Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Poem of Parmenides (A New Translation)

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/06/23/18682732.php
For those who are concerned with such matters, in English, no good translation of the Poem of Parmenides has been produced; the John Burnet (1892) translation being incomplete, and, from what was done, is not even close to good enough for the contemporary student. I have, therefore, produced one. I will not reiterate the biography of Parmenides, whereas it is available elsewhere in many places, and will not interpret his philosophy, which has been done poorly, with meager knowledge of it; since an good translation has, until now, been non-extant.


I have rendered only his poem, in translating it putting in enough of myself by translating. The student should note, moreover, that, of his poem, what is extant comes to us in fragments; the enumeration of those fragments in the table of contents to this work is a supposed logical order handed over to us by the textual critics of the 19th century. We accept as correct their text as an article of faith; if they did their work right, and we believe they have, then what we do have is the best text we shall ever have. Keep in mind, however, each part of the poem is a fragment. We cannot, therefore, know what went before or what came after each of them, leaving context to conjecture. Like all things mortal, my translation and commentary are flawed; I must confess my philological powers often failed me. To the best of my knowledge, nevertheless, is the best English translation, ad hoc, you will find. In view of the foregoing, let it, then, be a spring-board for a new study of this worthy author. For my part, I shall rely on my readers to supply the necessary corrections when needed.

Edward H. Campbell
Bozeman, MT
June 23, 2011
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Other works by the author:
Male Contentus ad Romam: B.C. 63
http://inopibuspressseattle.blogspot.com/2010/08/httphttp://www.html

CICERO'S IN CATILINAM I- II & III 1-10 (A New Translation)
http://inopibuspressseattle.blogspot.com/2009/09/ciceros-in-catilinam-i-ii-iii-1-10-new.html

Tacitus' Germanorum Liber 1.1 - 10.6 (A New Translation)
http://inopibuspressseattle.blogspot.com/2009/08/tacitus-germanorum-liber-11-106-new_28.html

Discontents at Rome: 63 B.C. (Revised June 17, 2009)
http://inopibuspressseattle.blogspot.com/2009/07/discontents-at-rome-63-bc-revised-june.html

Genesis: The Seven Days of Creation (A new translation from Jerome's Latin Bible)
http://inopibuspressseattle.blogspot.com/2009/06/genesis-seven-days-of-creation-new.html

The Spartacus Rebellion: a new translation from Appian's Civil Wars
http://inopibuspressseattle.blogspot.com/2008/12/spartacus-rebellion-new-translation_17.html

Sallust's Bellum Catilinae: A New Translation
http://inopibuspressseattle.blogspot.com/2008/12/sallusts-bellum-catilinae-new.html
Posted by at 2:15 PM