In the pre-Socratic era, mythology and religion were the guiding forces of Greek thought. Mythologists and prophecies, like Homer and Hesiod, relied solely on knowledge gained from the mythical muses to explain the origins of the gods and man. It was not until 585 BCE, when Thales correctly predicted the arrival of a solar eclipse, that philosophical thought rose to prominence. Thales' work is significant because it represents a historic break with the status quo of calling the profession. This new epistemological process would spawn an era of metaphysical inquiry that would ultimately lead to the creation of science and modern branches of philosophy. The early pre-Socratic, Thales, and his mythological contemporaries differ in several key areas: their motivations and methods for acquiring knowledge and the manner in which they put that knowledge into practice. It is these distinctions that make Thales's approach so radical for its time. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayMetaphysical inquiry is the natural outcome of human wonder. In ancient Greece, most simply took the word of prophets who claimed mystical knowledge about the ultimate realm of the gods, while others, like Thales, relied on the observable to answer questions about nature of reality. The latter type of thinker enjoys the advantage of reason and the repeatability of his observations to prove his assertion. Thales hypothesized that the ark of all matter was water. Because this idea was based on observation and logic, it is universal and could be transferred to philosophers of future generations. Aristotle, philosopher and historian of philosophy, was able to understand Thales' reasoning independently of the source of the ideas. In Metaphysics, Aristotle describes his understanding of Thales' hypothesis: "Perhaps he got the idea from seeing that the food of all things is moist, and that heat itself comes from it and lives from that (the principle of all things). is that what they came from)” (Curd 2). Whether Thales' statement is true or not, it is reasonable to posit that everything is water due to the moisture of life here on Earth. What is most notable here is Thales' approach, as it relies solely on observation aimed at finding a logical conclusion. Pre-Socratic philosophers had the advantage of using reason as a common ground between themselves and their ideas. This created an ever-growing dialogue that was continued by other Milesian pre-Socratics. Anaximander and Anaximenes each proposed alternative fundamental realities and each additional theory invited more rational inquiry (Curd 4). Conversely, there was no common ground between religions or even between the gods of a religion. Socrates addresses this question in “Euthyphro” while seeking a definition of piety. “But you say that the same things are considered just by some gods and unjust by others, and that in arguing about these things they are at odds and at war with one another” (Plato 7e-8a) . Here Socrates demonstrated to Euthyphro how fleeting the meanings of pious and impious are. If there is no agreement among the gods on what behavior they favor, then any action could be considered pious or impious. This demonstrates the fragility of religious knowledge. There is no logic or universality to connect it. It can be left ambiguous so that people seeking power can.