DiotimosReading Desk

Perception and knowledge

Steersman

κυβερνήτης

kubernētēs

Kybernētēs is a helmsman or steersman, a skilled director of a vessel’s movement.

From the book

Stobaeus, Volume I

John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordKybernētēs is a helmsman or steersman, a skilled director of a vessel’s movement.
  • In StobaeusThe soul treatise pairs helmsman and wind as principal causes of a ship’s motion, distinguishing them from other indispensable conditions.
  • In this edition“Helmsman” is conventional; “steersman” keeps the governing activity explicit.
  • A place to beginThe helmsman illustrates a principal cause rather than a merely necessary condition.
English renderings
steersman; helmsman

Meaning

Kybernētēs is a helmsman or steersman, a skilled director of a vessel’s movement.

Use in the book

The soul treatise pairs helmsman and wind as principal causes of a ship’s motion, distinguishing them from other indispensable conditions. The analogy presents soul as using body as instrument or vehicle. Its causal point differs from the related analogy stressing a helmsman’s ability to leave the ship.

Places to read

  1. I.49.36.5The helmsman illustrates a principal cause rather than a merely necessary condition.
  2. I.49.41.5A separable helmsman illustrates one account of bodily use.

Translation in this edition

“Helmsman” is conventional; “steersman” keeps the governing activity explicit.

Source note

Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 371, 382. The verb translated encompassing follows the printed reading despite proposed alternatives in the apparatus.