The Parmenidean Challenge

There are two challenges.

First Challenge: The Primordial Existential Question
Risking cruel ridicule, posit your own hypothesis as to "why something exists rather than nothing" and win our covetable prize: a basket of salami, cheese and wine.

Someone once commented that our scandalous juxtapositioning of salami and Parmenides, was, er, scandalous. However, she has since come round to seeing it our way, which is essentially our argument that both Parmenides and salami are excellent.

There is a variation on the basket's contents to cater for all needs and tastes:

Vegetarians: cheese, wine and salami
Muslims: cheese, salami and wine
Jews: wine, cheese and salami
Vegans: nothing

Seriously:

Vegetarians: cheese, wine and olive oil
Muslims: cheese, (Egyptian) pasterma and olive oil
Jews: kosher cheese, kosher salami and kosher wine
Vegans: still nothing

Second Challenge:
To read Parmenides' poem out loud (all 152 lines of it) in the original Greek.

Prize: Bottle of an excellent champagne.

If no one is willing to read the poem in the original Greek, then they may read it in English, but in this case they must do it with feeling and abandon.