“Only one story of the way still remains: that it is.”
— ParmenidesFragment B8, lines 1-2 (Diels-Kranz numbering), preserved in Simplicius; approximate English rendering
Commentary
This line introduces the most complete statement of the poem's argument about being, and it marks the point at which the way of truth is shown to admit only one route. Kirk, Raven, and Schofield note that the verse concludes a long discussion of the ways of inquiry and begins the systematic account of what must be true of whatever is. Alexander Mourelatos, in The Route of Parmenides, treats the line as a transition in which the poet turns from negative argument to positive description, and he argues that the poem's structure is best understood as a sequence of deductions. Jonathan Barnes has observed that the phrase translated as story can also mean account or report, which affects how the line is read, and that the choice of rendering reflects different views of the poem's genre. Patricia Curd's study connects the line to the later Eleatic tradition, in which the claim that being is one and unchanging became a standard point of reference for Zeno and Melissus. The English given here is approximate, and readers should consult the Greek and a critical commentary, since the term rendered story is contested.
Commentary
This line introduces the most complete statement of the poem's argument about being, and it marks the point at which the way of truth is shown to admit only one route. Kirk, Raven, and Schofield note that the verse concludes a long discussion of the ways of inquiry and begins the systematic account of what must be true of whatever is. Alexander Mourelatos, in The Route of Parmenides, treats the line as a transition in which the poet turns from negative argument to positive description, and he argues that the poem's structure is best understood as a sequence of deductions. Jonathan Barnes has observed that the phrase translated as story can also mean account or report, which affects how the line is read, and that the choice of rendering reflects different views of the poem's genre. Patricia Curd's study connects the line to the later Eleatic tradition, in which the claim that being is one and unchanging became a standard point of reference for Zeno and Melissus. The English given here is approximate, and readers should consult the Greek and a critical commentary, since the term rendered story is contested.