2 ms·
> Pythagoras was Syrian, fwiw. Pythagoras of Samos?! Source? As far as I know, he was from Samos, a Greek island. Thus his name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
by yesenadam 4y ago
> Pythagoras was Syrian, fwiw.
Pythagoras of Samos?! Source? As far as I know, he was from Samos, a Greek island. Thus his name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras
- dr_dshiv 4y agoHis father, Mnesarchus, was a jeweler and trader from Tyre. Source: Neanthes of Cyzicus, historian, 3rd c. B.C referenced in Porphyry’s “Life of Pythagoras”
- yesenadam 4y agoThanks. All the sources I've looked at say his ancestry is disputed and a great source of controversy, not surprisingly, so I guess it says different stories in different texts. I don't think your tone of certainty is at all justified. edit: Porphyry's book begins: "Many think that Pythagoras was the son of Mnesarchus, but they differ as to the latter's race; some thinking him a Samian, while Neanthes, in the fifth book of his Fables states he was a Syrian, from the city of Tyre." Your source lacks your apparent certainty. https://archive.org/details/CompletePythagoras/page/n81/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/CompletePythagoras/page/n81/mode... Interestingly, in the same text, Iamblichus, who studied with Porphyry and seems to have been a devoted Pythagorean, says in his Life of Pythagoras: "From the family and alliance of this Ancaeus, founder of the colony [of Samos], were therefore descended Pythagoras's parents Mnesarchus and Pythais."
- dr_dshiv 4y agoThere is so little known for sure about Pythagoras — and yet so much value in his story. The guy is a legend— and due uncertainty gets in the way of a good story. The more I read about him, the better and better it gets.
- nurettin 4y agoDoesn't that mean he was born Greek, but has Syrian ancestry, rather than "He was Syrian"?