The Secular Spectrum
Thumbing a Nose at Olympus
Diagoras of Melos is the most famous atheist of 5th century BCE Greece. Not a hotly-contested trophy, but still.
When a ship carrying Diagoras encounters a terrible storm, the crew shouts aloud that the gods are angry at them for giving passage to a godless man — leading Diagoras to wonder aloud if each of the other ships fighting the storm has its own Diagoras aboard.
When Athens slaughters the inhabitants of his home island of Melos merely as a display of military prowess to Sparta, Diagoras publicly cites the lack of divine retribution as proof that no gods exist. Only a ransom paid by his teacher and fellow disbeliever Democritus saves Diagoras from execution.
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