Brief biography of Pythagoras - ancient Greek philosopher. Biography of Pythagoras

Pythagoras- ancient Greek idealist philosopher, mathematician, founder of Pythagoreanism, political and religious figure. His homeland was the island of Samos (hence the nickname - Samos), where he was born around 580 BC. e. His father was a carver precious stones. According to ancient sources, Pythagoras was distinguished from birth amazing beauty; when he became an adult, he wore a long beard and a diadem of gold. His talent also showed itself at an early age.

Pythagoras's education was very good; the young man was taught by many mentors, among whom were Pherecydes of Syros and Hermodamant. The next place where Pythagoras improved his knowledge was Miletus, where he met Thales, a scientist who advised him to go to Egypt. Pythagoras had with him a letter of recommendation from the pharaoh himself, but the priests shared their secrets with him only after successfully passing difficult tests. Among the sciences that he mastered well in Egypt was mathematics. For the next 12 years he lived in Babylon, where the priests also shared their knowledge with him. According to legends, Pythagoras also visited India.

The return to their homeland took place around 530 BC. e. The status of half-court and half-slave under the tyrant Polycrates did not seem attractive to him, and he lived in caves for some time, after which he moved to Proton. Perhaps the reason for his departure lay in his philosophical views. Pythagoras was an idealist, a supporter of the slave-owning aristocracy, and in his native Ionia democratic views were very popular, their adherents had considerable influence.

In Crotona, Pythagoras organized his own school, which was also political structure, and a religious monastic order with its own charter and very strict rules. In particular, all members of the Pythagorean Union were not supposed to eat meat, reveal the teachings of their mentor to others, and refused to have personal property.

The wave of democratic uprisings that swept through Greece and the colonies at that time also reached Croton. After the victory of democracy, Pythagoras and his students moved to Tarentum, and later to Metapontum. When they arrived in Metapontum, a popular uprising was raging there, and Pythagoras died in one of the night battles. Then he was a very old man, he was almost 90. Along with him, his school ceased to exist, the students were dispersed throughout the country.

Since Pythagoras considered his teaching a secret and practiced only oral transmission to his students, no collected works remained after him. Some information did become clear, but it is incredibly difficult to distinguish between truth and fiction. A number of historians doubt that the famous Pythagorean theorem was proven by him, arguing that it was known to other ancient peoples.

The name of Pythagoras has always been surrounded big amount legends even during his lifetime. It was believed that he could control spirits, knew how to prophesy, knew the language of animals, communicated with them, birds, under the influence of his speeches, could change their flight vector. Legends attributed to Pythagoras the ability to heal people, including with the help of excellent knowledge medicinal plants. His influence on those around him was difficult to overestimate. They tell the following episode from the biography of Pythagoras: when one day he became angry with a student, he committed suicide out of grief. Since then, the philosopher has made it a rule never to take out his irritation on people again.

In addition to proving the Pythagorean theorem, this mathematician is credited with a detailed study of integers, proportions and their properties. The Pythagoreans owe significant credit for giving geometry the character of a science. Pythagoras was one of the first who was convinced that the Earth is a ball and the center of the Universe, that the planets, the Moon, the Sun move in a special way, not like stars. To a certain extent, the ideas of the Pythagoreans about the movement of the Earth became the forerunner of the heliocentric teachings of N. Copernicus.

Biography from Wikipedia

The life story of Pythagoras is difficult to separate from the legends that present him as a perfect sage and great scientist, initiated into all the mysteries of the Greeks and barbarians. Herodotus also called him “the greatest Hellenic sage.” The main sources on the life and teachings of Pythagoras are the works of the Neoplatonist philosopher Iamblichus (242-306) “ ABOUT Pythagorean life "; Porphyria (234-305) " Life of Pythagoras"; Diogenes Laertius (200-250) book. 8, " Pythagoras" These authors relied on the writings of earlier authors, of which it should be noted that Aristotle's student Aristoxenus (370-300 BC) was from Tarentum, where the Pythagorean position was strong. Thus, the earliest known sources about the teachings of Pythagoras did not appear until 200 years after his death. Pythagoras himself did not leave any writings, and all information about him and his teachings is based on the works of his followers, who are not always impartial.

Pythagoras' parents were Mnesarchus and Parthenides from the island of Samos. Mnesarchus was a stone cutter (D. L.); according to Porphyry, he was a rich merchant from Tyre, who received Samian citizenship for distributing grain in a lean year. The first version is preferable, since Pausanias gives the genealogy of Pythagoras in the male line from Hippasus from the Peloponnesian Phlius, who fled to Samos and became the great-grandfather of Pythagoras. Parthenida, later renamed Pyphaida by her husband, came from the noble family of Ankeus, the founder of the Greek colony on Samos.

The birth of a child was allegedly predicted by Pythia in Delphi, which is why Pythagoras got his name, which means “ the one announced by the Pythia" In particular, Pythia told Mnesarchus that Pythagoras would bring as much benefit and goodness to people as no one else had brought or would bring in the future. Therefore, to celebrate, Mnesarchus gave his wife a new name, Pyphaidas, and his child, Pythagoras. Pyphaida accompanied her husband on his travels, and Pythagoras was born in Sidon Phoenician (according to Iamblichus) around 570 BC. e. WITH early years he discovered extraordinary talent (also according to Iamblichus).

According to ancient authors, Pythagoras met with almost everyone famous sages that era, the Greeks, Persians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, absorbed all the knowledge accumulated by mankind. In popular literature, Pythagoras is sometimes credited with the Olympic victory in boxing, confusing Pythagoras the philosopher with his namesake (Pythagoras, son of Crates of Samos), who won his victory at the 48th Games 18 years before the famous philosopher was born.

IN at a young age Pythagoras went to Egypt to gain wisdom and secret knowledge from the Egyptian priests. Diogenes and Porphyry write that the Samian tyrant Polycrates provided Pythagoras with a letter of recommendation to Pharaoh Amasis, thanks to which he was allowed to study and was initiated not only into the Egyptian achievements of medicine and mathematics, but also into the sacraments forbidden to other foreigners.

Iamblichus writes that Pythagoras, at the age of 18, left his native island and, having traveled around the sages in different parts of the world, reached Egypt, where he stayed for 22 years, until he was taken to Babylon as a captive by the Persian king Cambyses, who conquered Egypt in 525 BC. . e. Pythagoras stayed in Babylon for another 12 years, communicating with magicians, until he was finally able to return to Samos at the age of 56, where his compatriots recognized him as a wise man.

According to Porphyry, Pythagoras left Samos due to disagreement with the tyrannical power of Polycrates at the age of 40. Since this information is based on the words of Aristoxenus, a source of the 4th century BC. e., are considered relatively reliable. Polycrates came to power in 535 BC. e., hence the date of birth of Pythagoras is estimated at 570 BC. e., if we assume that he left for Italy in 530 BC. e. Iamblichus reports that Pythagoras moved to Italy in the 62nd Olympiad, that is, in 532-529. BC e. This information is in good agreement with Porphyry, but completely contradicts the legend of Iamblichus himself (or rather, one of his sources) about the Babylonian captivity of Pythagoras. It is not known for sure whether Pythagoras visited Egypt, Babylon or Phenicia, where, according to legend, he acquired eastern wisdom. Diogenes Laertius quotes Aristoxenus, who said that Pythagoras received his teaching, at least as regards instructions on the way of life, from the priestess Themistocleia of Delphi, that is, in places not so remote for the Greeks.

Disagreements with the tyrant Polycrates could hardly have been the reason for Pythagoras’s departure; rather, he needed the opportunity to preach his ideas and, moreover, to put his teaching into practice, which was difficult to do in Ionia and mainland Hellas, where many people experienced in matters of philosophy and politics lived. Iamblichus reports:

« His philosophy spread, all of Hellas began to admire him, and the best and wisest men came to him on Samos, wanting to listen to his teaching. His fellow citizens, however, forced him to participate in all embassies and public affairs. Pythagoras felt how difficult it was, obeying the laws of the fatherland, to simultaneously engage in philosophy, and saw that all the previous philosophers had lived their lives in foreign lands. Having thought all this over, withdrawing from public affairs and, as some say, considering the low appreciation of his teachings by the Samians insufficient, he left for Italy, considering his fatherland a country where there were more people capable of learning.»

Pythagoras settled in the Greek colony of Crotone in southern Italy, where he found many followers. They were attracted not only by the mystical philosophy that he convincingly expounded, but also by the way of life he prescribed with elements of healthy asceticism and strict morality. Pythagoras preached the moral ennoblement of the ignorant people, which can be achieved where power belongs to the caste of the wise and knowledgeable people, and to whom the people obey in some ways unconditionally, like children to their parents, and in other respects consciously, submitting to moral authority. Tradition ascribes to Pythagoras the introduction of the words philosophy and philosopher.

The disciples of Pythagoras formed a kind of religious order, or brotherhood of initiates, consisting of a caste of selected like-minded people who literally deified their teacher, the founder of the order. This order actually came to power in Crotone, but due to anti-Pythagorean sentiments at the end of the 6th century. BC e. Pythagoras had to retire to another Greek colony, Metapontus, where he died. Almost 450 years later, during the time of Cicero (1st century BC), the crypt of Pythagoras was shown in Metaponte as one of the attractions.

Pythagoras had a wife named Theano, a son Telaugus and a daughter Miya (according to another version, a son Arimnest and a daughter Arignot).

According to Iamblichus, Pythagoras headed his secret society thirty-nine years, then the approximate date of death of Pythagoras can be attributed to 491 BC. e., to the beginning of the era of the Greco-Persian wars. Diogenes, referring to Heraclides (IV century BC), says that Pythagoras died peacefully at the age of 80, or at 90 (according to other unnamed sources). This implies the date of death is 490 BC. e. (or 480 BC, which is unlikely). Eusebius of Caesarea in his chronography designated 497 BC. e. as the year of Pythagoras' death.

Defeat of the Pythagorean League

Among the followers and students of Pythagoras there were many representatives of the nobility who tried to change the laws in their cities in accordance with Pythagorean teaching. This was superimposed on the usual struggle of that era between the oligarchic and democratic parties in ancient Greek society. The discontent of the majority of the population, who did not share the ideals of the philosopher, resulted in bloody riots in Croton and Tarentum.

« The Pythagoreans formed a large community (there were more than three hundred of them), but it constituted only a small part of the city, which was no longer governed according to the same customs and mores. However, while the Crotonians owned their land, and Pythagoras was with them, the state structure that existed from the foundation of the city was preserved, although there were dissatisfied people who were waiting for an opportunity for a coup. But when they conquered Sybaris, Pythagoras left, and the Pythagoreans who ruled the conquered land did not distribute it by lot, as the majority wanted, then hidden hatred flared up, and many citizens opposed them... The relatives of the Pythagoreans were even more irritated by what they were serving right hand only to their own, and from relatives - only to parents, and that they provide their property for common use, and it is separated from the property of relatives. When the relatives began this hostility, the rest readily joined the conflict... After many years... the Crotonians were overcome by regret and repentance, and they decided to return to the city those Pythagoreans who were still alive.»

Many Pythagoreans died, the survivors scattered throughout Italy and Greece. The German historian F. Schlosser notes regarding the defeat of the Pythagoreans: “ The attempt to transfer caste and clerical life to Greece and, contrary to the spirit of the people, to change its political structure and morals according to the requirements of an abstract theory ended in complete failure.»

According to Porphyry, Pythagoras himself died as a result of the anti-Pythagorean rebellion in Metapontus, but other authors do not confirm this version, although they readily convey the story that the dejected philosopher starved himself to death in the sacred temple.

Philosophical teaching

Pythagoras in a fresco by Raphael (1509)

The teachings of Pythagoras should be divided into two components: the scientific approach to understanding the world and the religious and mystical way of life preached by Pythagoras. The merits of Pythagoras in the first part are not known for certain, since everything created by followers within the school of Pythagoreanism was later attributed to him. The second part prevails in the teachings of Pythagoras, and it is this part that remained in the minds of most ancient authors.

Quite complete information about the ideas about the transmigration of souls developed by Pythagoras and the food prohibitions based on them is given by Empedocles’ poem “Purifications”.

In his surviving works, Aristotle never directly addresses Pythagoras directly, but only to “the so-called Pythagoreans.” IN lost jobs(known from excerpts) Aristotle views Pythagoras as the founder of a semi-religious cult that forbade eating beans and had a golden thigh, but did not belong to the sequence of thinkers who preceded Aristotle.

Plato treated Pythagoras with the deepest reverence and respect. When the Pythagorean Philolaus first published 3 books outlining the main principles of Pythagoreanism, Plato, on the advice of friends, immediately bought them for a lot of money.

The activity of Pythagoras as a religious innovator of the 6th century. BC e. was to create a secret society that not only set itself political goals (which is why the Pythagoreans were defeated in Croton), but mainly the liberation of the soul through moral and physical purification with the help of secret teachings ( mystical teaching about the cycle of migrations of the soul). According to Pythagoras, the eternal soul moves from heaven into the mortal body of a person or animal and undergoes a series of migrations until it earns the right to return back to heaven.

The acusmata (sayings) of Pythagoras contain ritual instructions: about the circulation human lives, behavior, sacrifices, burials, nutrition. Akusmats are formulated succinctly and understandably for any person; they also contain postulates of universal morality. The more complex philosophy within which mathematics and other sciences developed was intended for the “initiates,” that is, selected people worthy of mastering secret knowledge. The scientific component of Pythagoras' teachings developed in the 5th century. BC e. through the efforts of his followers (Architas from Tarentum, Philolaus from Croton, Hippasus from Metapontus), but came to naught in the 4th century. BC e., while the mystical-religious component received its development and rebirth in the form of neo-Pythagoreanism during the Roman Empire.

The merit of the Pythagoreans was the promotion of ideas about the quantitative laws of the development of the world, which contributed to the development of mathematical, physical, astronomical and geographical knowledge. Numbers are the basis of things, Pythagoras taught, to know the world means to know the numbers that control it. By studying numbers, the Pythagoreans developed numerical relationships and found them in all areas human activity. Numbers and proportions were studied in order to know and describe the human soul, and, having learned it, to manage the process of transmigration of souls with the ultimate goal of sending the soul to some higher divine state.

As I. D. Rozhansky noted: “Despite the remnants of magical thinking, the basic idea of ​​Pythagoras that all things are based on numbers or ratios of numbers turned out to be very fruitful.” As Stobaeus noted: “Apparently, Pythagoras revered the science of numbers most of all (sciences), he advanced it forward, taking it beyond its use in trade and expressing it, modeling all things with numbers” (1, “Proemius”, 6, p. . 20).

Despite the popular opinion that Pythagoras was supposedly a vegetarian, Diogenes Laertius writes that Pythagoras occasionally ate fish, abstained only from arable bulls and rams, and allowed other animals for food.

His contemporary Heraclitus acted as a critic of Pythagoras: “ Pythagoras, the son of Mnesarchus, was engaged in collecting information more than any other person in the world and, having taken these works for himself, passed off knowledge and fraud as his own wisdom“According to Diogenes Laertius, in the continuation of the famous saying of Heraclitus “Much knowledge does not teach the mind,” Pythagoras is mentioned among others: “otherwise it would have taught Hesiod and Pythagoras, as well as Xenophanes and Hecataeus.”

Scientific achievements

IN modern world Pythagoras is considered the great mathematician and cosmologist of antiquity, but early evidence before the 3rd century. BC e. they do not mention such merits of his. As Iamblichus writes about the Pythagoreans: “ They also had the remarkable custom of attributing everything to Pythagoras and not at all arrogating to themselves the glory of discoverers, except perhaps in a few cases».

Ancient authors of our era give Pythagoras the authorship of the famous theorem: the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the legs. This opinion is based on the information of Apollodorus the calculator (personality not identified) and on poetic lines (the source of the poems is unknown):

“On the day when Pythagoras discovered his famous drawing,
He erected a glorious sacrifice for him with bulls.”

Modern historians suggest that Pythagoras did not prove the theorem, but could have conveyed this knowledge to the Greeks, known in Babylon 1000 years before Pythagoras (according to Babylonian clay tablets recording mathematical equations). Although there is doubt about the authorship of Pythagoras, there are no weighty arguments to dispute this.

Aristotle touches on the development of ideas about cosmology in his work “Metaphysics”, but the contribution of Pythagoras is not voiced in it. According to Aristotle, the Pythagoreans studied cosmological theories in the middle of the 5th century. BC e., but, apparently, not Pythagoras himself. Pythagoras is credited with the discovery that the Earth is a sphere, but the most authoritative author on this matter, Theophrastus, gives the same discovery to Parmenides. And Diogenes Laertius reports that the opinion about the sphericity of the Earth was expressed by Anaximander of Miletus, with whom Pythagoras studied in his youth.

At the same time, the scientific merits of the Pythagorean school in mathematics and cosmology are indisputable. Aristotle’s point of view, reflected in his unpreserved treatise “On the Pythagoreans,” was conveyed by Iamblichus. According to Aristotle, the true Pythagoreans were the acousmatists, followers of the religious-mystical doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Acousmaticians viewed mathematics as a teaching coming not so much from Pythagoras as from the Pythagorean Hippasus. In turn, the Pythagorean mathematicians, in their own opinion, were inspired by the guiding teachings of Pythagoras for an in-depth study of their science.

Works of Pythagoras

Pythagoras did not write treatises. It was impossible to compile a treatise from oral instructions for the common people, and secret occult teaching for the elite could not be entrusted to a book. Iamblichus comments on the absence of Pythagoras' works:

« Their persistence in keeping their teachings secret is also remarkable: for so many years before the generation of Philolaus, it seems that no one had encountered a single Pythagorean work. Philolaus was the first of the Pythagoreans to publish three sensational books, which, it is said, Dion of Syracuse bought for a hundred minas at the direction of Plato, when Philolaus fell into extreme need.»

Diogenes lists the titles of these books attributed to Pythagoras: “On Education,” “On the State,” and “On Nature.” However, none of the authors in the first 200 years after the death of Pythagoras, including Plato, Aristotle and their successors at the Academy and Lyceum, quote from the works of Pythagoras or even indicate the existence of such works. At first new era ancient writers do not know the works of Pythagoras, as Plutarch, Josephus and Galen reported.

In the 3rd century. BC e. a compilation of the sayings of Pythagoras appeared, known as the “Sacred Word”, from which the so-called “Golden Verses” later arose (sometimes they are attributed to the 4th century BC without good reason). These verses were first quoted by Chrysippus in the 3rd century. BC e., although, perhaps, at that time the compilation had not yet developed into a finished form. The final excerpt from “Golden Verses” translated by I. Peter:

Be firm: the divine race is present in mortals,
To them, proclaiming, sacred nature reveals everything.
If this is not alien to you, you will carry out orders,
You will heal your soul and deliver you from many disasters.
Dishes, I said, leave those that I indicated in the cleansings
And be guided by true knowledge - the best charioteer.
If you, having left your body, ascend into the free ether,
You will become an incorruptible and eternal god who does not know death.

Pythagoras of Samos (570-490 BC) - ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, founder of the religious and philosophical school of the Pythagoreans.

Pythagoras' parents came from the island of Samos. According to some sources, the scientist’s father was a stone cutter, and according to others, a rich merchant. Pythagoras' mother was from the noble family of Ancaeus, who was the founder of the Greek colony of Samos. According to legend, the birth of the scientist was predicted by Pythia in Delphi. Note that the name Pythagoras literally means “the one announced by the Pythia.” The scientist was born in Sidon Phoenician.

Ancient authors claim that Pythagoras communicated with many famous sages of his era (Greeks, Chaldeans, Persians, Egyptians). In particular, in his youth he went to Egypt, where he met the local priests. Some authors claim that he penetrated into mysteries that were forbidden to foreigners.

Then Pythagoras included Babylon among the captives of the Persian king Cambyses. Here he stayed for about 12 years until he returned to Samos at the age of 56. Ancient authors note that upon returning to his homeland, his compatriots recognized him as a sage.

But there is another version. In particular, according to Porfiry, the scientist left his homeland at the age of 40 because he did not agree with the tyrannical power of Polycrates. Thus, it is unknown whether the mathematician visited Babylon and Egypt. Although modern historians argue that Pythagoras could have left Samos not so much because of disagreements with the authorities, but rather out of a desire to preach his teachings. If we adhere to this opinion, then after leaving his homeland, Pythagoras settled in Crotona (Southern Italy). Here he found many followers who were attracted to his philosophy and way of life.

The disciples of Pythagoras formed a kind of brotherhood of initiates, which consisted of a caste of selected like-minded people who deified their teacher. For a long time he had enormous influence in the said Greek colony. But due to anti-Pythagorean sentiments in Croton, the philosopher was forced to move to Metapontus, where he died. Thus, there is a legend that the dejected Pythagoras starved himself to death.

The followers of Pythagoras tried to change the legislation in their cities. But the majority of the population did not share the ideals of the philosopher, which resulted in riots in Tarentum and Croton. Many Pythagoreans died in these skirmishes, while others scattered throughout Greece and Italy. Porphyry notes that Pythagoras himself died during the anti-Pythagorean rebellion in Metapontus.

Philosophical teachings of Pythagoras

Modern historians divide the teachings of Pythagoras into 2 parts:

• religious-mystical way of life;
• scientific approach to understanding the world.

For example, Aristotle characterizes Pythagoras as the founder of a semi-religious cult that prohibited eating beans. But Plato treated the mathematician with deep respect. In fact, Pythagoras created a secret society that set itself not only political goals, but also worked on moral and physical purification. In particular, the Pythagoreans believed that the soul moves from heaven into the body of an animal or human until it earns the right to return to heaven again.

Among the merits of the Pythagoreans, it is worth highlighting the promotion of the idea of ​​​​quantitative laws of world development. Pythagoras believed that the basis of the universe is number. In his opinion, knowledge of the world consists of knowledge of the numbers that control it. As a result, the Pythagoreans developed various numerical relationships in many areas of human activity.

Scientific achievements

Now Pythagoras is considered a great mathematician and cosmologist, but early sources do not mention such merits. For example, Iamblichus writes that the Pythagoreans often attributed own discoveries Pythagoras. In particular, the philosopher is given the authorship of a famous theorem. But many modern researchers are of the opinion that Pythagoras did not prove this theorem, but simply conveyed knowledge known in Babylon long before his birth. Some credit Pythagoras with the discovery that the Earth is a sphere. But Diogenes Laertius claims that such a judgment was expressed by Anaximander of Miletus, who taught Pythagoras in his youth. Nevertheless, the scientific merits of the Pythagorean school in cosmology and mathematics are indisputable.

Herodotus called Pythagoras “the greatest Hellenic sage.”

Pythagoras did not leave his own works; all information about his life and teachings is based on the works of his followers. The earliest sources about the teachings of Pythagoras were created 200 years after his death.

As a result of one of his speeches, Pythagoras acquired 2 thousand students. They, together with their families, formed a school where the laws and rules of the famous ancient mathematician were in effect.

Since Pythagoras believed that human souls can move into animals, he and his students adhered to vegetarianism. Although some of the scientist’s demands are now perceived as funny incidents. For example, the Pythagoreans did not allow swallows to build nests under the roofs of houses and could not touch white roosters.

There is a mug named after Pythagoras. It is also known as the "greed mug". In the center of this seemingly ordinary vessel is a small column. This mug can be filled to a certain level. If you pour it to the brim, then the entire contents of the vessel will flow out. Thus, the “greed mug” helps not to forget about a sense of proportion. This is one of the most popular Greek souvenirs.

One of the craters on the Moon was named after Pythagoras.

The philosopher's contemporary Heraclitus believed that Pythagoras presented ordinary knowledge and fraud as his own wisdom.

Pythagoras had a wife, Theano, a daughter, Mnya, and a son, Telaugus (according to another version, the daughter of Arignot and the son of Arimnest).

Judging by short biography Pythagoras, his life was filled with amazing events, and his contemporaries considered him perhaps the most outstanding scientist of all times and peoples, initiated into all the secrets of the Universe.

Historical evidence of the origin of Pythagoras has been preserved. His father was Mnesarchus, a native of Tyre, who received citizenship of Samos, and his mother was Parthenides or Pyphaidas, who was a relative of Ankeus, the founder of the Greek colony on Samos.

Education

If you follow official biography Pythagoras, then at the age of 18 he went to Egypt, to the court of Pharaoh Amasis, to whom the Samian tyrant Polycrates sent him. Thanks to his patronage, Pythagoras was taught by the Egyptian priests and was admitted to the temple libraries. It is believed that the sage spent about 22 years in Egypt.

Babylonian captivity

Pythagoras came to Babylon as a prisoner of King Cambyses. He stayed in the country for about 12 years, studying with local magicians and priests. At the age of 56, he returned to his native Samos.

Philosophical school

Evidence indicates that after all his wanderings, Pythagoras settled in Crotona (Southern Italy). There he founded philosophical school, more like a kind of religious order (the followers of Pythagoras believed that the transmigration of the soul and reincarnation was possible; they believed that a person should earn a place in the world of the Gods with good deeds, and until this happens, the soul will continue to return to Earth, “moving into” the body of an animal or person), where not only knowledge was promoted, but also special image life.

It was Pythagoras and his students, whose teacher’s authority was unquestionable, who introduced the words “philosophy” and “philosopher” into circulation. This order actually came to power in Crotone, but due to the spread of anti-Pythagorean sentiment, the philosopher was forced to leave for the city of Metapontus, where he died in approximately 491 BC.

Personal life

The name of Pythagoras' wife is known - Theano. It is also known that the philosopher had a son and daughter.

Discoveries

It was Pythagoras, as most researchers believe, who discovered the famous theorem that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the legs.

Pythagoras's eternal opponent was Heraclitus, who believed that “much knowledge” is not a sign of a real philosophical mind. Aristotle never quoted Pythagoras in his works, but Plato considered Pythagoras the greatest philosopher of Greece, bought the works of the Pythagoreans and often quoted their opinions in his works.

Other biography options

• It is interesting that the birth of Pythagoras was predicted by the Delphic Pythia (hence the name, because “Pythagoras” translated from Greek means “predicted by Pythia”). The boy's father was warned that his son would be born unusually gifted and would bring a lot of benefit to people.
• Many biographers describe the life of Pythagoras differently. There are certain discrepancies in the works of Heraclides, Ephsebius of Caesarea, Diogenes, and Porphyry. According to the latter’s works, the philosopher either died as a result of the anti-Pythagorean rebellion, or starved himself to death in one of the temples, as he was not satisfied with the results of his work.
• There is an opinion that Pythagoras was a vegetarian and only occasionally allowed himself to eat fish. Asceticism in everything is one of the components of the teachings of the Pythagorean philosophical school.

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One of the founders of many sciences, doctrines and concepts is Pythagoras. His biography is full of secrets, and is not thoroughly known even to professional historians. It is only clear that the basic facts of his life were recorded on paper by his own students, who were in different parts of the world. The biography of Pythagoras is briefly outlined in this article.

The beginning of life's journey

The biography of Pythagoras begins in 570 (approximate date), in the city of Sidon (now Saida, Lebanon). He was born into the family of a wealthy jeweler who was able to give the most better education and knowledge to your son. Interesting fact is the origin of the name of the future sage. His father, Mnesarchus, named his son after one of Apollo's priestesses, Pythia. He also named his wife Pyphasis after her. And everything turned out this way because it was this priestess who predicted to Mnesarch that he would have a son who would surpass every other person in both beauty and intelligence.

First knowledge and teachers

The early years of the scientist, as the biography of Pythagoras tells, took place within the walls of the best temples in Greece. Also in adolescence he tried to learn as much as possible by reading the works of other sages and also by talking with spiritual teachers. Among them, it is worth highlighting Pherecydes of Syros, the greatest ancient Greek cosmologist. He helps young Pythagoras study mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Pythagoras also had the opportunity to communicate with Hermodamantus, who taught him to love poetry and everything related to art.

Educational travel

In subsequent years, the biography of Pythagoras consists of his life experience in foreign lands. First he goes to Egypt, where he plunges into the local mystery. Later in this country he opens his own school, where he could study mathematics and philosophy. During the 20 years that he spent in Egypt, he gathered many disciples and supporters who called themselves Pythagoreans. It is also worth noting that during this period he introduced such a concept as a philosopher and called himself this word. The fact is that previously all great people called themselves sages, which meant “knows.” Pythagoras introduced the term “philosopher,” which was translated as “trying to find out.”

After their scientific discoveries, which were made in Egypt, Pythagoras goes to Babylon, where he spends 12 years. There he studies eastern religions, their characteristics, and compares the development of science and the arts in the countries of Mesopotamia and Greece. After this, he returns to the Eastern Mediterranean, only now - to the shores of Phenicia and Syria. He spends very little time there, and after that he begins the journey again, only this time more distant. Crossing the country of the Achimenides and Media, the philosopher ends up in Hindustan. By gaining knowledge about a completely different religion and way of life, he further expands his horizons, which gives him the opportunity to make new discoveries in science.

Biography of Pythagoras: his last years

In 530 BC. Pythagoras ends up in Italy, where he discovers new school called the Pythagorean Union. Only those who have sufficient knowledge behind them can study there. During lessons in this institution, Pythagoras tells his students about the secrets of astronomy, teaches mathematics, geometry, and harmony. At the age of 60, he marries one of his students, and they have three children.

Around 500 BC. Persecution begins against the Pythagoreans. As the story goes, they were due to the fact that the philosopher himself chose not to take the son of a respected citizen into the ranks of his students. After numerous riots he disappeared.

Pythagoras of Samos, ancient Greek philosopher, great initiate of the Earth, political and religious figure, mathematician, founder of Pythagoreanism. His main life concept is “Everything is a Number.” This is usually indicated in encyclopedias and his biographies.

But who Pythagoras was, who is now and who Pythagoras will be in the future remains a cosmic Mystery...

He is a most brilliant scientist, a great dedicated philosopher, a sage, the founder of the famous Pythagorean school and the spiritual teacher of a number of outstanding philosophers of world renown. Pythagoras became the founder of the teachings about Numbers, the Music of the celestial spheres and the Cosmos, and created the basis of monadology and the quantum theory of the structure of matter. He made discoveries of great importance in the field of such sciences as mathematics, music, optics, geometry, astronomy, number theory, superstring theory (Earthly monochord), psychology, pedagogy, ethics.

Pythagoras developed his philosophy on the basis of knowledge of the laws of the interrelations of the visible and invisible world, the unity of spirit and matter, on the concept of the immortality of the soul and its gradual purification through transmigration (the theory of incarnation). Many legends are associated with the name of Pythagoras, and his students were able to win fame for themselves and became outstanding people, thanks to whose works we became aware of the fundamentals of the teachings of Pythagoras, his sayings, practical and ethical advice, as well as the theoretical postulates and spiritual tales of Pythagoras.

Perhaps not every one of us can remember the Pythagorean theorem, but everyone knows the saying “Pythagorean pants are equal on all sides.” Pythagoras, among other things, was a rather cunning man. The great scientist taught all his Pythagorean students a simple tactic that was very beneficial for him: if you made discoveries, attribute them to your teacher. This may be a rather controversial judgment, but it is thanks to his students that Pythagoras is credited with a truly incredible number of discoveries:

In geometry: the famous and beloved Pythagorean theorem, as well as the construction of individual polyhedra and polygons.

In geography and astronomy: he was one of the first to express the hypothesis that the Earth is round, and also believed that we are not alone in the Universe.

In music: determined that sound depends on the length of the flute or string.

In numerology: in our time, numerology has become famous and quite popular, but it was Pythagoras who combined numbers with predictions for the future.

Pythagoras taught that both the beginning and the end of everything that exists lies in a certain abstract quantity, the so-called Monad. It represents the unknowable absolute emptiness, chaos, the ancestral home of all gods and at the same time contains the fullness of existence in the form of divine Light. The Monad, like ether, permeates all things, but is not located in any one of them. This is the sum of all numbers, which is always considered as an indivisible whole, like a unit.

The Pythagoreans depicted the Monad as a figure that consists of ten points - the so-called nodes. All these ten nodes, called tetractys by the Pythagoreans, create nine equilateral triangles between themselves, which personify the fullness of universal emptiness and the Life-giving Cross.

It is also believed that Pythagoras created the foundations of planimetry, introduced the widespread and mandatory use of evidence in geometry, and created the doctrine of similarity.

Pythagoras made all these discoveries more than two and a half thousand years ago! The discoveries of Pythagoras, like his faithful disciples, live and will live in the future.