Xenophanes cosmology

Greek philosophers
But Theophrastus interpreted too literally Aris- totle's claims and was the first to make Xenophanes a proper monist philosopher.
Our oldest testimonies1 on Xenophanes assert that he was Parmenides's master and shared some of his doctrine..
How did Xenophanes characterize the divine?
Xenophanes argued that the traditional anthropomorphic gods were both inappropriate and logically absurd, and instead proposed a single, unmoving, non-anthropomorphic deity..
What did Xenophanes believe about Earth?
Xenophanes held that the first principle of all things is earth, for he wrote in his book on nature: 'All things come from earth, and all things end by becoming earth..
What did Xenophanes say about god?
Xenophanes' monotheism
In fragment B 23 (on one common translation) Xenophanes speaks of: One god, greatest (heis theos… megistos) among gods and human beings, Not at all like mortals in either body or thought….
What is Xenophanes best known for?
Xenophanes is the first Greek figure that we know of to provide a set of theological assertions and he is perhaps best remembered for his critique of Greek popular religion, specifically the tendency to anthropomorphize deities..
What was the theory of Xenophanes?
Xenophanes sought to expand and improve upon the work of his predecessors, and instead of limiting his speculations to one stuff, or substance, his theory is based upon the interplay of two substances, earth and water. “All things that come into being and grow are earth and water.” (frag..
The case for crediting Xenophanes with monotheism comprises three main bodies of evidence and reasoning: (1) the view of the divine he presented in fragments B 23-26; (2) the views about god and nature expressed or implied in his other poems; and (3) the series of ancient testimonials that credit him with the view that
Xenophanes taught that the world formed from the condensation of water and "primordial mud;" he was the first person known to have used fossils as evidence for a theory of the history of the Earth.

A Cosmological Quotation from Xenophanes' Poem The upper boundary of the earth is here at our feet, touching the air; the lower (boundary) reaches down without limit (or: underneath, the earth reaches down without limit; or: that what is under the earth reaches down without limit).

In Xenophanes' cosmology, there is only one boundary to the universe, the one "seen by our feet". Xenophanes believed that the earth extended infinitely far down, as well as infinitely far in every direction.

Greek Pre-Socratic philosopher (c.570–c.478 BC)

Xenophanes of Colophon was a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet, and critic of Homer from Ionia who travelled throughout the Greek-speaking world in early Classical Antiquity.

Xenophanes cosmology

Greek philosophers

How did Xenophanes characterize the divine?

What did Xenophanes believe about Earth?

What did Xenophanes say about god?

What is Xenophanes best known for?

What was the theory of Xenophanes?