Empedocles, Ancient Greek Philosopher
Empedocles (490-430 BC) was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher. His philosophy is best known for being the originator of the cosmogenic theory of the four Classical elements: fire, air, water, earth. He also proposed powers called Love and Strife which would act as forces to bring about the mixture and separation of the elements. Empedocles is credited with the first comprehensive theory of light and vision. He supported the doctrine of reincarnation. Empedocles is generally considered the last Greek philosopher to record his ideas in verse. Empedocles death is legendary: he threw himself into Mount Etna so that people would believe his body had vanished and he had turned into an immortal god. The volcano threw back one of his sandals, revealing the deceit. Another legend maintains that he threw himself into the volcano to prove to his disciples that he was immortal; he believed he would come back as a god among men after being devoured by the fire. In 2006, a massive underwater volcano off the coast of Sicily was named Empedocles
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