Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos (US /pɪˈθæɡərəs/;UK /paɪˈθæɡərəs/;Greek: Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος Pythagóras ho Sámios "Pythagoras the Samian", or simply Πυθαγόρας; Πυθαγόρης in Ionian Greek; c. 570 – c. 495 BC) was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and has been credited as the founder of the movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him. He was born on the island of Samos, and traveled, visiting Egypt and Greece, and maybe India, and in 520 BC returned to Samos. Around 530 BC, he moved to Croton, in Magna Graecia, and there established some kind of school or guild.

Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religion in the late 6th century BC. He is often revered as a great mathematician and scientist and is best known for the Pythagorean theorem which bears his name. However, because legend and obfuscation cloud his work even more than that of the other pre-Socratic philosophers, one can give only a tentative account of his teachings, and some have questioned whether he contributed much to mathematics or natural philosophy. Many of the accomplishments credited to Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues and successors. Some accounts mention that the philosophy associated with Pythagoras was related to mathematics and that numbers were important. It was said that he was the first man to call himself a philosopher, or lover of wisdom, and Pythagorean ideas exercised a marked influence on Plato, and through him, all of Western philosophy.

Pythagoras (freedman)

Pythagoras was a freedman of the Roman emperor Nero, who married in a public ceremony in which the emperor took the role of bride.

Life

Little is known about Pythagoras' background except that he was a freedman who accompanied Nero and was called "one of his filthy herd" (uni ex illo contaminatorum grege).

Marriage to Nero

In the year 64, during the Saturnalia, Tigellinus offered a series of banquets to Nero, after a few days of which Nero performed a marriage to Pythagoras:

Doryphorus

Suetonius tells the story of Nero being the bride to a freedman named "Doryphorus". Both Tacitus and Dio Cassius mention only "Pythagoras". According to Champlin, it is improbable that a second such scandalous wedding occurred without being noted, and the simplest solution is that Suetonius mistook the name. Doryphorus, one of the wealthiest and most powerful of Nero's freedmen, died in the year 62 before the banquets of Tigellinus, where Nero, covered with skins of wild animals, was let loose from a cage and attacked the private parts of men and women bound to stakes, after which he was dispatched by his freedman "Doryphorus". As "doryphoros" means "spear bearer" (Δορυφόρος) like the statue, it may be that the latinized word had just capitalized the Greek word.

Pythagoras (crater)

Pythagoras is a prominent impact crater located near the northwestern limb of the Moon. It lies just to the northwest of the somewhat larger Babbage. The crater has an oval appearance due to the oblique viewing angle. Only the western face of the interior can be viewed from the Earth, the other side being permanently out of sight.

The well-preserved rim of Pythagoras has a wide terrace system, and a slight rampart around the exterior. Although generally circular, the crater outline has a hexagonal form. The floor is flattened, but with an irregular, hilly surface. There is evidence of landslips around the periphery. In the center is a sharp, mountainous rise with a double peak that ascends 1.5 kilometers above the crater floor.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Pythagoras.

References