The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers · Character

Parmenides

The Eleatic sage who taught that all is one, unmoving, and eternal, and who adopted Zeno as his devoted pupil and heir.

supporting

Also known as wise Parmenides, Parmenides of Zeno the Eleatic

First appearance: Parmenides

As a supporting figure in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Parmenides is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Some say Anaximenes was also a pupil of Parmenides.

In the storyAnaximenesOpen this moment free

In Diogenes' pages Parmenides is the revered elder of Elea, a man so trusted in politics that his city made him admiral, and so admired for private virtue that his doctrines carried weight beyond the school. His teaching that the universe is one, unchanging, and without real motion sets him against the flux most Greeks took for granted, and his refusal to define the gods marks him as a thinker unafraid of pious convention. He matters because he is the hinge on which the Eleatic line turns: Zeno's paradoxes and dialectic grow directly from his master's austere vision of being.

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Character Web

62 connections

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Relationships

Pythagoras
social · ambivalent
Parmenides was influenced by Pythagorean thought, though he developed his own monistic… How this plays out →
Pythagoras
social · ambivalent
Parmenides was influenced by Pythagorean thought, though he developed his own monistic… How this plays out →

Relationship notes

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In the story

Parmenides appears across 7 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Anaximenes
Some say Anaximenes was also a pupil of Parmenides.
Book VIII: The Pythagorean and Promiscuous Philosophers
Mentioned as a teacher of Empedocles and Zeno, and as an influence on Empedocles' poetic style.
Empedocles
Empedocles is described as an imitator and rival of Parmenides in his poems.
Book IX: The Skeptics and the Eleatic School
Pupil of Xenophanes and Anaximander; first to assert the earth is spherical; discovered Hesperus and Lucifer are the same star.
Parmenides
Main subject of the chapter; pupil of Xenophanes and Anaximander, follower of Aminias the Pythagorean; first to assert spherical earth and central universe; taught dual elements and the primacy of reason.
Melissus
Teacher of Melissus.
Zeno, the Eleatic
Zeno was a pupil of Parmenides and greatly attached to him; Plato mentions Zeno in his Parmenides.

Chapter companion notes

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