PYTHAGORAS

HISTORY OF PYTHAGORAS

Pythagoras of Samos[a] (c. 570 – c. 495 BC)[b] was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the
eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known
in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and, through
them, Western philosophy. Knowledge of his life is clouded by legend, but he appears to have
been the son of Mnesarchus, a gem-engraver on the island of Samos. Modern scholars disagree
regarding Pythagoras's education and influences, but they do agree that, around 530 BC, he
travelled to Croton, in what is now southern Italy, where he founded a school in which initiates
were sworn to secrecy and lived a communal, ascetic lifestyle. This lifestyle entailed a number of
dietary prohibitions, traditionally said to have included vegetarianism, although modern scholars
doubt that he ever advocated for complete vegetarianism.
The teaching most securely identified with Pythagoras is metempsychosis, or the "transmigration
of souls", which holds that every soul is immortal and, upon death, enters into a new body. He
may have also devised the doctrine of musica universalis, which holds that the planets move
according to mathematical equations and thus resonate to produce an inaudible symphony of
music. Scholars debate whether Pythagoras developed the numerological and musical teachings
attributed to him, or if those teachings were developed by his later followers,
particularly Philolaus of Croton. Following Croton's decisive victory over Sybaris in around 510
BC, Pythagoras's followers came into conflict with supporters of democracy and Pythagorean
meeting houses were burned. Pythagoras may have been killed during this persecution, or
escaped to Metapontum, where he eventually died.
In antiquity, Pythagoras was credited with many mathematical and scientific discoveries,
including the Pythagorean theorem, Pythagorean tuning, the five regular solids, the Theory of
Proportions, the sphericity of the Earth, and the identity of the morning and evening stars as the
planet Venus. It was said that he was the first man to call himself a philosopher ("lover of
wisdom")[c] and that he was the first to divide the globe into five climatic zones. Classical
historians debate whether Pythagoras made these discoveries, and many of the accomplishments
credited to him likely originated earlier or were made by his colleagues or successors. Some
accounts mention that the philosophy associated with Pythagoras was related to mathematics and
that numbers were important, but it is debated to what extent, if at all, he actually contributed to
mathematics or natural philosophy.
Pythagoras influenced Plato, whose dialogues, especially his Timaeus, exhibit Pythagorean
teachings. Pythagorean ideas on mathematical perfection also impacted ancient Greek art. His
teachings underwent a major revival in the first century BC among Middle Platonists, coinciding
with the rise of Neopythagoreanism. Pythagoras continued to be regarded as a great philosopher
throughout the Middle Ages and his philosophy had a major impact on scientists such
as Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton. Pythagorean symbolism was used
throughout early modern European esotericism and his teachings as portrayed
in Ovid's Metamorphoses influenced the modern vegetarian movement
No authentic writings of Pythagoras have survived, and almost nothing is known for certain
about his life. The earliest sources on Pythagoras's life are brief, ambiguous, and often satirical.
The earliest source on Pythagoras's teachings is a satirical poem probably written after his death
by Xenophanes of Colophon, who had been one of his contemporaries. In the poem, Xenophanes
describes Pythagoras interceding on behalf of a dog that is being beaten, professing to recognize
in its cries the voice of a departed friend. Alcmaeon of Croton, a doctor who lived in Croton at
around the same time Pythagoras lived there incorporates many Pythagorean teachings into his
writings[ and alludes to having possibly known Pythagoras personally. The poet Heraclitus of
Ephesus, who was born across a few miles of sea away from Samos and may have lived within
Pythagoras's lifetime,[18] mocked Pythagoras as a clever charlatan, remarking that "Pythagoras,
son of Mnesarchus, practiced inquiry more than any other man, and selecting from these writings
he manufactured a wisdom for himself—much learning, artful knavery.
The Greek poets Ion of Chios (c. 480 – c. 421 BC) and Empedocles of Acragas (c. 493 –
c. 432 BC) both express admiration for Pythagoras in their poems. The first concise description
of Pythagoras comes from the historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 484 – c. 420 BC), who
describes him as "not the most insignificant" of Greek sagesand states that Pythagoras taught his
followers how to attain immortalityThe writings attributed to the Pythagorean
philosopher Philolaus of Croton, who lived in the late fifth century BC, are the earliest texts to
describe the numerological and musical theories that were later ascribed to
Pythagoras. The Athenian rhetorician Isocrates (436–338 BC) was the first to describe
Pythagoras as having visited EgyptAristotle wrote a treatise On the Pythagoreans, which is no
longer extant. Some of it may be preserved in the Protrepticus. Aristotle's
disciples Dicaearchus, Aristoxenus, and Heraclides Ponticus also wrote on the same subject