Parmenides and the Divine

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

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Department of Philosophy, Faculty of literature and Humanities, University of Tehran

Abstract

The divine command and its exposition as the necessary realm of Being constitute the central theme of Parmenides' poem. The work narrates the intellectual journey of a young [poet] guided by divine forces (daimon) along the path to true knowledge. The poem's structure delineates a coherent tripartite voyage: the ascent from the world of appearances to the divine realm (the Proem), contemplation of the singular and necessary essence (Aletheia, the Way of Truth), and the return to the cosmic order to comprehend how plurality is unified through divine principle (Doxa, the Way of Opinion). Parmenides' thought is fundamentally related to the divine; in the Greek conception, the gods were characterized by honor (timē) and craft (technē), each allotted a distinct portion (moira) of the cosmos and Being, this order maintained by Ananke (Necessity) and Dikē (Justice). Parmenides appropriates these theological motifs to reconstruct the divine on the foundation of a singular, necessary Being; attributes such as permanence, immobility, and perfection in fact describe this essential realm of Being or the divine itself. Even within Doxa and the realm of plurality, knowledge is attained through apprehension of the divine unity that governs them. A recurring motif in the poem is circular motion and the convergence of dualities. It is the same to Parmenides, From what place he should begin, to that place he shall come back again.

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 24 May 2026

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