Parmenides and Empedocles [Paperback]

Just when you thought the ancient Greeks invented practically everything, you discover they invented even more. I mean, we all know they gave us democracy and philosophy and basically the bedrock of our entire scientific and mathematical understanding, but who would've guessed they also gave us psychedelic poetry that's almost zenlike in its message of meditation and inner travel? Well, they did, and Stanley Lombardo has done a fantastic job translating the surviving work of two of these psychedelic poets of ancient Greece, Parmenides and Empedocles.

Published in 1982, this was Lombardo's first translation (the Parmenides section however first appeared in a scholarly journal in 1979). All of the elements he's now known for are already in place: the lines are supple, sparse, and strong, and they reward reading aloud. He has his critics, but Lombardo is my favorite translator of ancient poetry. He has a love for the poetic form, and brings that love into every piece he's translated. As a scholar he also has an assured grasp on the background and history of the works and the environment in which they were produced.

Parmenides' work is presented as "Fragments," which is how the work has come down to us. Regardless of it's damaged state, it still has a logical flow. The impact of this work on me was (and continues to be) enormous. Simply put, one could devise an entire spiritual worldview from this poem. Here Parmenides takes us on a metaphysical journey to the depths of space, where he is given a lesson from an unnamed goddess. The imagery Parmenides renders is cutting-edge psychedelia in Lombardo's skilled hands. The lesson Parmenides relates can be broken down to: IT will always be and IT ISN'T can never be. It's all very zenlike and not dry in the least. This isn't stuffy lecturing from some haggard Greek philosopher; it is, as Lombardo insists, a near-shamanistic revelation from the soul's core. And what with the apocalyptic aspect of the flaming chariots carrying Parmenides into the sky where he's given a message by a celestial being, one can't help but draw comparisons to the so-called "Revelation of John." Further proof that the early Christians drew so much from their "pagan" predecessors.

Empedocles is a different affair. We have more of his work, but less of an idea of its order. It seems he wrote two long works, each around 3,000 lines, the first titled "On Nature" and the second "Purifications." Only 450 lines survive from both works, and it's debatable which lines are from which poem. "On Nature" is a cosmological look at the world, relating the One and the Many; it seems to be modeled on Parmenides' work, but I find it much less affecting. This of course is due to its lesser state, but still, despite Lombardo's incredible translation I find myself struggling to appreciate the full of "On Nature." The ancients appreciated it, though - Lucretius even modeled and named his own "On Nature" after it. Empedocles' second poem is another matter. "Purifications" is a Pythagorean expose on the transmigration of souls, filled with esoteric lore which Empedocles apparently got in trouble for revealing. There seems to be less material from this poem than "On Nature," unfortunately, but what's left is fantastic. I wish there was more.

Lombardo's skill is in how he chooses just the right word and phrase. "Praxis," "plenum," "precise equipoise," etc. Words that convey the otherness of Parmenides' and Empedocles' shamanistic teaching. Those who know Lombardo from his later Homer translations will be surprised to find him in a more Poundian mode here; lines break up across the page, the text presented as a work of art itself. In some ways I prefer this - the entire book comes off like a collection of zen koans, translated by some hermetic beatnik, only it's material written millennia ago by two ancient Greek philosophers.

Lombardo provides a brief introduction where he relates the two philosopher/poets and their milieu, but I would have appreciated a little more information. I understand this was Lombardo's intent, though: this is presented as a book of poetry, so he didn't want to cloud it up with a bunch of scholarly digressions. Still, I wanted a little more detail on how these fragments were transmitted down to us over the centuries. Also, Lombardo doesn't give as much information as he could: Parmenides references obscure gods like Ananke and Themis in his poem, none of whom are much known these days; Lombardo could have let his less mythology-inclined readers know who they are in his introduction. And there's a mysterious reference to "beans" in Empedocles' "Purifications," which might confuse the average reader; Lombardo doesn't mention that the Pythagoreans believed souls were transmitted through beans, and as such they forbade the eating of them. On the positive side, Lombardo does guide us through all three of the poems, expounding on their meaning (integral to an understanding of Empedocles), sharing his theories on what they meant for their original readers.

This is one of my favorite books of ancient poetry. Highly recommended for anyone who has enjoyed Lombardo's more recent translations or anyone with an interest in ancient philosophy. Upon finishing this book I turned back to the first page for an immediate re-read; that's how good it is.

When I found out about these translations by Stanley Lombardo, I absolutely had to get them! I am a huge Lombardo fan and have all his translations.

This one is his early masterpiece. He takes Paremenides' and Empedocles' fragments and creates a recognizable unity among them, making of them a comprehensive and organic whole.

Those that say the Greeks weren't aware of re-incarnation (Resurrection), sublime humility and compassion, enlightenment, and well versed in the doctrines of the paths of knowledge and self-knowledge (Initiation) well before Buddhism and Christianity ever came into being should read Parmenides and Empedocles, as well as the fragments of Heraclitus.

The poetry in these philosophic verses are rendered by Lombardo to such beauty and extraordinary power that one feels in sheer awe of the two Ancient Greek Masters.

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