Atheism has ancient roots and is not ‘modern invention’, claims new text

Pioneering disbeliever ... statue of Socrates in Athens. Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Atheism is not a modern invention from the western Enlightenment, but actually dates back to the ancient world, according to a new book by a Cambridge academic – which challenges the assumption that humanity is naturally predisposed to believe in gods.
 In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh, professor of Greek culture at Cambridge University, lays out a series of examples showing that atheism existed in polytheistic ancient Greece.