Why rescue Parmenides? On Zeno's Ontology in Simplicius

This paper examines the role Simplicius attributes to Zeno in the Eleatic ontology and tries to determine his place within the Neoplatonic system. It shows how the commentator competes with his Peripatetic forerunners (Eudemus and Alexander) and makes Zeno’s goal congruent with Parmenides. Zeno talks of the same One-Being as Parmenides did, not of any physical one or being. However, instead of determining it directly, he has to convert his readers, Parmenides’ opponents, through dialectical arguments (ἐπιχειρήματα). Therefore,
this article also questions the meaning of being a disciple and rescuing one’s master: Simplicius uses Zeno as a model for every philosopher in this position.