The portrait of Pythagoras adorns the classrooms of mathematics in many schools. And the biography of Pythagoras is full of mysticism. Contemporaries revered the great mathematician and classified him as demigods. Legends circulated about the miraculous works of the scientist. Herodotus called Pythagoras "the greatest sage of Hellas."
Childhood and adolescence of the future mathematician
It is not known for certain in which year the author of the famous theorem was born. Biographers tried to calculate the approximate date of birth - 580 BC. Pythagoras was born on the island of Samos in the family of a stone-cutter, according to another version - a merchant. The birth of a future genius was, according to family legend, predicted by the oracle of the city of Delphi, where the newlyweds were on their honeymoon. The heir, who was prophesied to become a great man in the future, was named in honor of the priestess of Apollo Pythia - Pythagoras. According to some reports, two more brothers were brought up in the family - Evnost and Tyrren.
Pythagoras from an early age showed an unusual interest in various sciences. The son’s extraordinary abilities prompted Mnesarch’s father to hire a teacher Hermodamant, who taught the young student the basics of music, painting techniques, the basics of reading rhetoric, grammar. Memorizing Homer's songs and poems contributed to the development of the memory of the boy. Pythagoras absorbed all the knowledge eagerly and with great interest.
In search of scientific knowledge
The biographer of Pythagoras Yavmlikh testifies that, having reached the age of eighteen, the future philosopher decided to leave his father's house and go to Egypt in search of new knowledge. At the request of the tyrant Samos, Polycrates of Pythagoras, Pharaoh Amasis cordially welcomed and gave permission to stay in his lands as much as needed. By the way, other strangers were not allowed to the sacraments of Egyptian knowledge.
In Egypt, communicating with the priests and visiting Egyptian temples, Pythagoras comprehends the sacraments and customs of the country of Amasis. His zeal for knowledge was so sincere that he was soon ordained priests. The acquisition of knowledge and familiarization with the cultural traditions of the enlightened city itself enabled Pythagoras to become one of the most educated people of that time.
Even before studying in Egypt on the island of Lesvos, Feriocis of Syros taught the young Pythagoras the basics of physics, dialectics, theogony, astrology, and medicine. Living later in Miletus, the young man studied with the famous Thales - the creator of the first school of philosophical knowledge in Greece. It was at the insistence of Thales that Pythagoras went to Egypt.
The beginning of the Persian war found Pythagoras the city of the pharaoh Amasis. The Persian learned priest was captured, and for the next 12 years he had to live in Babylon. There he met with Persian sorcerers who introduced Pythagoras to the study of the mysteries of mystical events, astronomy, and arithmetic. Features of oriental medicine have struck the imagination of Pythagoras. After 12 years, the famous scientist rescues the Persian king. The sage returns to his homeland, on the island of Samos.
Philosophy and Mathematics
Having been among the enlightened Persians, Pythagoras acquired unique knowledge in the field of arithmetic. Since then, the laws of mathematics have become a key object of research for a scientist. The sage built his philosophical views on the theory of numbers. Being an idealist by nature, Pythagoras endowed numbers with special properties. All phenomena and things were measured by him through numerical expressions. “Everything in this world is numbers,” the scientist believed, “and all things are the essence of numbers.” Thus, the number acquired a certain material meaning and became the original substance, according to the views of Pythagoras.
The thinker devoted particular importance to unity as the beginning of all the realities of the universe. According to the philosopher, "all the elements of the world are composed of one, and one is an absolute and eternal number."
Having streamlined his philosophical views, the scientist begins to share them with everyone. Soon there were so many students that the philosopher had to create his own school.
Pythagoras school and his students
The Croton School of Pythagoras was both a structure of political views and a religious order with strict rules and a charter. Coalition members, for example, were forbidden from eating meat and meat food, owning private property, and disseminating the teachings of their leader. The biography of the mathematician of Pythagoras testifies that the scientist set out his views to numerous students secretly. The reason for the increased secrecy was the idealistic views of the philosopher, which were contrary to the democratic trends of the public.
Considering his views secret, Pythagoras preferred to distribute them orally. At least, the written meetings of the scientist did not reach the present. The only material evidence of life was the portraits of Pythagoras, but many of them were painted after his death. One of the most famous is the Raphael frescoes. And numerous catalogs of fine art contain photos of the portraits of Pythagoras, painted by other artists.
In addition to the images of the scientist, an undoubted evidence of the philosopher's wealth is a theorem named after the author. However, some historians still doubt that it was the scientist from Samos who proved the famous mathematical statement. Too many legends surround the figure of a sage.
In addition to the discovery of the theorem, Pythagoras is credited with other bold views on natural laws. For example, guided by the canons of geometry, the philosopher was among the first brave men to speak about the spherical shape of the Earth. “The moon, the sun and the planets do not move like ordinary stars. Earth is the center of the Universe, ”the scientist believed. Later, Nikolai Copernicus built his assumptions on the ideas of the Pythagoreans.
A family
The portraits of the mathematician Pythagoras indicate that the sage had an outstanding appearance. Whether this is so in fact is unknown.
The personal life of a scientist, absorbed in science and his own philosophical direction, developed quite late. Only at the age of 60 did he meet the charming listener of his lectures Feana. Soon they had a son and daughter, whose names remained unknown. With Feana, the sage lived in peace and harmony until his last days.
The last days of the scientist
Undoubtedly, the summarized biography of Pythagoras is interesting. You will learn about the death of a philosopher who, despite his very advanced age, did not die his own death.
In fact, there are several hypotheses for the philosopher's departure to another world. As one version says, a scientist could be killed by an outcast student, whom Pythagoras did not begin to teach in the occult sciences. In a fit of anger, the criminal set fire to the Academy building and the sage perished in the fire, taking his followers out of it.
According to the second assumption, Pythagoras fell during the next uprising in Metapont, where his school was located.
Whatever the hypothesis is true, one fact remains undeniable: Pythagoras, whose portrait we have known from school, died at the age of 90, having lived a worthy and interesting life.