Volf, Marina N. Review of Alexander Mourelatos' THE ROUTE OF PARMENIDES. BMCR January 6, 2009.

Mourelatos, Alexander P. D. The Route of Parmenides. New Haven: Yale UP, 1970. Republished as The Route of Parmenides: revised and expanded edition; with a new introduction, three supplemental essays, and an essay by Gregory Vlastos (originally published 1970). Las Vegas: Parmenides Publications, 2008.

Alexander Mourelatos's book The Route of Parmenides does not require any special introduction since it has become a classic in Parmenides studies. Now, thanks to Parmenides Publishing, we have both a new reprint of this remarkable book and an opportunity to look at it from new angles. The Route, being already part of philosophical history, has a history of its own. This explains its structure with a new preface and afterword written for this edition and its overall composition. The book has three parts with nine chapters, four appendixes and detailed explanatory notes. The first part is a new edition of The Route originally published in 1970. As Mourelatos explains, "the revisions ... are modest: mostly corrections of misprints; altering or adjusting some misleading formulations; editing some egregiously dated phrases;... and the like" (p. xi). The Route starts with a detailed and informative table of contents which allows easy navigation around the book. In the preface entitled "Returning to Elea: Preface and Afterword to the Revised and Expanded Edition of The Route of Parmenides," Mourelatos recounts the history of his studying the Parmenidean poem and writing The Route, starting with a critical discussion of the main ideas of his dissertation on Parmenides written in 1963. Then he recounts the problems raised in The Route and the initial feedback just after its publication (1963-1968). He also considers transformation of some of his points of view expressed in the 1970s. Finally, Mourelatos discusses the prospects of the conception stated in The Route of 2008. It is a very intimate section of the book in which we get to know Mourelatos as a scholar and a person. . . .

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