Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.135 — Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.135
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
Body is defined by Apollodorus in his Physics as that which is extended in three dimensions, length, breadth, and depth. This is also called solid body. But surface is the extremity of a solid body, or that which has length and breadth only without depth. That surface exists not only in our thought but also in reality is maintained by Posidonius in the third book of his Celestial Phenomena. A line is the extremity of a surface or length without breadth, or that which has length alone. A point is the extremity of a line, the smallest possible mark or dot. God is one and the same with Reason, Fate, and Zeus; he is also called by many other names.
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.135 (on the Stoics), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.135
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book VII, tr. R. D. Hicks (Loeb, 1925). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesGeometry-style definitions of body, surface, line and point. The passage ends by identifying God with Reason, Fate and Zeus, one being with many names.
Older wording
- “extremity”
- — the outer edge or boundary
- “solid body”
- — a three-dimensional object
Themes and situations
- Nature and the cosmos
Quote cards
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