From the book
Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordPromoi are those who stand foremost, hence leaders or chieftains.
- In EmpedoclesChieftains conclude B146's list of the last human roles, following seers, hymn-singers, and physicians.
- In this edition“Rulers” is a broader lookup label.
- A place to readChieftains are the final named human role before the declaration of growth into gods.
Meaning
Promoi are those who stand foremost, hence leaders or chieftains. The phrase specifies their place among humans living on earth. The translation does not call them kings, and the word need not imply one constitutional form.
Use in the book
Chieftains conclude B146's list of the last human roles, following seers, hymn-singers, and physicians. Their presence makes leadership part of the passage's honoured human achievement. The next line says that from this condition beings grow up as gods highest in honours.
No political programme is stated. The fragment does not tell whether these leaders are elected, hereditary, military, or civic, nor what qualifications distinguish them. It also does not establish that office alone guarantees divine ascent. The category belongs to an eschatological description whose prior moral conditions are not fully preserved. Connecting it to the biographical stories of Empedocles' political activities may be suggestive, but those stories cannot supply the missing definition of promoi within the verse.
Places to read
- B 146.1–3Chieftains are the final named human role before the declaration of growth into gods.
Translation in this edition
“Rulers” is a broader lookup label. “Chieftains” follows the edition and avoids importing the more specific title basileus, which appears elsewhere for Zeus but not here.