Pythagoras
Seek an ordered, shared life.
Pythagoras, from Samos and associated with Croton, stands at the origin of traditions combining ways of life, reflection on the soul and mathematical inquiry. No authenticated writing by him survives: his thought must be distinguished from later Pythagorean doctrines and legends.
What can we know of a thinker without surviving writings?
Biography
Pythagoras, from Samos and associated with Croton, stands at the origin of traditions combining ways of life, reflection on the soul and mathematical inquiry. No authenticated writing by him survives: his thought must be distinguished from later Pythagorean doctrines and legends.
02 /Philosophy
Early witnesses associate Pythagoras with the passage of soul among living beings; the precise doctrine remains unknown.
03 /Reading guides
Original introductions to enter the works, discover their central questions and take the reflection further.
04 /Bibliography
Works, testimonies and further readings are distinguished. Dates refer to composition or first publication, as specified in each entry.
A first reading.
Evidence and legend
Arrange sources to understand what can be attributed to Pythagoras.
Ancient testimoniesA philosophy lived together
Explore community through Iamblichus’ late portrait.
Iamblichus — On the Pythagorean LifeReading the Golden Verses
Understand a moral poem without wrongly attributing it to the founder.
Golden Verses