People forget Plato talks about parousia (παρουσία) in the relation of the eternal forms to the temporal.

(1) Temporal Being is imitation (mimesis / μίμησις) of the extratemporal.
(2) The extratemporal is the paradigm (paradeigma / παράδειγμα), and the temporal is the after-copy (eidolon / εἴδωλον).
(3) The temporal participates (metexei / μετέχει) in the extratemporal (methexis / μέθεξις).
(4) But also there is the presence (parousia / παρουσία) of the extratemporal in the temporal.

Heidegger argues the Platonic way consists not only in the juxtaposition of idea and reality; rather it is comprehensible only through the relation of temporal Being to extra-temporal Being. This relation is still today expressed in the characteristic Platonic concepts. The relation should be clarified by the above four limit-concepts or images.

Plato weaves these technical terms across several dialogues to define the boundary between the eternal Forms (Being) and the physical world (Becoming). Below is the breakdown of the exact dialogues and standard Stephanus numbers where these specific concepts are most famously introduced and defined.

1. Presence (Parousia / παρουσία) & Participation (Methexis / μέθεξις)

These terms form the core of Plato’s “inherence” model, mapping out how the physical world can embody the immaterial Forms.

• The Dialogue: Phaedo
• Stephanus Location: 100d
• Context: This is the most crucial passage for our exact statement. Socrates explicitly discusses how a beautiful object becomes beautiful. He confesses that he doesn’t fully understand the complex mechanics, but he is certain that:

“…nothing else makes it beautiful other than the presence (parousia / παρουσία) or the participation (methexis / μέθεξις) of—or whatever the relation may be—that absolute Beauty.”

• The Verb Metexei (μετέχει): Appears just before this in Phaedo 100c, where Socrates states that if anything else is beautiful, it is because it participates (μετέχει) in absolute beauty.

2. Paradigm (Paradeigma / παράδειγμα)

The conceptualization of the eternal Forms as perfect blueprints or “models” for reality.

• The Dialogue: Republic (Book V & VI) and Timaeus
• Stephanus Locations: Republic 472c–d and Timaeus 28a–29b
• Context: In the Republic, Socrates describes the ideal state and the Forms as a paradeigma (παράδειγμα)—a pattern or heavenly model that the philosopher tries to copy. In the Timaeus, the Demiurge (the cosmic craftsman) looks directly at the eternal, unchanging paradeigma to shape the material universe.

3. Imitation (Mimesis / μίμησις) & After-Copy (Eidolon / εἴδωλον)

The ontologically lower status of material things, viewing them as secondary, imperfect copies.

• The Dialogue: Republic (Book X) and Sophist
• Stephanus Locations: Republic 596b–597e (Mimesis) and Sophist 239d–240a (Eidolon)
• Context:
  • In Republic Book X, Plato lays out his famous three-tiered reality using the example of a bed: the Form of the bed (made by God), the physical bed (made by a carpenter), and the painting of a bed (made by an artist). The physical bed and the art are both forms of mimesis (μίμησις).
  • In the Sophist, Plato explicitly defines an eidolon (εἴδωλον)—an image, shadow, or after-copy—as something that is not the true reality, but is fashioned in the likeness (eoikos) of the true model. The thing is not nothing (ouk on) but deficient (me on) in relation to the forms.

Quick Reference Matrix

Philosophical Concept	Greek Term	Primary Dialogue	Primary Stephanus Citation
Presence	παρουσία (parousia)	Phaedo	100d
Participation	μέθεξις / μετέχει (methexis / metexei)	Phaedo	100c–100d
Model / Paradigm	παράδειγμα (paradeigma)	Republic / Timaeus	472c / 28a
Imitation	μίμησις (mimesis)	Republic (Book X)	596b–597e
After-Copy / Shadow	εἴδωλον (eidolon)	Sophist	239d–240a

I did my MA thesis on Heidegger and the Greeks (some 25 years ago!), and it’s fun to revisit some of these ideas after so much time. Competence in languages does diminish after so long, though.