Xenófanes

Born in Colophon, Ionia, Xenophanes lived during the 6th century BC. He traveled extensively throughout Greece, including southern Italy, where he appears to have founded the Eleatic school, although it was Zeno of Elea who later developed it. Xenophanes vehemently criticized the anthropomorphic representations of the gods made by Homer and Hesiod, arguing that each people imagined their gods in their own image. Instead, he proposed a supreme god, different from mortals in body and mind, who sees all, hears all, and thinks all, governing the cosmos with his will. His monotheistic ideas and his criticism of traditional religion were revolutionary for the time. In addition to philosophy, Xenophanes was also a poet, and his poetic fragments reveal a critical and insightful mind about society, religion, and nature.