a work of Pyrrho, the character of which is entirely un- known. The first writer on the scepticism of Pyrrho is said to have been Timon, his friend and disciple, w hose life is written by Diogenes Laertius. See English Cy- clop, s. v.: Smith, Diet, of Class. Biog. s. v.: Kingsley, Alexandria andher Schools, \>. 59 sip: Ueberweg, Hist. qfPhilos. (see Index in vol. ii); Mackintosh, Works, i. 306,307; Bordas-Demoulin, Melanges Philosophigyes (Par. L846),p. 17 sq. (J.H.W.)
Pyrrhonii. See Pyrrho.
Pyrrhonism. See Pyrrho.
Pyr'rhus ( Tlvppoc, fiery- haired, a common Greek
n in the best MSS. a- the name of the father ofSopat( r, Paul's companion ( Acts xx. 1 '. See Nor ah a.
Pythagoras, one of the earliest and most cele- brated sage? of Greece, the alleged originator ot the name and of the profession of philosopher, and the rounder of a seel which enjoyed great and enduring reputation. Notwithstanding the numerous fables which are interwoven with the traditionary accounts of his career, il is certain thai none of the elder philos- ophers "i i. recce attained higher eminence in specula- tion, impressed himself more forcibly on the contem-
' porary world, or influenced more widely and more per- manently the character of subsequent investigation. Engaged equally and simultaneously in abstract inqui- ry and in scientific research, at once theorist and prac- tical politician, and predominant wherever his efforts wire directed, he instituted a Bchool, a religious fra- ternity, a secret society, and a political association, all combined in one body; and he controlled tor many years the public movement of the community in which lie had fixed his abode. His political ascendency was a potent influence during a considerable part of his life, and was prolonged, in a mitigated and disguised form, through successive generations. His sect sur- vived alike the peculiar circumstances which had fa- vored its original establishment ami the violent catas- trophe which crushed the primitive association, and, after his characteristic doctrines had been accepted. witl dilicatioiis and addition-, by other schools, de- voted it-elf with marked earnestness to the public .and private ethic- which had chiefly attracted the regards
of the master. Hi- discoveries, or happy conjectures, in mathematics, in astronomy, in music, etc, fascinated
Plato, and were largely incorporated into the all-em- bracing system of Aristotle. Even in cases in which they were questioned, rejected, or almost forgotten by later antiquity, they have been revived by modem phi- losophy, and may frequently be recognised as furnish- ing the corner-stones tor modern sciences. To Pythag- oras have been ascribed the anticipation of the Coper- nican system, the demonstration of the relation bi tween the sipians of the -id. - of a right-angled triangle, and the determinati if the mathematical hasi- of the the- ory of music. To him musl also he assigned the hon- or of introducing, however fantastically, numerical rela- tions for the explanation of the laws and opt ration- of the material universe. A man connected so prominent- ly and so effectively with so many important branches of human research .and of human action, at the v i ry outset ol systematic speculation and systematized ac- tivity, may well excite wonder and attract curiosity — a wonder which is converted into amazement by reputed miracles, and a curio-'uy which is baffled and bewilder- ed by the accumulation of myths around his name and around all the salient incidents of his career.
1. Lift "nil TmOOTS. The ill tail- of the life and opin- ion, oi Pythagoras, as transmitted to us by the ancients, are -o confused and contradictory, and are so blended with fantastic fables, thai it is impracticable to extract from them a plain, trustworthy, and consistent account i Brucker, Hist. Crit. Phil, i. 991 I. The founder, in a re-
,1!
mole age, of a secret society at once religious and polit- ical, philosophical and scientific, afforded an apt frame on which to hang the exaggerations of admit ii pic- ami the credulous fancies of his own and of other generations. We have no authentic remain- and no contemporary memorials of the Samian philosopher. The rdics attributed to his earlier follow* rs arc not ac- knowledged to he genuine. The special work- of Ar- istotle and of his pupil-. Dicsearchus, Aristoxenus, and Heraclides Ponticus, on the subject of the Pythagore- ans, were early lost. A few -cant notices -urvive in
Herodotus. Heraclitus, Xenophaues, [socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; hut our chief sources of information are the late writers Diogenes Laertius, Porphyry, and iambli-
Chus. Whatever material- may have been accessible
to them, the] cannot be supposed to have had credi- ble authorities for their compilations. I he uncritical habits of Diogenes do not invite confidence, while the mythical and thaumaturgic proclivities of the Xeo-I'latouisls do provoke constant suspicion. These miracle-mongers would greedily welcome anj marvel- lous legends, and would not he scrupulous about adding embellishments or fictions of their own to the talc- of wonder which tiny mighl find already in circulation. We are singularly unfortunate in regard to this pioneer in philosophy. Antiquity has bequeathed to us much in regard t" him which i- absurd as well as incredible;
PYTHAGORAS
827
PYTHAGORAS
it has left little that can be received without hesitation, to form a portrait of the man, or to furnish an adequate scheme of his doctrines.
The birth of Pythagoras is placed by Mullach in the first year of the 43d Olympiad (B.C. 608), on the strength of a "legend reported by Eratosthenes and cited by Di- ogenes Laertius. The same date is deduced, with some uncertainty, from a statement made by Antiochus and preserved by Clemens Alexandrinus. The nativity of Pythagoras is brought down nearly forty years later by accepting the declaration of Aristoxenus that he left Samos at the age of forty, in the reign of Polycrates. The difference between these estimates is sufficient to destroy any confidence in either, and distrust is increased by the very dubious character of early Greek chronolo- gy; yet each of these deductions has been espoused by eminent scholars. Bentley and Larcher are on the side of Mullach ; Dodwell attaches himself to the declara- tion of Aristoxenus; Grote, apparently convinced of the inconclusiveness of all reasoning on the subject, aims at the golden mean, and places the birth of Pythagoras about B.C. 580. The only safe conclusion is that the philosopher began to flourish in the second half of the 6th century before Christ.