Theagenes of Rhegium was a Greek thinker from southern Italy, active in the sixth century BCE. He is recognized as the earliest known figure to practice the allegorical interpretation of texts, specifically the epic poetry of Homer.

Living in the intellectually vibrant region of Magna Graecia, Theagenes wrote a treatise that is now lost. In it, he defended Homer against accusations of impiety by arguing that the gods and their conflicts in poems like the Iliad were not to be taken literally. According to ancient reports, he interpreted them as symbols for natural elements or human qualities—for instance, reading a battle among gods as an allegory for the conflict between fire and water.

Modern scholars see Theagenes as a foundational figure in the history of literary criticism. His allegorical method provided a model for later philosophers and critics, such as the Stoics, who sought deeper philosophical meanings in traditional myths. His work represents an early attempt to reconcile poetic storytelling with emerging philosophical thought, securing his place as a significant, though fragmentarily known, precursor to later interpretive traditions.