Depends on your needs, if you know what parent your looking for you can use the .parents() selector.
E.G: http://jsfiddle.net/HenryGarle/Kyp5g/2/
<div id="One">
<div id="Two">
<div id="Three">
<div id="Four">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
var top = $("#Four").parents("#One");
alert($(top).html());
Example using index:
//First parent - 2 levels up from #Four
// I.e Selects div#One
var topTwo = $("#Four").parents().eq(2);
alert($(topTwo ).html());