Three Fragments of Empedocles of Acragas An Interpretation through the Lens of Cultural Myth Criticism

This paper examines three fragments of Empedocles through the lens of cultural mythocriticism to analyze the interaction between myth, cosmology, and soteriology. After situating his work within the transition from the Greek Archaic to the Classical period, it explores the concepts of philótēs and neîkos as the driving forces of the cosmic cycle and the purification of the soul. Through a philological and comparative analysis with Orphic and Pythagorean traditions, the study argues that Empedoclean poetry integrates natural knowledge with religious experience. This synthesis results in a hierophanic language that, by fusing myth and philosophy, reactualizes a primordial time in which archetypal truths are manifested, and the vision of the cosmos is unified. © 2026 Universidad Complutense Madrid. All rights reserved.