2 ms·

There was some weirdness to him too. He basically founded a religion. There were some strange ideas about the hierarchies of food, etc.

dr_dshiv 2y ago
Well, technically he founded “philosophy” more than a religion. Polytheism was really old, of course. But intellectual polytheism (which requires an esoteric treatment of gods as metaphors) was basically new and then lasted for 1000 years. Pythagoras is also credited with coining the term “philosophy” and the term “Cosmos.” In addition to his coinage, he also started the first communist society. So many opposites. Music/math, religion/science, communism/capitalism, harmony/war (he conquered the sybarites), etc. He was vegetarian but, when he discovered his eponymous theorem, he sacrificed a “Hecatomb” at Delphi — that’s 100 cattle. Of course, all of this is disputed. (But happy to provide sources for any of it). He is textually associated with the druids and the Jews! Nuts.
- iamshs 2y ago
  Fascinating. Provide sources please. I need to learn more about this man.
  - dr_dshiv 2y ago
    Haha, sources for which fact? I wrote a paper that deals with Pythagoras here. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240587262200003X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240587262...
- hnfong 2y ago
  If you have a list of links of stuff Pythagoras did (whether disputed or not), do let me know. I'd happily gobble them up.
  - Someone 2y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras#Attributed_discoveries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras#Attributed_discover... has a list. I think all of them are at least disputed if not outright considered untrue.
- khafra 2y ago
  > Well, technically he founded “philosophy” more than a religion. If it executes a guy for revealing secrets and/or heretical discoveries, it's mroe of a religion than a philosophy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus
- CoastalCoder 2y ago
  > But intellectual polytheism (which requires an esoteric treatment of gods as metaphors) This reminds me of a very funny parody of various theologies on the early Christian church: https://youtu.be/KQLfgaUoQCw?si=8ujKk4bmCNhabbTE https://youtu.be/KQLfgaUoQCw?si=8ujKk4bmCNhabbTE
CoastalCoder 2y ago
"There were some strange ideas about the hierarchies of food, etc." A food "pyramid", if you will. /JK

dr_dshiv 2y ago

Well, technically he founded “philosophy” more than a religion. Polytheism was really old, of course. But intellectual polytheism (which requires an esoteric treatment of gods as metaphors) was basically new and then lasted for 1000 years. Pythagoras is also credited with coining the term “philosophy” and the term “Cosmos.” In addition to his coinage, he also started the first communist society. So many opposites. Music/math, religion/science, communism/capitalism, harmony/war (he conquered the sybarites), etc. He was vegetarian but, when he discovered his eponymous theorem, he sacrificed a “Hecatomb” at Delphi — that’s 100 cattle. Of course, all of this is disputed. (But happy to provide sources for any of it). He is textually associated with the druids and the Jews! Nuts.

iamshs 2y ago
Fascinating. Provide sources please. I need to learn more about this man.
- dr_dshiv 2y ago
  Haha, sources for which fact? I wrote a paper that deals with Pythagoras here. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240587262200003X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240587262...
hnfong 2y ago
If you have a list of links of stuff Pythagoras did (whether disputed or not), do let me know. I'd happily gobble them up.
- Someone 2y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras#Attributed_discoveries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras#Attributed_discover... has a list. I think all of them are at least disputed if not outright considered untrue.
khafra 2y ago
> Well, technically he founded “philosophy” more than a religion. If it executes a guy for revealing secrets and/or heretical discoveries, it's mroe of a religion than a philosophy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus
CoastalCoder 2y ago
> But intellectual polytheism (which requires an esoteric treatment of gods as metaphors) This reminds me of a very funny parody of various theologies on the early Christian church: https://youtu.be/KQLfgaUoQCw?si=8ujKk4bmCNhabbTE https://youtu.be/KQLfgaUoQCw?si=8ujKk4bmCNhabbTE

CoastalCoder 2y ago

"There were some strange ideas about the hierarchies of food, etc." A food "pyramid", if you will. /JK