Empedocles was a Greek philosopher and poet from the city of Acragas in Sicily, active during the fifth century BCE. Ancient sources describe him as a multifaceted figure: a thinker, statesman, and healer. Some accounts suggest he was involved in democratic politics in his city. His life is surrounded by legendary stories, including miraculous deeds and a famous but likely fictional tale that he died by leaping into Mount Etna.

He wrote in verse, composing two major poems. The first, On Nature, presents a physical theory of the cosmos. The second, Purifications, focuses on religious themes concerning the soul's journey. Only fragments of these works survive, preserved through quotations by later ancient writers. The exact relationship between the two poems is a subject of scholarly debate.

Empedocles is a pivotal pre-Socratic philosopher. His system proposed that all things are composed of four eternal "roots"—earth, air, fire, and water—which are combined and separated by two opposing forces called Love and Strife. According to modern scholars, this was an influential attempt to explain change in the physical world. His work uniquely bridges early natural philosophy and mystical religious thought. His theory of the four elements became a cornerstone of Western science and medicine for centuries.