Pythagoras and the math of everything

a reply to: Aural

Indeed. And like most of his fellow geniuses of Antiquity, he was considered a son of the Gods, in Pythagoras' case Apollo, the Greek Sun-god. A certain poet from Samos (Pythagoras' home town), sang thus:

Pythais, the fairest of the Samian race
From the embraces of the God Apollo
Bore Pythagoras, the friend of Zeus

Thales, an early mentor of Pythagoras, after having imparted him with all he knew, suggested Pythagoras travelled to Egypt and get in touch with the priests of Memphis and Zeus, once Thales own instructors. To do that, however demanded Pythagoras to change his life. He quit alcohol, became a vegetarian, lay off greed and be more virtuous. This would ensure he needed less sleep, become more vigilant and his health would benefit greatly.

While he travelled to Egypt, he stopped by Phoenicia he made acquaintances with the prophets who were descendants of 'Moschus the physiologist' which is another name for Moses, and many others and was initiated into the mysteries of Byblos and Tyre, and certain Syrian mystery schools. Pythagoras realised that all these Phoenician mysteries originated from Egypt, and he would long even more for the 'Land of Khemet' (Egypt). He made contact with a pack of Egyptian sailors by Mt. Carmel, who figured they could make a fortune by selling him as a slave to the Egyptians, but they changed their minds during the journey, when they saw how humbly he lead his life, he fasted the whole way, and to their knowledge, didn't sleep or open his mouth, but sat in the same spot as not to disturb the others. Thales' instructions were well invested. The sailors admired him, and they believed he was in favour by the Gods, so when arriving in Egypt, they made an altar to his honour and gave him plenty of food.

In Egypt he would visit all the temples he could find and soaked up as much knowledge as he could possibly manage and won the esteem and admiration from all the priests and prophets, sages and wise men he met on his way. He stayed for 22 years inside sanctuaries and temples, mastering music, astronomy, geometry and all the other sciences, and was initiated into all the secrets of Egypt. After that he was taken captive and taken to Babylon where he met the Magi, and as it were, and as HE were, he was soon initiated into their mysteries too. 12 years later he would be a free man and returned to his beloved hometown of Samos.

The above is paraphrased from pages 58-61 of the 'Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library' ISBN 0-933999-51-8

Hope that was of some help

a reply to: Utnapisjtim

Pretty interesting although I may need to cross reference if i ever get time to. Pretty much a lot of what pythagorus is credited with I have seen people like Anthony West attribute to Egypt before him. A lot of specific ratios are present in various structures there.

a reply to: Aural

Look up Iamblichus (250-325 AD), he wrote a book called 'Life of Pythagoras' which is vol. 1 of a ten volume work on Pythagoras.

ETA: Found it on Amazon ==> www.amazon.com...

originally posted by: micpsi
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