From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordLeios describes a smooth surface.
- In StobaeusThe account of a mock sun compares the cloud to a smooth bronze mirror.
- In this edition“Smooth” is direct and should remain distinct from the cloud’s separately stated uniformity and density.
- A place to beginThe smooth bronze mirror models the reflecting cloud.
- English renderings
- smooth
Meaning
Leios describes a smooth surface. In optical analogies, smoothness helps specify the kind of reflecting surface envisaged.
Use in the book
The account of a mock sun compares the cloud to a smooth bronze mirror. Its uniform, watery, dense condition is said to produce a white appearance resembling the sun in shape and color. Smoothness belongs to the comparison explaining the reflection, rather than to a claim that clouds are metal.
Places to read
- I.30.2.8The smooth bronze mirror models the reflecting cloud.
Translation in this edition
“Smooth” is direct and should remain distinct from the cloud’s separately stated uniformity and density.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 241–242. Wachsmuth retains the noun mirror, recognizing the passage as a paraphrase rather than an exact quotation of Aristotle.