Xenophanes: Y'all did it wrong.

I really enjoyed reading Xenophanes because he seems like an extremely revolutionary philosopher, even more so than thinkers like Thales and Anaximander. Everything that society thought it knew about god, the nature of things, the universe, and man himself was nothing to Xenophanes. He seems to be the kind of person who does not care what other people have already "established" in philosophy. He came in with a clear mind and made his own conclusions, few of which coincided with previous philosophers.

What struck me most about Xenophanes is that he perceives what other philosophers seem to miss. He senses that if the universe is infinite, it does not make sense for it to continually come into and out of being. He sees the universe as more of an unchanging thing. This to me suggests that Xenophanes might have had an idea of an eternal being or a god similar to the one we have.

Unchanging, eternal, perfect, and most of all, above human flaw. This becomes clear in Xenophanes' description of how unlikely the gods that society has are. It does not make sense for gods to be born or to die because, as he states, it implies that there is a time when gods do not exist. If there is an eternal being along the lines of a god, he thinks, it would not be as petty, vengeful, angry, or basic as human beings are.
We would not have Olympian Soap Operas as a history of the deities, nor would we have as much interaction between gods and mortals. I can understand Xenophanes' need for some stability where philosophy is concerned; as a philosophy major, it is easy to get wrapped up in thinking about so many difficult topics, to the point where anxiety sets in. When this happens, it is very, very, VERY comforting to think of God as I understand Him, because He is constant. He is not subject to human plight, nor will He wrong me in the way humans do.

I think this might have been something Xenophanes craved in his society, one raised on stories of gods that killed off their families and deceived for power over human beings.