The Eleatic School was an ancient Greek philosophical school founded in the city of Elea in southern Italy. It is best known for its emphasis on the concept of being and the nature of reality. Key figures include Parmenides, who argued that change is an illusion, and Zeno of Elea, famous for his paradoxes that challenge the understanding of motion and plurality. The Eleatic philosophers focused on rational argumentation and logical reasoning to explore metaphysical questions. Their ideas significantly influenced later philosophers, including Plato and Aristotle, shaping the development of Western philosophy and the study of ontology, the nature of existence.