Pythagoras of Samos

Who were the Pythagoreans? What did they believe in? How do we know?

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Pythagoras' mother was informed of her pregnancy of a great son by the Oracle of Delphi.  Phthagoras' father, Mnesarchus was in Delphi on business and went to see the Oracle to ask of their voyage home.  Instead of hearing about the state of the seas, he heard about his great son that was coming.  He was moved by this news and so was his wife.  She changed her name to Pythasis in honor of the Oracle and they named their son Pythagoras.

There are many stories about what the Oracles said about this golden child.  Whatever they were, we know that indeed, a great man was born between 580 and 565 BC in Samos.  He studied from many cultures, remembered past lives and was seen being in two places at one time.  He must have been a respected teacher because his students, both males and females, wanted to progress through the levels of the school.  One of the initiations involved a vow of silence for five years before being considered for the inner student group.

Pythagoras, after learning from his Greek teacher Thales, set out on a journey across many lands and seas to gather the mathematical and esoteric wisdom of the ages. Historians don't agree on his exact path of discovery, but he traveled to Egypt around 535 BC, and then to Phoenicia, across the Euphrates to Babylon, and into Media, Persia and Hindustan.

He returned to Samos and started a school. Iamblichus writes in the third century AD that:-     ... he formed a school in the city [of Samos], the 'semicircle' of Pythagoras, which is known by that name even today, in which the Samians hold political meetings. They do this because they think one should discuss questions about goodness, justice and expediency in this place which was founded by the man who made all these subjects his business. Outside the city he made a cave the private site of his own philosophical teaching, spending most of the night and daytime there and doing research into the uses of mathematics...

Life in Samos was filled with a diplomatic life.  Pythagoras was "forced to participate in public affairs" and thus he left to set up a school in Croton. (now known as Cretone in Southern Italy) There were two tiers of students in the school.  The Akousmatikoi were students from around town that passed an initial geometry/music/astronomy test that proved they had some knowledge of these fundamental subjects.  They were allowed to listen to Pythagoras' lectures, but only from the outside of the commune walls.  The inside world lay open to the Mathematikoi students.  These dedicated students gave up the worldly life to spend their life as a team, discovering, studying, and sharing their contemplations and calculations.  To apply for the inner tier of the school, one had to adhere to a strict silence policy for five years to prove worthiness.

Balance.  Moderation.  Silence.  Pythagoras taught that friendship was the greatest of all relationships.   In fact, there is even a friendship / dialog between the One and the body incarnate, the Monad and the human form.

The Encyclopedia Britannica summarizes the Pythagorean beliefs as such:     (1) that at its deepest level, reality is mathematical in nature,     (2) that philosophy can be used for spiritual purification,     (3) that the soul can rise to union with the divine,     (4) that certain symbols have a mystical significance, and     (5) that all brothers of the order should observe strict loyalty and secrecy.

It is because of this secrecy, that we don't know for sure what was really going on behind the school's doors.

Where there is secrecy, there is mystery. There is mystery surrounding the supposed death of Pythagoras.  When he was around 100 years old, there was a fire set to a room in the "house of Milo" where Pythagoras was teaching 40 to 50 students.  Some think he died in the blaze, others think he escaped to die fleeing.  Was this just a story to allow him to escape the public life or did he really leave this plane?  Whatever the reality, his wife Theano and two daughters carried forth his work after this incident.

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