§19 [105-107]
way of answering the question often directed to me, namely, why I do not respond to the German criticism. Up to now I have not felt myself seriously attacked, nor do I find myself actually defended by my so-called disciples. Needless to say, I do not believe my interpretations are flawless, nor am I unaware of the really weak portions of my endeavors.
All of this is trying to say, in brief: pay attention primarily not to the means and paths of our interpretation, but to what these means and paths will set before you. If that does not become especially essential to you, then the discussion of the correctness or incorrectness of the interpretation will a fortiori remain inconsequential. |
§19. Interpretation of fragment 1.
Preparation for the question of Being
a) The grasp of the circumstances and images
This didactic poem has a rather long introduction and thus does not commence immediately with the simple question “what are beings?” Parmenides’s introduction operates by presenting images. The aim and task of this presentation and the details of its content can be grasped only through a comprehension of the genuine didactic substance of the poem.
Presumably, this introduction will help prepare for the question of Being, and we will have to ask whether this inceptual posing of the question concerning Being coincides with the one we attempted to unfold in meditating on that understanding of Being which pertains to existence and which we considered the most question-worthy.
In case the two questionings do not coincide, we will have to determine why not and also whether the non-coincidence is necessary and which differences are required here by the matter at issue itself. Only in that way can we decide to what extent it is or is not right to speak here of an introduction, a proemium, or whether this does not perhaps actually belong to the matter itself, with the matter for its part belonging necessarily to an “introduction.” At first we want to gain acquaintance with this introduction in a preliminary way, using a translation that will likewise only be preparatory.
D 1, 1–32
Ἵπποι ταί με φέρουσιν, ὅσον τ᾽ ἐπὶ θυμὸς ἱκάνοι,
πέμπον, ἐπεί μ᾽ ἐς ὁδὸν βῆσαν πολύφημον ἄγουσαι
δαίμονος, ἣ κατὰ πάντα τη φέρει εἰδότα φῶτα·
τῇ φερόμην· τῇ γάρ με πολύφραστοι φέρον ἵπποι
5 ἅρμα τιταίνουσαι, κοῦραι δ᾽ ὁδὸν ἡγεμόνευον.