David Furley's original entry remains an exemplary introduction to Parmenides' thought. Since its publication, philosophers have focused on the character of the routes of inquiry that the goddess lays out in the poem, suggesting different interpretations of the subjectless is (or esti), and of the nature of to eon, the subject of inquiry. In addition, scholars have continued to study the Proem (the opening lines of the poem) and the Doxa (the goddesses' statement of mortal opinion), but there is no consensus about either.

Newer studies emphasize the undoubted influences of Homer and Hesiod (fl. c. 800 BCE) as models for Parmenides' language and poetic images, while others recognize the continuity of Parmenides' thought with that of his predecessors. For example, Xenophanes of Colophon questions whether human knowledge is possible: In the absence of divine warrant or intercession, how can human beings of...