Pythagoreanism

The cult that Pythagoras started gained considerable influence during his lifetime and differed from other mysterious cults of the period by virtue of its follower’s interests in mathematics and astronomy. But in other ways, it was steeped in secrecy and mystery and held out many strange beliefs. For instance, it is said that Pythagoreanism forbade the poking of fire with an iron poker, the eating of beans and taught the doctrine of transmigration of souls. Pythagoreanism was practiced mostly among his followers and when political change took place and the democrats ascended power, the cult began to suffer persecution. Pythagoras was exiled from Croton and the cult survived only another hundred years after his death. By 350 B.C. Pythagoreanism was wiped out. None of his writings survived but his principles of astronomy and mathematics remained relevant and he continues to be among the best known of the early Greek philosophers.

Findings in Astronomy

As a result of the secretive methods adopted by Pythagoras and his followers it is not always easy to identify the theories that he propounded or separate his own beliefs from those of his followers. Pythagoras’ pioneering work in the physics of sound led him to discover a correlation between pitch and length of strings in musical instruments. For instance, if one string was twice the length of another, the sound it emitted was just one octave lower. If the ratio was 3:2 the musical interval called a fifth was produced. Increasing the tension of the strings also raised the pitch. Pythagoras was the first Greek to recognise that the morning star (Phosphorus) and the evening star (Hesperus) were in fact one and the same. Afterwards it was renamed Aphrodite. He also found that the orbit of the moon is not in the plane of the earth’s equator but is inclined at an angle to that plane. He was also probably the first of the Greek scientists to propose that the earth was spherical. He also suggested that the sun, moon, and the various planets did not follow the uniform motion of the stars, but had their own path of motion. This notion started the concept of providing separate spheres for the various planets, a concept that gained ground over the next two thousand years, until it was wiped out by Kepler’s theory of planetary motions.

Pythagoras is believed to have been born in Samos, one of the Aegean islands, at about 580 B.C. It is certain however, that he left Samos around 529 B.C and migrated to Croton in Southern Italy. Around that time, most of coastal south Italy and eastern Sicily had been colonized by the Greeks and Hellenic culture and civilization pervaded the whole region. It is believed that Pythagoras left Samos to escape from the tyranny of the Greek dictator Polycrates. Pythagoras, who had studied under Anaximander and probably the legendary Greek philosopher Thales before him, brought with him the philosophic and scientific tradition started by these earliest Greeks. But afterwards, he made a break with this rationalist tradition and founded a cult marked by secrecy and mysticism, which was probably an influence of his travels in the east.

Pythagoras' principle dictum was “All is number” which meant that every thing could ultimately be reduced to a numerical relationship and all objects were basically composed of form and not of material substance. The Pythagorean doctrine applied particularly to music theory, acoustics, geometry and astronomy and identified the brain as the focal point of the soul. Pythagoras' astronomical concepts were acknowledged by Copernicus to be the forerunner of his hypothesis that the Earth and other planets rotate in orbits around the sun.

Pythagoras founded a brotherhood known as the Pythagorean brotherhood, that although religious in nature, formulated principles that influenced later philosophers like Plato and Aristotle and contributed significantly to the development of mathematics and western rational philosophy. Pythagoreanism, as his philosophy came to be known, constituted a distinct school of thought that was more associated with mystical wisdom than any scientific rationale. Its basic premise was that:
a) Philosophy can be used for spiritual purification
b) that the soul can rise and unite with the divine
c) that at the highest spiritual level, reality is mathematical in nature
d) that certain symbols have mystical significance
e) that all believers should follow a strict code of secrecy and loyalty.
The Pythagorean brotherhood observed rites and abstinence to purify the soul and enable it to escape from the Wheel of birth and death. So it was in a way concerned more with the moral reformation of society rather than any philosophical school. Pythagoras' theories came under attack during his last years, and he was forced to seek exile in Metappontum, where he remained until his death. Pythagoreanism, as a philosophical school ceased to exist after 4th century BC.