Who was the first atheist in history?

philosopher Diagoras
The 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher Diagoras is known as the “first atheist”, and strongly criticized religion and mysticism. Epicurus was an early philosopher to dispute many religious beliefs, including the existence of an afterlife or a personal deity.

What religion existed in ancient Greece?

Ancient Greek theology was polytheistic, based on the assumption that there were many gods and goddesses, as well as a range of lesser supernatural beings of various types. There was a hierarchy of deities, with Zeus, the king of the gods, having a level of control over all the others, although he was not almighty.

Why did the ancient Greeks become atheists?

The Greek religion, world view, was the corner Stone of their civilization. But it was created in materialistic terms, contrary to that of the Hebrew. As the Greeks were more progressing their thinking, and that was well into Roman times, inevitably they would have gone to atheism. That is the natural way of the naturally thinking person.

What is the etymology of the word atheism?

Atheism (derived from the Ancient Greek ἄθεος atheos meaning “without gods; godless; secular; denying or disdaining the gods, especially officially sanctioned gods”) is the absence or rejection of the belief that deities exist. The English term was used at least as early as the sixteenth century and atheistic ideas…

Was Aristotle an atheist?

So while Aristotle was by no means an “atheist” in the strictest sense, he was not a “theist” in the traditional sense — and not even in what today would be called the “traditional” sense.

Did ancient Greeks reject the existence of all religions?

Although it is certainly possible that there were people in ancient Greece who rejected the existence of all deities, the historical evidence for the existence of such individuals is extremely limited to say the very least.