The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers · Character

Pythagoras

The sage who heard music in a blacksmith's hammer, sacrificed a hundred oxen over a triangle, and forbade his followers to eat beans or flesh.

major

Also known as wise Pythagoras, Pherecydes of Pythagoras

First appearance: Pythagoras

As a major figure in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Pythagoras is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Founder of the Italian school, emphasized mathematics and the immortality of the soul.

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Pythagoras founded the Italian school that turned philosophy into a way of life, drawing disciples into a brotherhood bound by silence, ritual, and the belief that souls migrate through bodies. He carried geometry to perfection, discovered the numerical ratios of musical harmony, and was so revered that his friends treated his every saying as the oracle of a god. Yet this same man who banned animal sacrifice for the sake of purity was mocked for his taboos and remembered for a hecatomb of oxen slain over a theorem, a contradiction that makes him the most enigmatic figure in Diogenes Laërtius's gallery.

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Parmenides
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Pythagoras appears across 12 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
Founder of the Italian school, emphasized mathematics and the immortality of the soul.
Pherecydes
Mentioned as a pupil of Pherecydes and as the one who buried him in Delos according to Aristoxenus. Also referenced in the epigram by Ion of Chios.
Anaximenes
Recipient of two letters from Anaximenes; praised for migrating to Crotona.
Book VIII: The Pythagorean and Promiscuous Philosophers
Referenced as a teacher of Empedocles and as the founder of the Pythagorean school which Empedocles later made public.
Pythagoras
Central figure of the chapter; his life, teachings, and transmigration beliefs are detailed.
Empedocles
Empedocles is said to have been a pupil of Pythagoras and later divulged his doctrines.
Epicharmus
Mentioned as the teacher of Epicharmus.
Alcmaeon
Mentioned as the teacher of Alcmaeon.
Hippasus
Mentioned as the teacher of Hippasus.
Philolaus
Philolaus was a pupil of Pythagoras.
Xenophanes
Xenophanes attacked the opinions of Pythagoras.
Endnotes
Mentioned in relation to Zoroaster's chronology and as a possible teacher of Charondas.

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