Editing Ancient Greek philosophy (section)

=== Xenophanes ===

{{Main|Xenophanes}}

Xenophanes was born in [[Ionia]], where the Milesian school was at its most powerful and may have picked up some of the Milesians' cosmological theories as a result.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 35.</ref> What is known is that he argued that each of the phenomena had a natural rather than divine explanation in a manner reminiscent of Anaximander's theories and that there was only one god, the world as a whole, and that he ridiculed the [[anthropomorphism]] of the Greek religion by claiming that cattle would claim that the gods looked like cattle, horses like horses, and lions like lions, just as the Ethiopians claimed that the gods were snub-nosed and black and the Thracians claimed they were pale and red-haired.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 35; Diels-Kranz, ''Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker'', Xenophanes frs. 15–16.</ref>

Xenophanes was highly influential to subsequent schools of philosophy. He was seen as the founder of a line of philosophy that culminated in [[Pyrrhonism]],<ref>[[Eusebius]], ''[[Praeparatio Evangelica]]'' Chapter XVII</ref> possibly an influence on [[Eleatics|Eleatic philosophy]], and a precursor to [[Epicurus]]' total break between science and religion.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 33, 36.</ref>