Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570 – c.4 75 BCE) is a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet, and social and religious critic.

Xenophanes' life is one of travel, having left Ionia at the age of 25, he continues to travel throughout the Greek world for another 67 years.

Some scholars say he lived in exile in Siciliy.

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.