Can you say anything about Pythagoras, except that he was a great mathematician and formulated the famous theorem about "pants that are equal in all directions"? Meanwhile, most of his cases have nothing to do with proving theorems. And the one that received his name, he, most likely, did not formulate himself.
Pythagoras is one of the most mysterious figures of the past. The "Father of History" Herodotus called him "the greatest Hellenic sage." For centuries, he was put on a par with such giants of thought like Aristotle or Socrates. And it is worth talking about the history of mathematics in any company, and the name of Pythagoras will be called one of the first. And with all this, there is not a single convincing evidence that Pythagoras really made any mathematical discoveries. His greatness is based on the memories of his disciples, who could hardly have been objective in relation to their revered leader. And what we know not from their words raises a lot of questions.
Journey to the East
There are many myths around Pythagoras. Some of them are quite easy to refute. For example, you can often find the statement that Pythagoras was not only a sage, but also an athlete. And even the alleged winner of a fist fight at one of the Olympics. In fact, this champion was another Pythagoras. The confusion is aggravated by the fact that they both lived on the island of Samos. But still Pythagoras, the son of Cratetes, won his victory at the Olympics 18 years before the future sage, Pythagoras, the son of Mnesarchus, was born in 570 BC.
Other facts are much more difficult to understand. The fact is that Pythagoras himself did not leave behind a single line of text. And the first works of followers that have come down to us were written somewhere 200 years after his death. As expected, the birth of the hero is surrounded by various mysterious incidents and prophecies. The very name of Pythagoras means "the one whom the Pythia announced" - allegedly Mnesarch was given a prophecy in Delphi that his son would bring so much benefit to people as no one else did and will not bring in the future.
According to biographers, at a young age, Pythagoras, who was distinguished by great talent, left Samos and went to wander the world in search of teachers. Having visited different countries, he reached Egypt, where he lived for 22 years, studying various sciences and wisdom. Moreover, he proved himself to be such a talented student that the Egyptians allowed him even to those secrets that were usually carefully hidden from foreigners. Then he went to Babylon, where he lived for another 12 years, communicating with the local magicians. Pythagoras returned to his homeland at the age of 56. There he stayed for a short while, moving soon to the city of Croton, located in a Greek colony in southern Italy.
True, other sources do not say anything about a trip to the East, but it is mentioned that Pythagoras left Samos at the age of 40 (that is, he could not spend 34 years in distant lands). One way or another, but it was in Crotone that the true glory of the Greek sage began.
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Assigned theorem
A circle of followers formed around the sage - the so-called Pythagorean union. It was from this time that the spread of his fame began. The doctrine of Pythagoras was divided into two parts - the philosophical and religious doctrine and the scientific knowledge of the world. It is to the second part that the famous Pythagorean theorem belongs, which proves that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is always equal to the sum of the squares of the legs. However, there is a catch. The fact is that among the Pythagoreans it was customary to attribute all their discoveries and achievements to the head of the union. Therefore, it is difficult to figure out whether Pythagoras was really a great mathematician or simply appropriated the work of one of his students. According to another version, Pythagoras brought the proof of the theorem from Babylon, where it was proved a thousand years before him.
It is significant that Aristotle, who in the 4th century BC argued a lot with the surviving Pythagoreans, never named Pythagoras among the great thinkers of the past. He perceived him only as the founder of a semi-religious cult, a preacher of healthy eating and a mystic. And a contemporary of Pythagoras, the philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, wrote this: "Pythagoras, the son of Mnesarchus, was engaged in collecting information more than any other person in the world and, having pulled these writings for himself, presented many knowledge and fraud as his own wisdom."
However, no one tried to dispute the fact that the ideas on the basis of which the union was united were formulated by Pythagoras independently. Numbers, measurements and proportions were put at the head of everything. Pythagoras taught that to know the world means to know the numbers that govern it. By the relationship between different numbers, the Pythagoreans could describe literally everything in the world. This allowed them to achieve truly outstanding results in some areas of knowledge. So, for example, it was Pythagoras (or his students?) Who first formulated the thesis that the Earth has a spherical shape. And the mathematical theory of music, created by the Pythagoreans, greatly influenced the understanding of how notes and intervals relate to each other.
But in addition to scientific activity, the mystical-religious component played an important role in the Pythagorean teaching. After all, the Pythagoreans strove to learn the "numbers that rule the world" for a specific purpose - to describe the soul with their help.
Pythagoras believed that immortal souls as independent entities live in heaven. Their nature is semi-divine. Then, for some reason, they incarnate in the body of a human or animal and begin their journey on earth. After several reincarnations, the soul gains the right to return to heaven again. Pythagoras called to study the mathematical laws of the transmigration of souls and through them learn to control this process.
Around this central thought, a huge number of ritual rules and restrictions were built, as is typical of any religion. The most famous was the ban on eating beans, which was not explained in any way, but was absolutely indisputable and absolute. In addition, the Pythagoreans preached vegetarianism, but very moderate, allowing the consumption of fish and even the meat of many animals. It was strictly forbidden to eat the meat of arable bulls and rams.
There was also some form of deification of Pythagoras himself. It is often mentioned that he allegedly had a golden thigh, which was a sign of descent from higher powers. The ancient Greeks wrote about this quite seriously, and modern historians still have not come to a consensus - was it an incomprehensible metaphor or just a birthmark?
Uprising in Crotone
The Pythagoreans strove to apply their mathematical constructions to human society, building theories about its best organization. The result is a model of an ideal dictatorship, where all power belongs to the caste of the best, wise people, to whom the ignorant people are obliged to obey, like children to their parents. It was necessary to determine who is wise enough and who is not in accordance with the internal criteria of the Pythagorean union.
By the 5th century, the position of the Pythagoreans in Croton became so strong (besides, there were many representatives of the nobility in their ranks) that they actually began to rule the colony. At first, few people cared about it, but gradually the inhabitants of Croton realized that they were considered second-class citizens. The Pythagoreans did not hide this at all, and even emphasized it - for example, they never gave a hand to greet those who were not part of their society. For the Greeks, brought up on the idea that all free are equal, this was a grievous insult.
It came to an open conflict when the Pythagoreans began to divide land plots not as it had been done before - by lot, but "by right" taking the best for themselves. The inhabitants of Croton rebelled and simply killed the arrogant sages. True, as they say, later they strongly regretted this. Around the same time, the same situation occurred in another Greek colony in southern Italy - Tarente.
Pythagoras was absent from the city in both cases, which saved him from trouble. He moved to the city of Metapont, where he died several years later. The circumstances of his death are also surrounded by a fog of obscurity. Some say that he was killed in another anti-Pythagorean uprising. Others - that he died peacefully in his own bed. Still others claim that the aged sage, upset by the death of his union, starved himself to death. It happened either in 490, or in 491, or in 497 BC.
Victor BANEV