The Life of Xenophanes
I. Xenophanes was the son of Dexius, or, as Apollodorus says, of Orthomenes. He was a citizen of Colophon; and is praised by Timon. Accordingly, he says:—
I. Xenophanes was the son of Dexius, or of Orthomenes, according to Apollodorus. He was a citizen of Colophon, and Timon praises him. Timon says:
Xenophanes, not much a slave to vanity, The wise reprover of the tricks of Homer.
Xenophanes, not much given to vanity, The wise critic of Homer's tricks.
He, having been banished from his own country, lived at Zancle, in Sicily, and at Catana.
After being banished from his own country, he lived in Zancle, Sicily, and in Catana.
II. And, according to the statements made by some people, he was a pupil of no one; but, as others say, he was a pupil of Boton the Athenian; or, as another account again affirms, of Archelaus. He was, if we may believe Sotion, a contemporary of Anaximander.
II. Some say he was no one's pupil. But others say he was a pupil of Boton the Athenian. Another account says he was a pupil of Archelaus. If Sotion is to be believed, he was a contemporary of Anaximander.
III. He wrote poems in hexameter and in elegiac verse; and also he wrote iambics against Hesiod and Homer, attacking the things said in their poems about the Gods. He also used to recite his own poems. It is said likewise, that he argued against the opinions of Thales and Pythagoras, and that he also attacked Epimenides. He lived to an extreme old age; as he says somewhere himself:—
III. He wrote poems in hexameter and elegiac verse. He also wrote iambic poems attacking what Hesiod and Homer said about the gods in their poetry. He used to recite his own poems. He is also said to have argued against the views of Thales and Pythagoras and to have attacked Epimenides. He lived to a very old age, as he himself says in one passage:
Threescore and seven long years are fully passed, Since first my doctrines spread abroad through Greece: And ’twixt that time and my first view of light Six lustres more must added be to them: If I am right at all about my age, Lacking but eight years of a century.
Sixty-seven long years have passed Since my teachings first spread through Greece. Add thirty years between my birth And the time my teachings first spread. If I am right about my age, I am eight years short of a hundred.
His doctrine was, that there were four elements of existing things; and an infinite number of worlds, which were all unchangeable. He thought that the clouds were produced by the vapour which was borne upwards from the sun, and which lifted them up into the circumambient space. That the essence of God was of a spherical form, in no respect resembling man; that the universe could see, and that the universe could hear, but could not breathe; and that it was in all its parts intellect, and wisdom, and eternity. He was the first person who asserted that everything which is produced is perishable, and that the soul is a spirit. He used also to say that the many was inferior to unity. Also, that we ought to associate with tyrants either as little as possible, or else as pleasantly as possible.
He taught that all existing things were made of four elements. He also taught that there were infinitely many worlds, all of them unchangeable. He believed that clouds formed from vapor rising from the sun, which lifted them into the surrounding space. He believed that God’s essence was spherical and did not resemble a human being in any way. He thought that the universe could see and hear, but could not breathe. He also thought that every part of the universe was intellect, wisdom, and eternity. He was the first to assert that everything that comes into being can perish, and that the soul is a spirit. He also said that the many was inferior to unity. He advised people to associate with tyrants either as little as possible or as pleasantly as possible.
When Empedocles said to him that the wise man was undiscoverable, he replied, “Very likely; for it takes a wise man to discover a wise man.” And Sotion says, that he was the first person who asserted that everything is incomprehensible. But he is mistaken in this.
When Empedocles told him that a wise man could not be recognized, he replied, “That is likely, because it takes a wise man to recognize a wise man.” Sotion says that he was the first to claim that everything is incomprehensible. But Sotion is mistaken about this.
Xenophanes wrote a poem on the Founding of Colophon; and also, on the Colonisation of Elea, in Italy, consisting of two thousand verses. And he flourished about the sixtieth olympiad.
Xenophanes wrote a poem about the founding of Colophon. He also wrote a poem about the colonization of Elea in Italy, consisting of two thousand verses. He flourished around the sixtieth Olympiad.
IV. Demetrius Phalereus, in his treatise on Old Age, and Phenætius the Stoic, in his essay on Cheerfulness, relate that he buried his sons with his own hands, as Anaxagoras had also done. And he seems to have been detested by the Pythagoreans, Parmeniscus, and Orestades, as Phavorinus relates in the first book of his Commentaries.
IV. Demetrius Phalereus, in his treatise on Old Age, and Phenætius the Stoic, in his essay on Cheerfulness, say that he buried his sons with his own hands. Anaxagoras had also done this. He also seems to have been hated by the Pythagoreans Parmeniscus and Orestades, according to Phavorinus in the first book of his Commentaries.
The text here is very obscure and uncertain. The reading translated is Huebner’s πεφωρᾶσθαι. Some read πεπρᾶσθαι, meaning that he seems to have abandoned the Pythagoreans. Others propose πεπρᾶχθαι. The French translator renders it: He had for enemies the Pythagoreans.
V. There was also another Xenophanes, a native of Lesbos, and an iambic poet.
V. There was also another Xenophanes, an iambic poet from Lesbos.
These are the Promiscuous or unattached philosophers.
These are the miscellaneous or unaffiliated philosophers.