Xenophanes represents one of the most groundbreaking thinkers of the Pre-Socratic thinkers. To me, he represents a major jump in Greek thinking with his open rejection of the traditional Greek pantheon. I believe several of the Pre Socratic thinkers, such as the materialists like Thales and Anaximander, had already been dancing around such a proposal. What makes Xenophanes interesting is not only the rejection of the Greek gods but what he proposes as a replacement for their conception of the of gods.
Xenophanes new system of the divine was different from the old Greek version in two ways. First, similar to Judaism, Xenophanes introduces the idea of monotheism to the Greeks. While he doesn't believe that their has to be only one God, he does think that there is only one supreme god that matters. This contrasts greatly from the Greek view that had dozens of god each being supreme in their own specific realm.
The second and most shocking difference was Xenophanes belief that this new supreme god was non anthropomorphic. This basically means that he did not posses the likeness of a human like Zeus or the other Greek gods did. This supreme god is also supremely uninterested in human affairs. Xenophanes claims that divination and all other forms of communication with gods are hoaxes and that humans are essentially on their own.
I think that it is possible to see Xenophanes as a very early precursor to Deism. His philosophy certainly contains the key elements of Deism. Like the great clock-maker theory, Xenophanes believes that their is a divine being that made the world, this being does not care to check in on the world and simply lets it tick away.
great post. I think you have a good sense of what is important about Xenophanes.
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