05.02.2016

The same Pythagoras, whose "pants are equal on all sides," was not only a mathematician and philosopher, as they write about him in school textbooks. It turns out that he was also very interested in history, religion and politics. Active participation in the social and political life of the modern state of Pythagoras almost cost him his life. However, about everything - in order. Moreover, the life of Pythagoras contains many interesting facts.

1. Young Pythagoras was distinguished by curiosity and an excellent memory. At the age of eighteen, the future philosopher left his native island of Samos to explore the world. He had a chance to visit the countries of the East, in Egypt, Babylon, Phenicia. For the VI century. BC. it's a pretty impressive list. Then they knew neither trains nor airplanes, and any journey was long and difficult.
2. Pythagoras went to Egypt voluntarily. There, according to legends, he became close to the priests, who allowed the young man to receive esoteric knowledge. In parallel, the young traveler studied astronomy and mathematics.
3. They say that Pythagoras was not in Babylon of his own free will - he was taken there as a prisoner of the king of Persia Cambyses. For 12 years, the scientist remained in a foreign country for himself. At the same time, he did not waste time in vain and continued to replenish the piggy bank of his knowledge about the world.
4. In adulthood (according to some sources - at 50, according to others - at 60), Pythagoras decided to return to a sedentary lifestyle. He arrived at his small homeland - the island of Samos - with the intention of settling there. However, at this time a tyrant was raging on Samos, which forced Pythigor to leave for southern Italy, the city of Croton. There, the scientist founded his own school, and the number of students reached 2 thousand.
5. Pythagoras's disciples were different. A considerable share were people from rich and noble families who had a lot of weight in the political and economic life of Croton. It was they who tried to correct Croton's laws in such a way that they would come in line with the teachings of Pythagoras. As a result, a rebellion broke out, which ended in failure, with a large number of victims. Pythagoras barely managed to escape. He had to run again.
6. The name "Pythagoras" is not really a real name, but just a nickname. It was given to the boy in childhood, when he now and then expressed interesting thoughts and even predicted some events, like a Delphic oracle. Another version of the name is “Pythagoras - the one about whom the Pythia prophesied”.
7. The scientist was distinguished by a stately, solid appearance, he was good-looking.
8. It would be a big mistake to regard Pythagoras as a "armchair scientist." He respected ordinary gymnastics no less than "gymnastics for the mind". Pythagoras repeatedly won battles in fist fights.
9. Pythagoras did not leave any treatises behind him. All of his legacy is what the students were able to write down and preserve.
10. More than other sciences, Pythagoras respected mathematics. In general, he tried to fit everything in the world, including abstract concepts, in orderly rows of numbers. Is it possible to comprehend with the help of numbers, say, justice or death? And Pythagoras tried to do it!
11. There is no reliable information about the death of the great scientist. Some believe that he still did not escape death during the rebellion, others hypothesize that Pythagoras deliberately starved himself to death in the temple. In any case, he lived a long life - no less than up to 80 years old, and enjoyed the recognition of his contemporaries.

Pythagoras was one of those people whose whole life is inventions and discoveries that have a huge impact on all of humanity. He undoubtedly tried to make our mortal earthly world better: he shared his rich knowledge with everyone who wanted it, preached a life where there was no place for dishonor and meanness, he himself served as an example to follow. But greats also have miscalculations.

The school founded by Pythagoras may have ruined him, or, in any case, became the cause of bitter disappointment at the end of the life of the greatest philosopher. However, maybe there is no fault of Pythagoras in that, just in his time people had not yet "matured" to the correct perception of his ideas? Who knows! In any case, we, the descendants, will always keep the grateful memory of the person who laid down his life on the altar of serving science and people.

The history of the Pythagorean theorem goes back several millennia. A statement that was known long before the birth of the Greek mathematician. However, the Pythagorean theorem, the history of creation and its proof are associated for the majority with this scientist. According to some sources, the reason for this was the first proof of the theorem, which was given by Pythagoras. However, some researchers refute this fact.

Music and logic

Before telling how the history of the Pythagorean theorem developed, let us briefly dwell on the biography of the mathematician. He lived in the 6th century BC. The date of birth of Pythagoras is considered to be 570 BC. e., place - the island of Samos. Little is known for certain about the life of a scientist. Biographical data in ancient Greek sources are intertwined with sheer fiction. On the pages of treatises, he appears as a great sage, excellently commanding the word and the ability to convince. By the way, this is why the Greek mathematician was nicknamed Pythagoras, that is, "persuasive speech." According to another version, the birth of the future sage was predicted by the Pythia. The father named the boy Pythagoras in her honor.

The sage learned from the great minds of the day. Among the teachers of the young Pythagoras are Hermodamantus and Therekides of Syros. The first instilled in him a love of music, the second taught him philosophy. Both of these sciences will remain the focus of a scientist's attention throughout his life.

30 years of training

According to one version, being an inquisitive young man, Pythagoras left his homeland. He went to Egypt to seek knowledge, where he stayed, according to various sources, from 11 to 22 years, and then was captured and sent to Babylon. Pythagoras was able to benefit from his position. For 12 years he studied mathematics, geometry and magic in the ancient state. Pythagoras returned to Samos only at the age of 56. The tyrant Polycrates ruled here at that time. Pythagoras could not accept such a political system and soon went to the south of Italy, where the Greek colony of Croton was located.

Today it is impossible to say for sure whether Pythagoras was in Egypt and Babylon. Perhaps he left Samos later and went directly to Croton.

Pythagoreans

The history of the Pythagorean theorem is associated with the development of the school created by the Greek philosopher. This religious and ethical brotherhood preached the observance of a special way of life, studied arithmetic, geometry and astronomy, and studied the philosophical and mystical side of numbers.

All the discoveries of the students of the Greek mathematician were attributed to him. However, the history of the origin of the Pythagorean theorem is associated by ancient biographers only with the philosopher himself. It is assumed that he passed on the knowledge gained in Babylon and Egypt to the Greeks. There is also a version that he really discovered the theorem on the ratios of legs and hypotenuse, not knowing about the achievements of other peoples.

Pythagoras' theorem: history of discovery

Some ancient Greek sources describe the joy of Pythagoras when he managed to prove the theorem. In honor of such an event, he ordered a sacrifice to the gods in the form of hundreds of bulls and made a feast. Some scholars, however, point to the impossibility of such an act due to the peculiarities of the views of the Pythagoreans.

It is believed that in the treatise "Beginnings", created by Euclid, the author provides a proof of the theorem, the author of which was the great Greek mathematician. However, not everyone supported this point of view. For example, the ancient Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus pointed out that the author of the proof given in the Elements is Euclid himself.

Be that as it may, but the first who formulated the theorem, after all, was not Pythagoras.

Ancient Egypt and Babylon

The Pythagorean theorem, the history of the creation of which is considered in the article, according to the German mathematician Cantor, was known as early as 2300 BC. NS. in Egypt. The ancient inhabitants of the Nile Valley during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat I knew the equality 3 2 + 4 ² = 5 ². It is assumed that using triangles with sides 3, 4, and 5, the Egyptian "rope pulls" built right angles.

They knew the theorem of Pythagoras in Babylon. Clay tablets dating from 2000 BC and attributed to the time of the reign, an approximate calculation of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle was found.

India and China

The history of the Pythagorean theorem is also associated with the ancient civilizations of India and China. The treatise "Zhou-bi Xuan Jin" contains indications that (its sides are correlated as 3: 4: 5) was known in China as early as the XII century. BC e., and by the VI century. BC NS. mathematicians of this state knew the general form of the theorem.

The construction of a right angle using the Egyptian triangle was also described in the Indian treatise "Sulva Sutra", dating back to the 7th-5th centuries. BC NS.

Thus, the history of the Pythagorean theorem at the time of the birth of the Greek mathematician and philosopher was already several hundred years old.

Proof

During its existence, the theorem has become one of the fundamental in geometry. The history of the proof of the Pythagorean theorem probably began with an examination of the equilateral. Squares are built on its hypotenuse and legs. The one that "grew" on the hypotenuse will consist of four triangles equal to the first. In this case, the squares on the legs consist of two such triangles. A simple graphical representation clearly shows the validity of the statement formulated in the form of the famous theorem.

Another simple proof combines geometry with algebra. Four identical right-angled triangles with sides a, b, c are drawn so that they form two squares: an outer one with a side (a + b) and an inner one with a side c. In this case, the area of ​​the smaller square will be equal to 2. The area of ​​a large is calculated from the sum of the areas of a small square and all triangles (the area of ​​a right-angled triangle, recall, is calculated by the formula (a * b) / 2), that is, with 2 + 4 * ((a * b) / 2), which is equal to 2 + 2av. The area of ​​a large square can be calculated in another way - as the product of two sides, that is, (a + b) 2, which is equal to a 2 + 2av + b 2. It turns out:

a 2 + 2av + b 2 = c 2 + 2av,

a 2 + b 2 = c 2.

There are many known proofs of this theorem. Euclid, Indian scientists, and Leonardo da Vinci also worked on them. Often the ancient sages cited drawings, examples of which are located above, and did not accompany them with any explanations, except for the note "Look!" The simplicity of the geometric proof, subject to some knowledge, did not require comments.

The history of the Pythagorean theorem, summarized in the article, debunks the myth of its origin. However, it is difficult even to imagine that the name of the great Greek mathematician and philosopher would someday cease to be associated with her.

Pythagoras was a scientist who opened the mysterious science of geometry to the world. He is known to most for his "equal" theorem. But this is not all that the ancient Greek philosopher can boast of. He created a whole religious movement, became its spiritual leader. He was seen as the messenger of Heaven. For the Pythagoreans, mathematics was divine revelations, encoded in formulas and numbers, inaccessible to the understanding of the uninitiated. It is unlikely that in school you had the idea of ​​worshiping a math teacher as a deity. Even if he told you how to find the hypotenuse of a regular triangle. However, many inhabitants of Ancient Greece, who first encountered the wisdom of a scientist, reacted in this way. The masses followed Pythagoras, choosing a very interesting way to support the luminary of science. However, the scientist himself did not lag behind the followers in originality. You will learn a few interesting facts about Pythagoras from the article.

Pythagoras led the worship of numbers

Pythagoras and his disciples

It is necessary to start a list of interesting facts from the life of the great ancient Greek scientist Pythagoras from the most famous moments. So, Pythagoras had followers. A whole group of mathematicians was not afraid of long trips and long checks in order to become his student. Their common goal was to help the teacher learn the secrets of the Universe. But few people realize that this was not just a bunch of hard science fans. No - it was a full-fledged religion.

According to Pythagoras, numbers were the basis of everything. He taught his followers that the world is controlled by the mathematical harmonies that make up reality. Moreover, these numbers were worshiped as gods. For the Pythagoreans, each number and their sequence had a sacred meaning: 7 was the number of wisdom, 8 was justice, and 10 was considered a number of the highest order. Everything in mathematics was sacred to them. When solving another mathematical problem, the Pythagoreans glorified the gods and sacrificed a bull to them (not always, but quite often).

The rest of the Greeks found this behavior eccentric and even dangerous to society. The fear was amplified by the cult scientists themselves. It got to the point that uninitiated Greeks burned down the house of Pythagoras and expelled him from his hometown, fearing his mystical power over numbers.

His followers prayed to the number 10

Sacred triangle

Another interesting fact is that the Pythagoreans had a sacred symbol called Tetraktis. It was a triangle with 10 points in four rows, demonstrating the perfection and mathematical accuracy of the organization of space and the universe. Ten, they believed, is a number of the highest order, which embodied the meaning of everything material and spiritual. And they literally worshiped this symbol.

Followers of Pythagoras read a prayer addressed to the number 10: “Bless us, divine number, you, which gave birth to gods and people! For the divine number begins with deep pure unity until it reaches the holy four. Then she gives birth to the mother of all, all-embracing, original, never deviating, never tired of the holy ten, leading all. "

Every "adept" was obliged to repeat these words daily. If anyone wanted to join the Pythagoreans, he had to take an oath to the holy triangle, “this pure, holy, four-letter name on high,” which translates as “tetraktis”. Then they took an oath to Pythagoras himself, who, like the Prometheus of mathematics, "brought Tetraktis to mortals." Agree, the life of a philosopher does not seem to be deprived of attention.

He was the son of god

Praise to Pythagoras

The next fact from the life of the famous Greek is somewhat mystical. The followers of Pythagoras really believed that he was a demigod. They called him "divine Pythagoras" and seriously proved to people that his father was one of the Olympians. Most often, paternity was attributed to either Hermes or Apollo, depending on who you asked. Versions differed, but none of the adepts doubted its higher origin.

The followers even had hymns praising the divinity of Pythagoras: "Drinking, the most beautiful of the Sami tribe," or "Coming out of the embrace of the God of the Day, majestic Pythagoras, friend of Jupiter!"

The Pythagoreans created myths and legends around Pythagoras, endowing him with superpowers. It was said that he could tame eagles and bears with just a touch. And even more: he could control any animal with the power of his voice. In addition, Pythagoras could write words on the face of the moon.

One of the most famous legends says that one of his thighs was gold. When someone doubted his divinity, Pythagoras showed his shimmering thigh and blew the doubts of the neophytes to smithereens. According to one story, he showed his hip to a priest and was rewarded with a magical golden dart that allowed him to fly over mountains, banish disease and calm storms. A very interesting fact from the biography of Pythagoras, worthy of the famous Greek legends.

Pythagoras told people that he will be reborn after death

The prophecies of Pythagoras

It was not that people were simply overwhelmed by a passion for the search for the hypotenuse and they began to compose fables about Pythagoras. He himself pushed them to this and encouraged them. Pythagoras wrote incredible facts into his biography and directly told people that, for example, he was the son of God and repeatedly reincarnated until he reached his "Pythagorean" form.

The mathematician claimed that he was the son of Hermes, who offered Pythagoras any gift other than the gift of immortality. The scientist asked to keep his memories in every life and now he could remember every hypostasis of his biography to the smallest detail. He fought Achilles in the Trojan War. He was a humble fisherman. He was even a beautiful courtesan who slept with the rulers of the world.

Pythagoras also said that he could discover the souls of his friends and relatives from any life he lived in new bodies. Legend has it that he once saw a dog being kicked down the street and intervened. "Stop! Do not hit! "- shouted Pythagoras. - "It contains the soul of my friend." The mathematician recognized his voice in the barking and whining of a dog.

He was one of the first vegetarians

Offering gifts to a mathematician

An interesting fact about the life of a philosopher that few people believe in: Pythagoras was one of the first people in Western history to abstain from eating meat for moral reasons. He who is dead, he taught his followers, pollutes his body and mind. Therefore, a person, according to his ideas, should never kill a living being.

However, his rules were a little strange and selective: no one canceled the sacrifice of oxen. There were loopholes in the immutable rule of the Pythagorean rejection of meat-eating (like vegans who eat fish).

The main idea was that chickens, goats and pigs were considered inanimate by the Pythagoreans, which means that they could be eaten. At the same time, Diogenes forbade eating lambs. And there were a lot of such controversial points, so that even the Greeks perceived the idea of ​​such a peculiar rejection of meat as a kind of jerk.

He had rules for all occasions

Pythagoras in a medieval drawing

A very interesting and well-known fact about the life of a scientist: Pythagoras terribly loved to come up with rules. He introduced to his followers a series of incredibly strict and specific instructions for almost everything, including shoes.

“First you need to put on the right boot,” read one of the Pythagorean rules. According to another, you cannot drive on public roads. He also forbade picking up the fallen food, since, in his opinion, it was devoid of taste.

He was extremely strict about sex. Body fluids, Pythagoras believed, were part of the human soul. When a person spewed them out, he gave up part of his powers. The followers of Pythagoras were taught to abstain from sex (if possible). The mathematician advised to satisfy sexual urges in winter, and to adhere to complete abstinence in summer. The biography of Pythagoras himself does not abound in women, but this did not prevent him from acquiring a wonderful family.

New students were to spend five years in silence

Pythagoras in a painting of the Renaissance

The next fact from the life of an ancient Greek scientist: he was anxious about silence. According to Pythagoras, silence was very important. Keeping calm is a way to learn self-control. Therefore, he made sure that those wishing to join his cult knew how to remain silent. The neophyte was silent for five years.

By design, this was to help people stay clean. But it is logical to assume that there were more pragmatic reasons: even in Ancient Greece, one cannot call oneself the son of God and force people to worship numbers, but at the same time be considered an exemplary citizen.

The Pythagoreans tried to protect themselves from unnecessary questions, so that anyone who could not keep his mouth shut was automatically eliminated. However, ordinary Greeks themselves avoided unsociable and silent mathematicians.

Pythagoras drowned a man due to irrational numbers

Pythagoras in a medieval engraving

There are frightening facts in the biography of Pythagoras. One of the most famous followers of Pythagoras was Hippas. Legend has it that he was the first person to prove the existence of an irrational number - and he could well have died for his discovery.

Hippas found evidence that showed that the square root of 2 is an irrational infinite number. This was more than just a major discovery - it looked like open rebellion. Pythagoras taught that all numbers can be expressed as ratios of whole numbers, and Hippasus proved the fallacy of his divine teacher.

According to legend, Hippasus showed his evidence to Pythagoras while they were on the boat. In response, Pythagoras grabbed the talented student and thrust his head into the water and held it in this position until the unfortunate man stopped showing signs of life. Then Pythagoras threw the lifeless body overboard, turned to the others on board and warned them never to tell anyone about what happened. Perhaps this story is a distorted version of the Pythagorean fable, which says that Hippasus was drowned by the gods as punishment for revealing the secrets of irrational numbers to the world.

An interesting fact from the biography or a legend invented by impressionable followers is not known for sure. But this story proves the eerie cult of Pythagoras. His followers spread this horror story as a parable - a warning: if any of the initiates divulge their secrets, then such an extremely sad end awaits.

The famous Greek preferred to "broadcast" from behind a screen made of cloth

A strange whim of a scientist, which became one of the possible reasons for his death

Another fact from the biography of the ancient Greek was his secrecy and desire to exalt himself. There were two types of Pythagoreans: akousmatikoi and mathematikoi. Mathematicians were the closest and most trusted followers of Pythagoras. He personally met with them and explained his theorems in detail. They were allowed to learn the secrets of mathematics that were hidden from the rest of the world.

Those close to them had to pay a high price for this privilege. To become mathematikoi, a person had to give up meat, women, and property. From that moment on, their devotion to the teacher was endless.

The rest were allowed to be akousmatikoi - followers who were never allowed to see the face of Pythagoras. When he spoke to them, he hid behind a screen like the Wizard of Oz. Nothing was explained in detail to such students. They were forbidden to trust the dangerous secrets of higher mathematics.

Last Fun Fact: He sacrificed his life to protect the beans.

Beds of beans, similar to those that cost Pythagoras his life

The most famous, interesting and at the same time discouraging fact from the life of Pythagoras concerns his death. One of the weirdest rules of Pythagoras was the ban on the use of beans. According to his teachings, beans took a part of the soul from a person, turning it into gas that leaves the body. According to another version, the beans contained the souls of the dead, and their use was equivalent to dancing on the graves of their ancestors.

The beans were so sacred to the Pythagoreans that Pythagoras gave his life to protect them. According to the story, one listener, furious at the inability to see the face of Pythagoras, burned down the house of the mathematician.

Pythagoras should have run, but stopped in front of a field of beans. He stated that he would rather die than step on even one bean bush. The mathematician allowed his throat to be slit so the legumes could live.

Of course, this is just one of the many stories of his death. But almost all of them end with Pythagoras giving his life for a bean field. In some versions, he is executed for attempting to overthrow the government. In other cases, it is burned at the stake. But almost everywhere Pythagoras meets its end, deciding to abandon mortal existence in the name of saving beans. To some, this moment in the life of a philosopher may seem funny - dying over beans is not so honorable. However, the biography of the famous Greek abounds in such interesting facts, you see for yourself.

We can say that the great mathematician was not inferior even to Salvador Dali in eccentricity. However, the eccentricity and uncommonness have always been allowed for geniuses. Besides - why can't you forgive the son of Apollo?

Original post and comments on

Pythagoras was a scientist who opened the mysterious science of geometry to the world. He is known to most for his "equal" theorem. But this is not all that the ancient Greek philosopher can boast of. He created a whole religious movement, became its spiritual leader. He was seen as the messenger of Heaven. For the Pythagoreans, mathematics was divine revelations, encoded in formulas and numbers, inaccessible to the understanding of the uninitiated ...

It is unlikely that in school you had the idea of ​​worshiping a math teacher as a deity. Even if he told you how to find the hypotenuse of a regular triangle. However, many inhabitants of Ancient Greece, who first encountered the wisdom of a scientist, reacted in this way.

The masses followed Pythagoras, choosing a very interesting way to support the luminary of science. However, the scientist himself did not lag behind the followers in originality. You will learn a few interesting facts about Pythagoras in this article.

Pythagoras led the worship of numbers

Pythagoras and his disciples

It is necessary to start a list of interesting facts from the life of the great ancient Greek scientist Pythagoras from the most famous moments. So, Pythagoras had followers. A whole group of mathematicians was not afraid of long trips and long checks in order to become his student. Their common goal was to help the teacher learn the secrets of the Universe. But few people realize that this was not just a bunch of hard science fans. No - it was a full-fledged religion.

According to Pythagoras, numbers were the basis of everything. He taught his followers that the world is controlled by the mathematical harmonies that make up reality. Moreover, these numbers were worshiped as gods.

For the Pythagoreans, each number and their sequence had a sacred meaning: 7 was the number of wisdom, 8 was justice, and 10 was considered a number of the highest order. Everything in mathematics was sacred to them. When solving another mathematical problem, the Pythagoreans glorified the gods and sacrificed a bull to them (not always, but quite often).

The rest of the Greeks found this behavior eccentric and even dangerous to society. The fear was amplified by the cult scientists themselves. It got to the point that uninitiated Greeks burned down the house of Pythagoras and expelled him from his hometown, fearing his mystical power over numbers.

His followers prayed to the number 10

Sacred triangle

Another interesting fact is that the Pythagoreans had a sacred symbol called Tetraktis. It was a triangle with 10 points in four rows, demonstrating the perfection and mathematical accuracy of the organization of space and the universe.

Ten, they believed, is a number of the highest order, which embodied the meaning of everything material and spiritual. And they literally worshiped this symbol.

Followers of Pythagoras read a prayer addressed to the number 10: “Bless us, divine number, you, which gave birth to gods and people! For the divine number begins with deep pure unity until it reaches the holy four. Then she gives birth to the mother of all, all-embracing, original, never deviating, never tired of the holy ten, leading all. "

Every "adept" was obliged to repeat these words daily. If anyone wanted to join the Pythagoreans, he had to take an oath to the holy triangle, “this pure, holy, four-letter name on high,” which translates as “tetraktis”.

Then they took an oath to Pythagoras himself, who, like the Prometheus of mathematics, "brought Tetraktis to mortals." Agree, the life of a philosopher does not seem to be deprived of attention.

He was the son of god

Praise to Pythagoras

The next fact from the life of the famous Greek is somewhat mystical. The followers of Pythagoras really believed that he was a demigod. They called him "divine Pythagoras" and seriously proved to people that his father was one of the Olympians.

Most often, paternity was attributed to either Hermes or Apollo, depending on who you asked. Versions differed, but none of the adepts doubted its higher origin.

The followers even had hymns praising the divinity of Pythagoras: "Drinking, the most beautiful of the Sami tribe," or "Coming out of the embrace of the God of the Day, majestic Pythagoras, friend of Jupiter!"

The Pythagoreans created myths and legends around Pythagoras, endowing him with superpowers. It was said that he could tame eagles and bears with just a touch. And even more: he could control any animal with the power of his voice. In addition, Pythagoras could write words on the face of the moon.

One of the most famous legends says that one of his thighs was gold. When someone doubted his divinity, Pythagoras showed his shimmering thigh and blew the doubts of the neophytes to smithereens.

According to one story, he showed his hip to a priest and was rewarded with a magical golden dart that allowed him to fly over mountains, banish disease and calm storms. A very interesting fact from the biography of Pythagoras, worthy of the famous Greek legends.

Pythagoras told people that he will be reborn after death

The prophecies of Pythagoras

It was not that people were simply overwhelmed by a passion for the search for the hypotenuse and they began to compose fables about Pythagoras. He himself pushed them to this and encouraged them. Pythagoras wrote incredible facts into his biography and directly told people that, for example, he was the son of God and repeatedly reincarnated until he reached his "Pythagorean" form.

The mathematician claimed that he was the son of Hermes, who offered Pythagoras any gift other than the gift of immortality. The scientist asked to keep his memories in every life and now he could remember every hypostasis of his biography to the smallest detail. He fought Achilles in the Trojan War. He was a humble fisherman. He was even a beautiful courtesan who slept with the rulers of the world.

Pythagoras also said that he could discover the souls of his friends and relatives from any life he lived in new bodies. Legend has it that he once saw a dog being kicked down the street and intervened. "Stop! Do not hit! "- shouted Pythagoras. - "It contains the soul of my friend." The mathematician recognized his voice in the barking and whining of a dog.

He was one of the first vegetarians

Offering gifts to a mathematician

An interesting fact about the life of a philosopher that few people believe in: Pythagoras was one of the first people in Western history to abstain from eating meat for moral reasons.

He who eats the dead, he taught his followers, pollutes his body and mind. Therefore, a person, according to his ideas, should never kill a living being.

However, his rules were a little strange and selective: no one canceled the sacrifice of oxen. There were loopholes in the immutable rule of the Pythagorean rejection of meat-eating (like vegans who eat fish).

The main idea was that chickens, goats and pigs were considered inanimate by the Pythagoreans, which means that they could be eaten. At the same time, Diogenes forbade eating lambs. And there were a lot of such controversial points, so that even the Greeks perceived the idea of ​​such a peculiar rejection of meat as a kind of jerk.

He had rules for all occasions

A very interesting and well-known fact about the life of a scientist: Pythagoras terribly loved to come up with rules. He introduced to his followers a series of incredibly strict and specific instructions for almost everything, including shoes.

“First you need to put on the right boot,” read one of the Pythagorean rules. According to another, you cannot drive on public roads. He also forbade picking up the fallen food, since, in his opinion, it was devoid of taste.

He was extremely strict about sex. Body fluids, Pythagoras believed, were part of the human soul. When a person spewed them out, he gave up part of his powers. The followers of Pythagoras were taught to abstain from sex (if possible). The mathematician advised to satisfy sexual urges in winter, and to adhere to complete abstinence in summer. The biography of Pythagoras himself does not abound in women, but this did not prevent him from acquiring a wonderful family.

New students were to spend five years in silence

Pythagoras in a painting of the Renaissance

The next fact from the life of an ancient Greek scientist: he was anxious about silence. According to Pythagoras, silence was very important. Keeping calm is a way to learn self-control. Therefore, he made sure that those wishing to join his cult knew how to remain silent. The neophyte was silent for five years.

By design, this was to help people stay clean. But it is logical to assume that there were more pragmatic reasons: even in Ancient Greece, one cannot call oneself the son of God and force people to worship numbers, but at the same time be considered an exemplary citizen.

The Pythagoreans tried to protect themselves from unnecessary questions, so that anyone who could not keep his mouth shut was automatically eliminated. However, ordinary Greeks themselves avoided unsociable and silent mathematicians.

Pythagoras drowned a man due to irrational numbers

Pythagoras in a medieval engraving

There are frightening facts in the biography of Pythagoras. One of the most famous followers of Pythagoras was Hippas. Legend has it that he was the first person to prove the existence of an irrational number - and he could well have died for his discovery.

Hippas found evidence that showed that the square root of 2 is an irrational infinite number. This was more than just a major discovery - it looked like open rebellion. Pythagoras taught that all numbers can be expressed as ratios of whole numbers, and Hippasus proved the fallacy of his divine teacher.

According to legend, Hippasus showed his evidence to Pythagoras while they were on the boat. In response, Pythagoras grabbed the talented student and thrust his head into the water and held it in this position until the unfortunate man stopped showing signs of life. Then

Pythagoras threw the lifeless body overboard, turned to the others on board and warned them never to tell anyone about what happened. Perhaps this story is a distorted version of the Pythagorean fable, which says that Hippasus was drowned by the gods as punishment for revealing the secrets of irrational numbers to the world.

An interesting fact from the biography or a legend invented by impressionable followers is not known for sure. But this story proves the eerie cult of Pythagoras. His followers spread this horror story as a parable - a warning: if any of the initiates divulge their secrets, then such an extremely sad end awaits.

The famous Greek preferred to "broadcast" from behind a screen made of cloth

A strange whim of a scientist, which became one of the possible reasons for his death

Another fact from the biography of the ancient Greek was his secrecy and desire to exalt himself. There were two types of Pythagoreans: akousmatikoi and mathematikoi. Mathematicians were the closest and most trusted followers of Pythagoras. He personally met with them and explained his theorems in detail. They were allowed to learn the secrets of mathematics that were hidden from the rest of the world.

Those close to them had to pay a high price for this privilege. To become mathematikoi, a person had to give up meat, women, and property. From that moment on, their devotion to the teacher was endless.

The rest were allowed to be akousmatikoi - followers who were never allowed to see the face of Pythagoras. When he spoke to them, he hid behind a screen like the Wizard of Oz. Nothing was explained in detail to such students. They were forbidden to trust the dangerous secrets of higher mathematics.

Pythagoras sacrificed his life to protect the beans

Beds of beans, similar to those that cost Pythagoras his life

The most famous, interesting and at the same time discouraging fact from the life of Pythagoras concerns his death. One of the weirdest rules of Pythagoras was the ban on the use of beans. According to his teachings, beans took a part of the soul from a person, turning it into gas that leaves the body. According to another version, the beans contained the souls of the dead, and their use was equivalent to dancing on the graves of their ancestors.

The beans were so sacred to the Pythagoreans that Pythagoras gave his life to protect them. According to the story, one listener, furious at the inability to see the face of Pythagoras, burned down the house of the mathematician.

Pythagoras should have run, but stopped in front of a field of beans. He stated that he would rather die than step on even one bean bush. The mathematician allowed his throat to be slit so the legumes could live.

Of course, this is just one of the many stories of his death. But almost all of them end with Pythagoras giving his life for a bean field. In some versions, he is executed for attempting to overthrow the government.

In other cases, it is burned at the stake. But almost everywhere Pythagoras meets its end, deciding to abandon mortal existence in the name of saving beans. To some, this moment in the life of a philosopher may seem funny - dying over beans is not so honorable. However, the biography of the famous Greek abounds in such interesting facts, you see for yourself.

We can say that the great mathematician was not inferior even to Salvador Dali in eccentricity. However, the eccentricity and uncommonness have always been allowed for geniuses. Besides - why can't you forgive the son of Apollo?

Nikita Krasnoperov

Already during his lifetime, he was considered a demigod, miracle worker and absolute sage, a kind of Einstein of the 4th century BC. There is no more mysterious great man in history. And no one will distinguish truth from fiction, the story of his life from the legends around his name. And there were plenty of legends. They talked, for example, about his ability to control spirits, about knowledge of the language of animals, about the ability to change the direction of flight of birds, about the ability to heal people.


So all information about the "greatest Hellenic sage", as Herodotus called him, must be treated with a grain of salt.
According to the assurances of some authors of ancient times, Pythagoras is credited with the authorship of several books. But no one ever quoted from them. His written works were not left either. Only oral legends conveyed his achievements to us. Two hundred years had to pass after the death of the thinker for the first sources of his teachings and personality from followers to appear. So there is no need to talk about impartiality.

About the roots

His father, Mnesarchus, was a stone cutter, this is one version, and a wealthy merchant who received citizenship in Samos for his deeds. He distributed bread in times of famine - this is the second. The first version, according to sources, is more preferable.
And Partenida, his mother, was a native of the noble family of Ankei.

They say that his fate was predicted before birth. The Oracle, a local fortune teller, informed the future father that his son would be a great man, and that no one else after him would bring people so much good. Mnesarchus was so happy that he began to call her with a new name, Pythaida, and his son, born in 570 BC. e., was called Pythagoras, "who was announced by Pythia."

By the way, there is another version of the appearance of this name. Moreover, they say that this is a nickname, and he received it for the ability to speak the truth. On behalf of the priestess-soothsayer from the temple of Apollo Pythia. And its meaning is "convincing by speech."
The name of his first teacher is known. It was Hermodamas. This man, who instilled in his student a love of painting and music, introduced him to "Iliad" and "Odyssey".

As an eighteen-year-old boy, he left his native island. After several years of traveling and meeting with sages from different lands, he arrived in Egypt. His plans include training with the priests, comprehension of ancient wisdom. In this he is helped by a letter of recommendation from the tyrant Samoss Polycrates to Pharaoh Amasis. Now he has access to something that many foreigners cannot even dream of: not only mathematics and medicine, but also the sacraments.

Pythagoras spent 22 years here. And he left the country as a prisoner of the king of Persia, Cambyses, who conquered Egypt in 525 BC. The next 12 years were spent in Babylon.


He was able to return to his native Samos only at 56, and was recognized by his compatriots as the wisest of people. He also found followers here. Many are attracted by mystical philosophy, healthy asceticism and strict morality.
However, anti-Pythagorean sentiments are also growing. During one of the rebellions, according to Porfiry, Pythagoras died. According to one of the versions, the most likely, he was 80, according to another - 90.

Everyone who studied at school knows the name of Pythagoras, thanks to the great theorem. This is his most famous achievement. It is believed that the world learned about her from the testimony of Apollodorus the calculator, a person with an unknown identity, and poetry by an unknown author.


There are many legends around the "Pythagorean pants". According to one of them, the theorem became his victory in a dispute with one unknown. He received a scroll with her with parting words that the owner of this scroll will become famous for millennia. On the other hand, the thinker did not prove the theorem, he only transferred knowledge to the Greeks. According to the third, it is his discovery that the whole world uses. According to the fourth, the famous formula he stole from the Chaldean priests in Babylon

Mug of Pythagoras... Quite a clever invention. It is not possible to pour it to the brim, because the entire contents of the mug will flow out at once. The liquid should only be in it up to a certain level. It looks like an ordinary mug, which distinguishes it from others by the column in the center. It got the name "greed circles". Even today in Greece it enjoys a well-deserved demand. And for those who do not know the measures in the consumption of alcohol, it is even recommended.


Oratorical talent... In Pythagoras nobody questions it. He was a great speaker. It is known for certain that after his very first public lecture, he had students, two thousand. Whole families, imbued with the ideas of their teacher, they were ready to start a new life. Their Pythagorean community became a kind of state within a state. All the rules and laws developed by the Teacher operated in their Magna Graecia. The property here was collective, even scientific discoveries, which, by the way, were attributed exclusively to Pythagoras, belonged to his personal merits even when the teacher was no longer alive.

All of them became vegetarians, who were forbidden to bring meat or animal beasts to the gods. Eating food of animal origin is the same as engaging in cannibalism. History has preserved even amusing orders in this almost religious order. For example, they did not allow swallows to build nests under the roofs of their houses, or they could not touch a white rooster, or eat beans. There is another version, according to which the restriction was valid only for certain types of meat.

A family. Wife with son and daughter. There is no discrepancy on the name of his wife (Feano). But for the children ... The first version says that the son's name was Telavg, and the daughter's name was Mnya, the other was Arimnest and Arignot, respectively.

• Pythagoras is the author of the lever.
• The name of the "father" of democracy has long been known. This is Plato. But he based his teaching on the ideas of Pythagoras, one might say, grandfather.
• He participated in the Olympic Games and even came out as a winner in a fist fight.
• According to Pythagoras, everything in the world is reflected in numbers. His favorite number was 10.
• None of the early evidences mentions the merits of Pythagoras as the greatest cosmologist, mathematician of antiquity. And he is considered as such today.
• They say that it was he who made the conclusion that the earth is actually round.
• Two hundred years have passed since the death of the great sage, before the first documents appeared with the mention of this great man. Various, even incredible things are reported about him. True facts are almost impossible to separate from legends. No one will say if this is really a demigod and miracle worker and the most perfect sage, or so the rumor made him so.