(Skip down to the Legends and Anecdotes part if you already know the facts).
Facts
Pythagoras, one of the most famous and controversial Greek philosophers, lived from around 570 to around 490 BC. He spent his early years on the island of Samos, off the coast of modern Turkey. At the age of forty he emigrated to the city of Croton in southern Italy and most of his philosophical activity occurred there. Pythagoras wrote nothing, nor were there any detailed accounts of his thought written by contemporaries.
The popular modern image of Pythagoras is that of a master mathematician and scientist. The early evidence shows, however, that, while Pythagoras was famous in his own day and even 150 years later in the time of Plato and Aristotle, it was not mathematics or science upon which his fame rested. Pythagoras was famous as an expert on the fate of the soul after death (he thought the soul was immortal and went through a series of reincarnations), as an expert on religious ritual, as a wonder-worker, and as the founder of a strict way of life that emphasized dietary restrictions, religious rituals, and rigorous self-discipline.
The Pythagorean School
A group of 300 people formed around him, male and female. This was the school of Pythagoras.
The school of Pythagoras was every bit as much a religion as a school of mathematics. A rule of secrecy bound the members to the school, and oral communication was the rule. The Pythagoreans had numerous rules for everyday living. Here are a few of them:
-To abstain from beans.
-Not to pick up what has fallen.
-Not to touch a white cock.
-Not to stir the fire with iron.
...
-Do not look in a mirror beside a light.
Legends and Anecdotes
It is said that Pythagoras had a fear of irrational numbers so pronounced, that when one of his students proved their existence, he decided that the gods were punishing him for some sin and sacrificed one hundred bulls and (it is said) the student who proved their existence.
Another legend states that as some guards were chasing him for a political mistake (they'd set his house on fire and sent him running), he came upon a field of beans where he stopped, and declared that he would rather die than enter the field. The guards slit his throat.
Facts
Pythagoras, one of the most famous and controversial Greek philosophers, lived from around 570 to around 490 BC. He spent his early years on the island of Samos, off the coast of modern Turkey. At the age of forty he emigrated to the city of Croton in southern Italy and most of his philosophical activity occurred there. Pythagoras wrote nothing, nor were there any detailed accounts of his thought written by contemporaries.
The popular modern image of Pythagoras is that of a master mathematician and scientist. The early evidence shows, however, that, while Pythagoras was famous in his own day and even 150 years later in the time of Plato and Aristotle, it was not mathematics or science upon which his fame rested. Pythagoras was famous as an expert on the fate of the soul after death (he thought the soul was immortal and went through a series of reincarnations), as an expert on religious ritual, as a wonder-worker, and as the founder of a strict way of life that emphasized dietary restrictions, religious rituals, and rigorous self-discipline.
The Pythagorean School
A group of 300 people formed around him, male and female. This was the school of Pythagoras.
The school of Pythagoras was every bit as much a religion as a school of mathematics. A rule of secrecy bound the members to the school, and oral communication was the rule. The Pythagoreans had numerous rules for everyday living. Here are a few of them:
-To abstain from beans.
-Not to pick up what has fallen.
-Not to touch a white cock.
-Not to stir the fire with iron.
...
-Do not look in a mirror beside a light.
Legends and Anecdotes
It is said that Pythagoras had a fear of irrational numbers so pronounced, that when one of his students proved their existence, he decided that the gods were punishing him for some sin and sacrificed one hundred bulls and (it is said) the student who proved their existence.
Another legend states that as some guards were chasing him for a political mistake (they'd set his house on fire and sent him running), he came upon a field of beans where he stopped, and declared that he would rather die than enter the field. The guards slit his throat.
The above is a good video about Pythagoras...
Thank you, WIkipedia, Youtube, etc. :)
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