Abstract

The aim of this paper is to offer a suggestion for a new interpretation of Parmenides’ poem. In order to do so, we must first (I) discuss some traditional accounts of the two paths to knowledge in fragment 2 and their relationship with the functions of the Greek verb ‘to be’. Then, we (II) will expound Charles Kahn’s thesis about the ancient uses of the Greek verb ‘to be’, which sets the question on a new basis. To conclude, we (III) will show how some aspects of the oral tradition, in which the poem is certainly inserted, can illuminate the interpretation of the problems addressed by the poem.