This study by the classical philologist Karl Reinhardt, first published in 1916, proves that the doctrinal poem of Parmenides does not diverge into two separate parts, but is a unity, and places the creator of the Eleatic doctrine in the historical context with Xenophanes and Heraclitus. "What Reinhardt achieved in his Parmenides book was truly groundbreaking, and we are only beginning to appreciate how the inner closeness that Reinhardt uncovered between Parmenides and Heraclitus opened up a whole new dimension of questioning. Due to this book, the philosophical interpretation of the pre-Socratics was bound to be subjected to a thoroughgoing re-evaluation." (Hans-Georg Gadamer)

Karl Reinhardt (1886-1958), einer der bedeutendsten Gräzisten seiner Zeit, lehrte von 1924 bis zu seiner Emeritierung 1951 Altphilologie an der Universität Frankfurt am Main.