We will read and discuss two Greek poems: the most famous poem from Greek tragedy (the second choral ode of Sophocles’ Antigone) and the fragments of Parmenides’ philosophical poem, which is the first philosophical work of the greatest importance of which we possess substantial remains.

We will also read excerpts from Heidegger’s lecture series, Introduction to Metaphysics. Heidegger takes Parmenides (esp. the one line of fragment 3) to provide the misunderstood foundation of Western philosophy, which is the object of his criticism in the book. He offers a new interpretation of Parmenides and a reading of Sophocles ode as providing a genuine alternative paradigms for poetic thinking.

We will read these texts in a new translation and try to arrive at our own interpretation of their meaning.