stretch of time perceived as now. Diodorus’s account instead calls partless bodies smallest. The accounts concern different domains and different grounds of minimality; the adjective alone does not identify one common doctrine of indivisibles.
Places to read
- I.8.42.2The smallest perceptible present has duration, unlike a point-like boundary.
- I.10.16a.4Partless bodies are also called smallest bodies.
Translation in this edition
Translate the qualifying phrase with the superlative: “smallest perceptible” is more exact than an unqualified “instant.”
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 105–106, 128. The Epicurean report at I.10.14.3 explicitly distinguishes being an atom from simply being the smallest.