pythagorasquotes

c. 570 – c. 495 BC

Illustration of PythagorasAs one of the earliest Greek philosophers and mathematicians, the life of Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BC) is steeped more in mystical wisdom than scientific proof. He started a religious brotherhood of mathematicians, who purified their souls through music and “mental activity,” or rather what later came to be known as “philosophy.”

The harmony of the spheres and the golden section were revered by this secret society, and while most of their theories are controversial even today, their ideas of harmonic “means” in music are not. Pythagoras gave music the diatonic scale, and contributed to the chromatic and enharmonic scales through intervals based on numerical proportions.

All of Pythagoras’ work is lost, so much of what is attributed to him may have been developed by his disciples as there is little proof. However, the work of the Pythagorean Brotherhood undoubtedly provided the seeds for new philosophies of the mind to grow, which influenced not only the great Greek philosopher Plato, but also Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei.

Pythagoras’ ideas regarding the immortality of the soul, and his effort to establish harmony and order in the universe through numbers, were all catalysts for education, philosophy and scholarly pursuit by the great minds who came after him and further developed his initial discoveries.

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