Parmenides and Empedocles: The Fragments in Verse Translation

by Parmenides, Empedocles, Stanley Lombardo (Editor)

Parmenides and Empedocles, along with Heraclitus the most important of the pre-Socratic philosophers, were at the same time among the greatest poets of the ancient world. But their work is rarely treated and still more rarely translated in its original form—as poetry. The complete extant fragments of Parmenides and Empedocles are collected here for the first time in a translation responsive to the original verse texts.

Parmenides' philosophical fragments are here given as the poetic remains of the thinker from Elea in Southern Italy whom Socrates wondered at and Plato held in awe. What emerges from the poetry is at once an uncompromising vision of absolute Being and a compassionate understanding of the human cosmos.

The poetry of Empedocles—reincarnationist, naturalist, cosmologist, religious leader, physiologist, and metaphysician—is presented here in the personal idiom of the fifth-century Sicilian who has been called the last of the Greek shamans.

Guy Davenport writes: "Lombardo's translations of hard Greek into sound and lucid English is an enviable example of the translator's art. He translates well because he writes well; he writes well because he knows the tone, texture, and weight of words, how to keep English idiomatic and natural, how to build a phrase and sentence. Everyone interested in the Greek spirit will welcome this confident rendering of two difficult masterpieces."

Genres: Philosophy, Poetry

66 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Parmenides of Elea (greek: Παρμενίδης)was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Italy. He was the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy. Parmenides was also a priest of Apollo and iatromantis. The single known work of Parmenides is a poem which has survived only in fragmentary form. In this poem, Parmenides describes two views of reality. In The Way of Truth (a part of the poem), he explains how reality is one, change is impossible, and existence is timeless, uniform, and unchanging. In The Way of Opinion, he explains the world of appearances, which is false and deceitful. These thoughts strongly influenced Plato, and through him, the whole of western philosophy.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outside of Plato and Aristotle, Parmenides is probably the most important Greek Philosopher, if for no other reason than the fact that he posits truth and being as unchanging over against the changing world of human percpetion. The insight not only influences the way we think about truth, beauty and goodness but also influenced philosophers as late as Heidegger.

[Maan Kawas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and fascinating read! How full of wisdom were those ancient philosophers! In addition to their great ideas and tenets, I loved the poetic gown with which they wrapped their ideas! The translation was very good and readable (though I cannot judge it well, due to my ignorance of Ancient Greek). Finally, I appreciated the translator's passion to bring these masterpieces to light.

[Eddie Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow; Gods willing.

[Dann · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best translation I've read for both Parmenides and Empedocles. The translation is poetic. He clearly labels the fragments which was extremely helpful for making better sense of it. Whatever else he did with this version makes it remarkably more clear to the reader as well. Would recommend a thousand times.

[Ryan Schaller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parmenides and Empedocles were two early Greek poets of a more mystical tradition. Many of the translations are single or two-line fragments, but there are some significant chunks and longer passages in here. Felt very much like reading a Greek Walt Whitman.

[Stephen Batty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lombardo's English captures the spirit of the primal poetry - fragments? Well, reading between these beautiful lines, every thing is a fragment, that's the One point ☝️

[Swarthout · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fragment of empedocles i felt was wonderful:

"in the densely patterned
abyss of space, there
at the point of fixity
in the stillness only
a Sphere, a globe
quietly rejoicing in its solitude"

[Stephen Okita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both of these spoke of the noumena i think only accessible by verse. Socrates should have tried harder to understand these guys and not just duel them.

[Zachary Mays · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, strange, and haunting. Will be reading again, with more fixed attention. Words to be digested and turned over. Mystical and dreamy poetic fragments that at times sound more like Vedic wisdom than Greek philosophy.