Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos (Greek: Ὁ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, O Pythagoras o Samios, "Pythagoras the

Samian", or simply Ὁ Πυθαγόρας; c. 570-c. 495 BC[1]) was an Ionian Greek philosopher and
founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of our information about
Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, thus very little reliable information is
known about him. He was born on the island of Samos, and may have travelled widely in his
youth, visiting Egypt and other places seeking knowledge. Around 530 BC, he moved to Croton,
a Greek colony in southern Italy, and there set up a religious sect. His followers pursued the
religious rites and practices developed by Pythagoras, and studied his philosophical theories. The
society took an active role in the politics of Croton, but this eventually led to their downfall. The
Pythagorean meeting-places were burned, and Pythagoras was forced to flee the city. He is said
to have ended his days in Metapontum.

Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religious teaching in the late 6th
century BC. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mystic and scientist, and he is best
known for the Pythagorean theorem which bears his name. However, because legend and
obfuscation cloud his work even more than with the other pre-Socratic philosophers, one can say
little with confidence about his teachings, and some have questioned whether he contributed
much to mathematics and natural philosophy. Many of the accomplishments credited to
Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues and successors. Whether
or not his disciples believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were
the ultimate reality is unknown. It was said that he was the first man to call himself a
philosopher, or lover of wisdom,[2] and Pythagorean ideas exercised a marked influence on Plato,
and through him, all of Western philosophy.