Pythagoras: Encyclopedia II - Pythagoras - Biography

Pythagoras - Biography

Pythagoras was born on the island of Samos, off the coast of Asia Minor. He was born to Pythais (a native of Samos) and Mnesarchus (a merchant from Tyre). As a young man, he left his native city for Croton in Southern Italy, to escape the tyrannical government of Polycrates. Many writers credit him with visiting the sages of Egypt and Babylon before going west; such travels feature in the biographies of many Greek sages.

Upon his migration from Samos to Croton, Pythagoras established a secret religious society very similar to (and possibly influenced by) the earlier Orphic cult.

Pythagoras undertook a reform of the cultural life of Croton, urging the citizens to follow virtue and form an elite circle of followers around himself. Very strict rules of conduct governed this cultural center. He opened his school to men and women students alike. Those who joined the inner circle of Pythagoras' society called themselves the Mathematikoi. They lived at the school, owned no personal possessions and were required to assume a vegetarian diet. Other students who lived in neighboring areas were also permitted to attend Pythagoras' school. Known as Akousmatics, these students were permitted to eat meat and own personal belongings.

According to Iamblichus, the Pythagoreans followed a structured life of religious teaching, common meals, exercise, reading and philosophical study. Music featured as an essential organizing factor of this life: the disciples would sing hymns to Apollo together regularly; they used the lyre to cure illness of the soul or body; poetry recitations occurred before and after sleep to aid the memory.

The Pythagorean theorem that bears his name was known earlier in Mesopotamia, Egypt and India. For a chronology of the theorem and its proofs, see the article on the Pythagorean theorem. Whether Pythagoras himself proved this theorem is not known, as it was common in the ancient world to credit to a famous teacher the discoveries of his students. The earliest known mention of Pythogoras's name in connection with the theorem occurred five centuries after his death, in the writings of Cicero and Plutarch.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Biography", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki