Arguments & Criticism of Greek Mythology Based on Xenophanes’ Fragments

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Arguments and Criticism of Greek Mythology Based on Xenophanes’ Fragments
Xenophanes of Colophon is a Greek presocratic philosopher who had defined a divine or god while criticizing the traditional Greek divine belief. His comments on the poets, Homer and Hesiod, argued against their notion of Greek gods. Let us discuss Xenophanes' criticism of Homer and Hesiod's Greek mythological gods as well as the philosopher's divine beliefs that contradict the portrayal of gods in Greek mythology.
In Xenophanes' fragments, some are critical of the two poets' understanding of gods. For one, Xenophanes criticized the portrayal of gods in the works of Homer and Hesiod. He mocks how gods are allowed of actions that, if mortal men would do, would be sinful and barbaric (Waterfield). As it is popularly known, Zeus has children from different wives whom he seduced, raped, or manipulated (Rose). This Greek god is also known to commit several actions like vengeance, killing, and adultery as if they are other normal actions. Xenophanes thought that while gods like Zeus execute such actions thoughtlessly, humans would have to pay the price for the same actions. Although Xenophanes did not conclude his thought about the gods, there is a hint of mockery to the portrayal. It is as if Xenophanes is questioning the poets' chosen attributions to the gods. Instead of showing them as the divine and morally existing gods, the gods are attributed to actions that are rather evil and vile in the eyes of the mortals.
Xenophanes also emphasized how these gods are of the human form and clothing. The philosopher adds that if animals can draw themselves a god, it would also probably look like them. To be specific, Xenophanes mentions that humans have the assumptions that, if there will be gods, they must look like us (Waterfield). From this assertion of Xenophanes, there is an implication that Xenophanes did not believe in gods being in the same form as humans. It is because he thought animals would make the gods look like them if they can, implying that humans created the image of gods.
In Xenophanes' fragments, aside from critics of Homer and Hesiod's portrayal of gods, some statements reveal the philosopher's personal view of a god. At the same...