SOURCE: Inwood, Brad. “Part I: Introduction.” In The Poem of Empedocles, translated by Brad Inwood, pp. 3-72. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992.

In the following excerpt, Inwood examines controversies concerning Empedocles's life and works and offers a broad summary of his philosophy.

1.1 Text and Translation

The principal aim of this book is modest: to make available for students with a philosophical interest in Empedocles (whether they read ancient Greek or not) the texts necessary for an exploration of his thought. For no other Presocratic thinker is there so much evidence. The literal quotations of Empedocles' own poetry are extensive, the biographical tradition generous (if eccentric), and the volume of ancient discussion of his thought staggering. My first goal, then, is simple: to translate for the Greekless reader as much of this material as possible.

The most important part of our evidence for Empedocles is, of course, the poet's...