  Socrates virtually accuses Zeno of having plotted with Parmenides to  conceal the fundamental identity of their conclusions. With so many  readers of Plato accustomed to taking Socrates as his mouthpiece in  the dialogues, it is not surprising that this passage has served as  the foundation for the common view of Zeno as Parmenidean legatee and defender, by his own special means, of Eleatic orthodoxy.  Unfortunately, this use of the Platonic evidence is unjustifiably  selective, even prejudicial, in the weight it accords the words put  in Socrates’ mouth. Plato immediately has Zeno disabuse Socrates of  his suspicions about the book’s ulterior purpose. 