Parmenides,
Introduction
Arthur Fairbanks, ed. and trans. The First Philosophers of Greece (London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1898), 86-111.

Hanover Historical Texts Project
Scanned by, October 1996.


(86) Parmenides, the son of Pyres (or Pyrrhes), of Elea, was born about 515 B.C.; his family was of noble rank and rich, but Parmenides devoted himself to philosophy. He was associated with members of the Pythagorean society, and is himself called a Pythagorean by later writers. In the formation of his philosophic system however he was most influenced by his aged fellow-townsman, Xenophanes; the doctrines of Xenophanes he developed into a system which was embodied in a poetic work 'On Nature.' The statement that he made laws for the citizens may have reference to some connection with the Pythagorean society.

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