The Journey of the Soul in Parmenides and the

In fhe ferse and compressed language of poef ~ fhe Presocrafic pht'losopher Parmemdes of Elea expressed, for fhe firsf fime in fhe West fhe deepesf ideas of nondua/istic metaphysics. These ideas bear a close resemb/ance fo, but are not necessari/y derived from, the Vedanfic phi/osophy which informs fhe Upanishads and ofher mefaphysical fexfs of ancient India. The prooemium fo fhe poem of Parmenides confains a graphic mefaphor in which fhe sou/'s progress fowards ulfimafe frufh is represenfed by fhe iourney of a chariof. In developing his mefaphor, Parmenides shows how it is Jusfice which defermines fhe progress of fhe sou/. His vision of Justice is both individual and universa/. This atricle examines Parmenides's parab/e of the chariot in comparison wifh a remarkably similar image which occurs i