Stephanus pagination

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Stephanus pagination is the system of reference and organisation used in modern editions and translations of Plato (and less famously, Plutarch). Plato's (and Plutarch's) works are divided into numbers, and each number will be divided into equal sections a, b, c, d and e. As such, this system is often used to reference Plato - for example, Symposium 172a would refer the reader to the opening of Plato's Symposium.

This system of pagination is based on an edition of Plato by Henricus Stephanus (Henri Estienne). The numbers refer to page numbers in the various volumes of his edition of 1578. No work spans more than one volume; so, there are not multiple occurrences of the same page number for a single work. As there were multiple volumes, however, the numbers need to be used in conjunction with a title in order to make any sense, i.e. 172a by itself could refer to passages in several dialogues, but Symposium 172a refers only to one passage.

Bekker numbers are the comparable system for the works of Aristotle.

Contents

Stephanus numbers

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

External links

it:Edizione di Stephanus fi:Stephanuksen numerointi