Facts of 'Pythagoras'

'Pythagoras'(570 BC to 495 BC)

He had a condition of Synaesthesia.

Pythagoras is someone most people have heard of, but he is an enigma. The trouble is trust. Can we trust what we read about him? Sadly, the answer is no. We can’t trust a lot of it, because if we did, we would have to believe he had god-like powers.

The Pythagoreans were a secretive bunch. Everything we know about Pythagoras was written many years after he lived. If we are to believe what is written, Pythagoras was like Dr. Doolittle and could talk to the animals. He once talked to an ox and persuaded it never to eat beans again! We do not know what Pythagoras really looked like.

There are no written records from his time. Information was passed on by word of mouth.

Most of what we know of him was written hundreds of years after he lived. It may not be reliable.

Keeping all of that in mind, here goes:

1. Pythagoras was also called Pythagoras of Samos or Pythagoras the Samian. Pythagoras was born on the Greek island of Samos. His father was a merchant. Pythagoras was taught mathematics by Thales, who brought mathematics to the Greeks from Ancient Egypt, and by Anaximander, who was an earlier student of Thales. Thales advised Pythagoras to visit Egypt, which he did when he was about 22 years old.

2. Pythagoras didn’t leave Egypt willingly. He was caught up in a Persian invasion and taken as a prisoner to Babylon. The Babylonians were probably the finest mathematicians in the world at that time.

3. He believed that science and religion were connected. He also believed that the human soul returned over and over again into people, animals and even vegetables. Pythagoras believed that he had already lived four lives, all of which he could remember. Others claimed that he was able to travel through space and time and could talk to plants and animals.

4. When Pythagoras moved to Croton in about 530 BC, he set up his religious sect in the Greek colony located in southern Italy. There is a written account that states Pythagoras took a lady of Croton named Theano as his wife. They produced four children a son named Telauges, and three daughters Damo, Arignote, and Myia. 

5. What were the mathematical achievements of the Pythagoreans?

• The Tetractys – a perfect Pythagorean symbol, both mathematical and mystical.
• Everything is a Number: The Pythagoreans believed that the basis of everything in the universe is numbers. Modern mathematicians and physical scientists have a similar belief.
• The Existence of Numbers: The Pythagoreans were the first people to realize that all numbers have their own existence and don’t need to be associated with real objects to become real.
• The Proof of Pythagoras’s Theorem: For a right angled triangle the sum of the squares on the other two shorter sides equals the hypotenuse squared.
• The Discovery and Proof of Irrational Numbers: The mathematical proof that √2 is irrational was found by a Pythagorean.
• The Discovery of Platonic Solids.
• Math,Music and Astronomy: Pythagoras believed that, like everything else, music was based on whole number ratios. Pythagoras appears to have believed Earth was at the center of the universe. Later Pythagoreans like Philolaus disagreed.

6. More Facts of his life:

• Pythagoras wore women's clothing!.
• Pythagoras refused to eat bread unless it was cut in a certain way!
• Pythagoras was afraid to eat beans because he thought if he farted a piece of his soul would escape!
• Pythagoras also belived that animals have souls!
• Pythagoras was a racist!
• Pythagoras thought that the soul was immortal and went through a series of reincarnations!
• Pythagoras said that he was once a warrior in the troja-war in his past life!
• Pythagoras Refused to wear clothes made from animal skins.

7. Pythagoras may have had a condition known as synaesthesia. A person with the condition is said to be able to hear colours and see music, or associate smells with people’s names.

8. Great philosopher Plato was greatly influenced by Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans.  A form of drinking cup has been credited to Pythagoras called the Pythagorean cup or Pythagoras cup. The construction of the cup forces a drinker to only consume alcohol in moderation. The user fills the cup with wine that only reaches a certain level. If the user fills the cup only up to that level, he can peacefully enjoy his beverage. However, if he proves himself a greedy drinker, the cup will spill its entire contents out the bottom.

9. Pythagoras is thought to have died at the age of about 75 years. Some ancient sources claim he lived to be 100. There are conflicting accounts as to how Pythagoras died. Some say that he lost his life in the temple with his disciples when the building was set on fire. Others believe that he fled the city first relocating to Tarentum, and then finding his way to Metapontum when he was driven out of the previous destination. It is said that when he was there, he starved himself to death.