This study touches upon the Aëtius hypothesis established by Hermann Diels in 1879 about the relation of dependence of doxographical sources. They stem largely from the basic texts, the Placita of Pseudo-Plutarch and the Eclogae of Stobaeus, to reconstruct the work of Aëtius.Methodologically, an attempt has been made to consider the basic texts separately from that of Aëtian and not, as is usually the case, to regard them as the equivalent to the Aëtian's, which merely exists idealiter as a hypothetical outcome of related text sources directly or indirectly.Taking into account the text sources, particularly the Theodoret and the Achilles, the synoptic examination of basic texts unravels structural and substantial anomalies which lead to constructing new hypotheses, without having to follow the postulate of the reconstruction of Aëtius.It turns out that the Placita of Pseudo-Plutarch covered far-reaching transformation that are the result of traditional processes which are not synchronized with on another.

Dr. Heike Bottler lehrt am Institut für Klassische Philologie der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main und unterrichtet als Studienrätin am Lessing-Gymnasium in Frankfurt.