Pythagoras: His Life and Teaching, a Compendium of Classical Sources

by Wasserman, James

  821 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  822 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  823 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  824 Censorinus, De Die Natale, Chap. 11.

  825 Varro, De Re Rustica, Liber II, Chap. 1 & Censorinus, De Die Natale, Chap. 4.

  826 Nemesius, De Natura Hominis, Chap. 2.

  827 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber IV, Chap. 2.

  828 Aristotle, De Anima, Liber I, Chap. 2.

  829 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber IV, Chap 4.

  830 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap.19.†

  831 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber IV, Chap. 20.†

  832 Stobaeus, Eclogarum Physicarum et Ethicarum, Liber I, Chap. 1.

  833 Anonymous, De Vita Pythagorae apud Photius, Chap. 10.

  834 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber I, Chap. 15

  835 Anonymous, De Vita Pythagorae apud Photius, Chap. 10. For [“Twelve”], perhaps [“ten”].†

  836 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber IV, Chap. 14.

  837 Of which the Ancients made their Mirrors, see Callimachus, Hymn 5.†

  838 Anonymous, De Vita Pythagorae apud Photius, Chap. 10.

  839 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber IV, Chap. 20.

  840 Anonymous, De Vita Pythagorae apud Photius, Chap. 10.

  841 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber IV, Chap. 2.

  842 Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, Liber V, Chap. 13.

  843 Cicero, De Senectute, Chap. 21.

  844 Cicero, De Natura Deorum, Liber I, Chap. 11.

  845 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  846 Cicero, Tuscularum Disputationum, Liber I, Chap. 26.

  847 Anonymous, De Vita Pythagorae apud Photius, Chap. 17.

  848 Anonymous, De Vita Pythagorae apud Photius, Chap.17.

  849 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 19.

  850 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap.12.

  851 Cited by Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica, Liber X, Chapter 8.

  852 Herodotus, Liber II, Chap. 123.

  853 Anonymous, De Vita Pythagorae apud Photius, Chap. 6.

  854 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 12.

  855 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 24.

  856 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 44.

  857 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap.4.

  858 Tzetzes, Chiliades, II, 48.

  859 Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, Liber IV, Chap. 11.

  860 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 45.

  861 Ovid, Metamorphoses, Liber XV.

  862 Rendered into English by my Uncle, Mr. Sandys. [George Sandys, Ovid's Metamorphosis Englished Mythologized and Represented in Figures (Oxford, 1632.)—Ed.]

  863 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 26 & Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 14.

  864 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 26.

  865 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 28. See also Aelian, Varia Historia, Liber IV, Chap. 17.

  866 Stobaeus, Eclogarum Physicarum et Ethicarum.

  867 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber IV, Chap.7.

  868 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  869 Plutarch, Quaestiones Graecae, Ques. 39.

  870 Aelian, Varia Historia, Liber IV, Chap. 17.

  871 Apuleius, Florida, Chap. 15

  872 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 11.

  873 Aelian, Varia Historia, Liber IX, Chap. 22.

  874 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 29.

  875 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 33.

  876 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  877 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 29.

  878 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap 24.

  879 The Pythagoreans.

  880 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 24.

  881 The Pythagorists.

  882 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 21 & Athenaeus, Deipnosophistarum, Liber X, Chap. 13.

  883 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 34 & Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 18.

  884 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 18.

  885 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 34.

  886 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 35.

  887 Pliny, Naturalis Historiae, Liber XXIV, Chap. 17.

  888 Pliny, Ibid.

  889 Pliny, Ibid.

  890 Pliny, Naturalis Historiae, Liber XXIV, Chap. 17.

  891 Pliny, Naturalis Historiae, Liber XIX, Chap. 5.

  892 Pliny, Naturalis Historiae, Liber XX, Chap. 9.

  893 Pliny, Naturalis Historiae, Liber XXII, Chap. 8.

  894 In [The “Greek etymologist” is Hesychius of Alexandria.—Ed.]

  895 Homer, Odyssea, 19, 455.

  896 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 30.

  897 Pliny, Naturalis Historiae, Liber XXVIII, Chap. 3.

  898 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 37.

  899 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 29.

  900 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 41.

  901 For for so Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, Liber V, Chap. 8.†

  902 Porphyry, Loc. cit.

  903 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  904 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 42.

  905 Iamblichus, Protrepticus, Chap. 21.

  906 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 23.

  907 Perhaps [“disbelieve”].†

  908 Olympiodorus, Platonis Phaedonem, Chap. 1.

  909 Plutarch, Numa, Chap. 8.

  910 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap.28

  911 Plutarch, De Liberis Educandis, Chap. 17.

  912 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 42.

  913 Plutarch, De Liberis Educandis, Chap. 17.

  914 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap.17.

  915 Athenaeus, Deipnosophistarum, Liber X, Chap. 77.

  916 Plutarch, De Liberis Educandis, Chap.17.

  917 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap.17.

  918 Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, Liber V, Chap.5.

  919 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 42.

  920 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 17.

  921 Plutarch, Symposiac, Liber VIII, Ques. 7.

  922 Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, Liber V, Chap. 5.

  923 Plutarch, De Liberis Educandis, Chap. 17.

  924 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 42.

  925 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 18.

  926 Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, Liber V, Chap. 5.

  927 Clement of Alexandria, Ibid.

  928 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 24.

  929 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 18–19.

  930 Plutarch, De Liberis Educandis, Chap. 17.

  931 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 44.

  932 Origen, Philosophumena, Liber I, Pythagoras.

  933 Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, Liber IV, Chap. 11.

  934 Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, Liber III, Chap. 3.

  935 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  936 Ibid.

  937 Ibid.

  938 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 42.

  939 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 42.

  940 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap.18.

  941 Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 43.

  942 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19.

  943 Athenaeus, Deipnosophistarum, Liber VII, Chap. 80.

  944 Plutarch, De Liberis Educandis

  945 Olympiodorus, Platonis Phaedonem

  946 Cicero, in Cato and De Republica

  947 Iamblichus, De Vita Pyth
agorica, Chap. 28.

  948 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 8.

  949 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 28.

  950 Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride, Chap. 10.

  951 Iamblichus, Protrepticus, Chap. 21.

  952 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 19 & Porphyry, De Vita Pythagorae, Chap. 39.

  953 Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, Liber IV, Chap. 26.

  954 Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, Liber V, Chap. 5.

  955 Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica, Chap. 18.

  956 Iamblichus, Ibid.

  957 Iamblichus, Ibid.

  958 Iamblichus, Ibid.

  959 Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride, Chap. 10.

  960 Lactantius, De Vero Cultu, Liber VI, Chap. 3.

  961 The Parts of the World

  962 Animals.

  963 perhaps is for (Doric.)†

  964 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  965 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II, out of which Paul Schalich collects his first Canon, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Chap. 7 [in Encyclopaediae, seu Orbis disciplinarum.—Ed.]

  966 Apuleius, Florida, Chap. 15.

  967 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  968 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 16.

  969 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II & Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 4.

  970 Pythagoras, Aurea Carmina, I.

  971 Pythagoras, Aurea Carmina, 47–48.

  972 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  973 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, Liber IV, Chap. 2.

  974 Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 2.

  975 Laertius, De Vitis Philosophorum, Liber VIII, Chap. 27.

  976 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  977 Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 9.

  978 Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 10.

  979 Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 11.

  980 Homer, Iliadem, 14.

  981 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  982 Timaeus of Locri, De Natura Mundi Et Animae, Chap. 5.

  983 Pythagoras, Aurea Carmina, 50-51.

  984 Plotinus, Ennead III, 5-6.

  985 Pythagoras, Aurea Carmina,70-71.

  986 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  987 Timaeus of Locri, De Natura Mundi Et Animae, Chap. 5.

  988 Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 3.

  989 Alcinous, De Doctrina Platonis, Chap. 13. [Translated by Thomas Stanley & included in the account of Plato in his History of Philosophy.—Ed.]

  990 Timaeus of Locri, De Natura Mundi Et Animae, Chap. 2.

  991 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  992 Pythagoras, Aurea Carmina, 63-64.

  993 Herodotus, Liber I, Chap. 32.

  994 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  995 Pythagoras, Aurea Carmina,65-66.

  996 Virgil, Aeneid, Liber VI.

  997 Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 6.

  998 Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 5.

  999 Scalich, De Mysterius Pythagoricis in Theses Mysticae Philosophiae, Canon 8.

  1000 Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, Liber II.

  1001 Aristotle, De Generatione et Corruptione, Liber I, Chap. 1.

  1002 Philostratus, Vita Apollonii, Chap.19.

  ADDITIONAL NOTES TO THE TEXT

  BY J. DANIEL GUNTHER

  (marked with †)

  p. 79 , “Genuine.”

  From Iamblicus', Life of Pythagoras, Cap. 18 (Kiessling, Iamblichi Chalcidensis Ex Coele-Suria De Vita Pythagorica, Vol. 1, p.172)

  p. 88 a Magician.

  The word is not the normal word for “magician.” It refers to one who examines animal entrails for the purpose of divination. Cf. Schmidt, Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon, Editionem Minorem p.342, Liddell Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon p. 344b, and p.1628b, The accusation of Timon that Pythagoras was a is contradicted by the account in Chapter 15, ‘Divination by Numbers' (see page 169) where we find an account of divination where Pythagoras rejects the use of animal entrails: “The student of Pythagoras, Abaris, performed those kinds of sacrifices to which he was accustomed, and diligently practiced divination after the ways of the Barbarians by victims (principally of cocks, whose entrals they conceived to be most exact for inspection). Pythagoras, not willing to take him away from his study of truth; yet, in order to direct him by a safer way, without blood and slaughter (moreover esteeming the cock sacred to the Sun), taught Abaris to find out all truth by the science of arithmetic.”

  p. 96 And that he chiefly praised Homer, for saving, , the shepherd of the people.

  The phrase is used by Homer multiple times as an epithet of a ruler.

  For one example, see The Odyssey, III, line 156 and IV, line 541 where the phrase is applied to Agamemnon. (Palmer, The Odyssey of Homer, Books I-XII. The Text, And An English Version In Rhythmic Prose, pp. 74 & 132.)

  p. 99 [“One that practices bodily exercises”.] (“Exercitator”…)

  For , “One that practices bodily exercises,” Cf. Liddell Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon p. 1749B, and Dindorf, Clementis Alexandrini Opera, p. 421 par. 266, 10. For , read literally “one who annoints,” i.e. one who applied ointments in a gymnasium. Cf. Liddell Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon p. 62a. The reference is to the Natural History of Pliny Secundi, Liber XXIII, Chap. 7 which extols the virtues of the fig: Pythagoras exercitator primus ad carnes eos transtulit. “Pythagoras, the gymnist (exercitator), being the first who introduced them to a flesh diet.” (Perhaps meaning that he used figs to assist in putting on weight. Cf. Mayhoff, C. Plini Secundi Naturalis Historiae, Vol. 4 p. 38, and Bostock & Riley, The Natural History of Pliny, Vol. 4 , p. 503)

  p. 99 , [“He said it”]

  The phrase implies “The Master said it”; Latin Ipse dixit. It was associated with Pythagoras whose students in a debate would argue ipse dixit, (“He said it himself”), meaning Pythagoras, and considered it sufficent proof of an argument even without evidence. Cf. Cicero, De Natura Deorum (Liber I, Cap.V,10. Latin text is given in Mayor, M. Tulli Ciceronis De Natura Deorum Libri Tres, Vol. 1, p. 4) Cicero was in turn quoted to this effect by Valerius Maximus, Memorable Doings And Sayings, Book VIII. 15. Ext. 1. According to Joseph Mayor, Socrates was also called by his disciples. Both the Latin and Greek pronouns were used colloquially by slaves of their masters. (M. Tulli Ciceronis De Natura Deorum Libri Tres, Vol. 1, p. 77) It is interesting to note that Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) would eventually utilize the Latin phrase to form the word ipse-dixitism, which is used to signify an unsupported or dogmatic argument.

  p. 99 “squill” or “sea-onion,” Urginea maritima.

  The plant was used in the Mediterranean area medicinally and as rat poison. Pliny, in Liber XIX, Chapter 30 of his Natural History, wrote that, “the philosopher Pythagoras has written a whole volume on the merits of this plant, setting forth its various medicinal properties.,” and further, in Liber XX, Chapter 39, “Pythagoras says that a squill suspended at the threshold of a door, effectively shuts all access to evil spells and incantations..” (See Bostock & Riley, The Natural History of Pliny, Vol. IV, pp. 168-169 and 243. The Latin text is in Mayhoff, C. Plini Secundi Naturalis Historiae, Vol. 3, pp. 273-274 and 372.)

  p. 100

  An interrogative particle meaning in this case, “what?” i.e., “what clothes?”

  The passage in full reads as follows:

  “And she recommended a woman, who was going to her husband, to put off her modesty with her clothes, and when she left him, to resume it again with her clothes; and when she was asked, “What clothes?” she said, “Those wh
ich cause you to be called a woman.”

  (Yonge, Diogenes Laërtius, The Lives And Opinions of Eminent Philosophers p. 356. Cf. Hicks, Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Vol. 2, pp. 357-359)

  p. 118 “He said it.”

  See above, note to page 99.

  p. 122 a quinquennial silence.

  From Iamblicus, Life of Pythagoras, Cap. 17 (Kiessling, Iamblichi Chalcidensis Ex Coele-Suria De Vita Pythagorica, Vol. 1, p. 154)

  p. 122 [“keeping silent”], from keeping our speech within ourselves. Read [“keeping silent”], The word is a synonym of

  See Schmidt, M., Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon under and Liddell-Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 747b under silence, reserve.)

  p. 134. Quinquennial silence,

  “Quinquennial silence” is the translation of (Iamblicus, Life of Pythagoras, Cap. 17) which Stanley mentioned specifically earlier on page 122 (see note above.) The quinquennial silence was also called

  p. 142 [“a thing pricked,” i.e. “traced out beforehand”].

  A design for a finished work, perhaps etched into the raw material. Cf. Liddell Scott A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 1486a .

  p. 149 “separation” (from multitude).

  The etymological signification of the word “Monad,” according to Theon Smyrnaeus, was based on the fact that it remained unaltered if multiplied by itself, or that is separated and isolated () from the remaining multitude of numbers. (Heath, The Thirteen Books of Euclid's Elements, Vol. 2 , p. 279)

  p. 152 judgment.

  Derived from , “separate one from another,” in the sense of “a discerning, distinguishing.” Cf. Liddell Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 399a. “Meursius” refers to the classical scholar Johannes Meursius (15791639)

  p. 153 “silver-footed,” or “silver-sandalled.”

  The word is used as an epithet of Thetis in Homer's Iliad, I, 538. Cf. Monro, Iliad, Books I-XII, p. 18. Cf. also Liddell Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 236b under

  p. 161

  The literal meaning is “whole of limb, not dismembered.” Cf. Liddell Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon p. 1218a.

  p. 162 [“central oarsman”].

  This refers to the central oarsmen of the style of Greek warship called the “Trireme” () The ship had three rows of oarsmen. The rowers with the longest oars who sat in the mid-most point of the boat. Used in the same sense as . (Cf. Liddell Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, pp. 1106b, 1107a.)

  p. 162 [“hurled forth”].