Xenophanes

Xenophanes of Colophon (/zəˈnɒfəniːz/;Ancient Greek: Ξενοφάνης ὁ Κολοφώνιος [ksenopʰánɛːs ho kolopʰɔ̌ːnios]; c. 570 – c. 475 BC) was a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet, and social and religious critic. Xenophanes lived a life of travel, having left Ionia at the age of 25 and continuing to travel throughout the Greek world for another 67 years. Some scholars say he lived in exile in Sicily. Knowledge of his views comes from fragments of his poetry, surviving as quotations by later Greek writers. To judge from these, his elegiac and iambic poetry criticized and satirized a wide range of ideas, including Homer and Hesiod, the belief in the pantheon of anthropomorphic gods and the Greeks' veneration of athleticism. He is the earliest Greek poet who claims explicitly to be writing for future generations, creating "fame that will reach all of Greece, and never die while the Greek kind of songs survives."

Life

Xenophanes was a native of Colophon and was the son of Orthomenes or, according to others, of Dexius. He is said to have flourished during the 60th Olympiad (540-537 BC). He was mentioned in the writings of Heraclitus and Epicharmus and had himself mentioned Thales, Epimenides, and Pythagoras. In a fragment of his elegies, he mentions the Median invasion as an event that took place in his time, which may refer to the expedition of Harpagus against the Greek cities in Ionia (546/5 BC). He left his native land as a fugitive or exile and went to the Ionian colonies in Sicily, Zancle and Catana. He may have lived for some time in Elea (founded by the Phocaeans in the 61st Olympiad 536-533 BC), since he wrote about the foundation of the colony. According to the fragments of one of his elegies, he had left his native land at the age of 25 and had already lived 67 years in the Greek lands, when, at the age of 92, he composed that elegy.

Xenophanes (album)

Xenophanes is the twelfth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. The same members of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group who toured Europe in March 2009 (and released Los Sueños de un Hígado around the same time) are featured on this record, created a few months beforehand. On September 28, 2009 the recording was released digitally via the Rodriguez-Lopez productions website as well as physically in Europe on both CD and yellow vinyl. The recording was released physically in the U.S. on November 10, 2009 on both CD and pink vinyl. A music video directed by Omar for "Asco Que Conmueve los Puntos Erógenos" was released on YouTube on November 30, 2009.

According to drummer Thomas Pridgen, while he was recording for the album he was under the impression Xenophanes would be a Mars Volta album.

In the liner notes, Omar wrote:

"This album is dedicated to and exists in celebration of Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Ximena Sariñana Rivera who have always believed in me and pushed me to be my true self. Thank you."

Xenophanes (butterfly)

Xenophanes is a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae.

References