Pythagoreans

به طور کلی گام مجموعه ای است از اصوات که فواصل موسیقایی آنها در اکثر اوقات بین ۲ عدد ۱ و ۲ قرار می گیرد. عدد ۱ که اولین درجه گام است پایگی نام داشته و عدد ۲ اکتاو آن است که قاعدتا گام با آن بسته می شود. فرکانس اکتاو ۲ برابر پایگی است :

F2 = 2 × F 1

اکتاو را می توان به اشکال متفاوت تقسیم نمود . مثلا ۱۲ قسمت مساوی که همان گام ۱۲ نیم پرده مساوی است ، ۲۴ قسمت مساوی که گامی ۲۴ ربع پرده مساوی است و …

There is a long history of the uses of the term 'catharsis'. Nowadays the term usually designates a process by which the production of strong emotions by adequate representations (literature, cinema, videogames, etc.) or by real events frees the subject (the reader, the spectator, the gamer, etc.) of those very emotions. Freud also had a specific understanding of what catharsis means, and he used the word to designate what would later become the “psychoanalytic method”. However, there is a long way between those modern understandings of catharsis and the original meaning Aristotle gave to the term in his ‘Poetics’. According to Aristotle, the catharsis produced by tragedy is linked to the emotions of pity and fear. Although pity and fear are two opposite affects depending on the position of the subject relatively to an event, the spectator of the tragedy is bound to experience both of them simultaneously because of the ethical similarity the playwright must keep between him and the tragic hero. But pity and fear are also two opposite affects on the physiological level: pity is a warm affect, fear a cold one. Catharsis is then a physiological balancing of pity by fear, of warmth by cold, and reciprocally, and this continuous suppression of excesses of temperature through the tragic imitation, while bringing a feeling of relief and pleasure, rids the spectator of all excessive affects. This physiological process of catharsis, as Aristotle understood it, has little to do with the current acceptions of the notion.

An exploration of Pythagorean-Platonic and Aristotelian-Thomistic Accounts of mathematics and science. This paper argues that mathematics is a specific form of abstraction. It concludes that science remains authentic when it maintains an awareness that it is necessarily abstract or reductionist.

In 1887, Paul Tannery suggested that some ancient Pythagoreans defended a form of atomism against which Eleatic philosophers such as Zeno of Elea reacted. Later, Democritus and Leucippus on one hand, Plato on the other, developed atomistic intuitions in reaction to this old debate. No one would accept nowadays Tannery’s historical claim, but the philosophical content of his interpretation is still relevant for the history of atomism, especially for the Middle Ages. Indeed, according to Tannery the Pythagoreans defined atoms as points, i.e. the equivalent of units for numbers but with a position in space. This conception of a point was well known in the Middle Ages thanks to Boethius’ adaptation of Nicomachus of Gerasa’s Institutio arithmetica and other indirect sources (Macrobius, Martianus Capella, for instance) and was accepted by several philosophers and theologians. In this paper we try to follow the reception of this
concept from the 12th to the 14th century.

Remettant en cause l'approche simpliste qui a été promu sur les vers d'or ou dorés, l'auteur propose une approche métaphisique, ésotérique de l'oeuvre de Pythagore. Son introduction met en avant le fait que la poésie avant que d'être un divertissement ou une approche singulière de la réalité, est une mise en forme spécifique du sacré, profondément liée à l'inspiration divine. Ainsi, d'Orphée à Homère l'auteur retrace l'histoire de cette poésie qui appelle le divin.

This paper gives an overview of the papyrological evidence for Pythagoras and (much less) the Pythagoreans, which is collected in "Corpus dei Papiri Filosofici" and in Christian Vassallo’s  “Catalogue of the Evidence for Presocratics in the Herculaneum Papyri”, no. 161-173, p. 52-53. Some of this scattered evidence can be coherently brought together and provide clues for the history of Pythagoreanism, whereas other is worthy of fresh consideration. Practically all the testimonia of the Herculaneum papyri come from the writings of Philodemus; they concern Pythagoras, not the Pythagoreans, and are of a biographical, not doxographical character. Philodemus’ evidence reflects the early Hellenistic stage of the Pythagorean tradition, before rise of Neopythagoreanism and the pseudo-Pythagorean literature related to it. Later evidence reveals new view on Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans as the philosophical precursors of Plato.

The article continues the publication, for the first time, of a book left in manuscript by the Romanian orientalist Constantin Daniel. The last chapters of the book, included in the article, expose an exaggeratedly spiritual perspective of the Thracian world. This allegedly high spirituality rests on the ascetic cult of a Solar deity, known as Zalmoxis (whose name is interpreted as „the shinning man”, „the man of light”) and being identical with the Greek god Apollo. Constantin Daniel argues for the Uranian features of Zalmoxis, rejecting a traditional interpretation which ascribes him a chtonic character.
The cult of Zalmoxis prompted a moral and even ascetical life among its adepts and it created a community bound by relations of empathy and even brotherhood. The acceptance of Zalmoxis in the Thracian world led to the rejection of Dionysos and of his hedonistic cult, which was standing in opposition with the elevated spirituality of the worshippers of Zalmoxis.

Keywords : Zalmoxis, solar, cult of mysteries, Pitagora, ascetism, sensorial deprivation, immortality

This paper discusses the notion of physis in the fragments of the Pythagoreans Philolaus of Croton and Archytas of Tarentum. Building on the twentieth-century discussion of the two basic meanings of physis, ‘growth’ and ‘being’ (section 2), it argues that Philolaus was most probably the author of the first treatise entitled Περὶ φύσεως, as the first-century BC writer Diogenes of Magnesia testifies. The remaining evidence on Presocratic books entitled Περὶ φύσεως is late and unreliable (section 3). ἁ φύσις in Philolaus B 1 and 6 denotes ‘all that exists’; the Pythagorean speaks of physis in a generalized collective sense as of everything that came into being and exists in the world-order (section 4). As distinct from Philolaus, Archytas did not develop a doctrine of principles, and his epistemology was not constrained by metaphysical presuppositions. Archytas B 1 considers physis from both cosmological and epistemological points of views, as ‘the nature of the whole’ that is available to human cognition. Without setting any conditions or limitations to this process, as Philolaus did, he reinforces the latter’s declaration that “all the things that are known have number” (B 4) by making four Pythagorean mathēmata the principal cognitive tools for scientific enquiry into nature (section 5).

Besides the accounts or the legends of later Greek and Latin authors, what remains of Pythagoreanism as an Italic philosophy are a few fragments and some pseudonymous texts. In such conditions, the critical work plays a necessary role, but the interpretation is important as well. Probably, this is congenial with a pseudepigraphal production like that, originally understood not so much as a forgery, as rather like an “open source” wisdom.

The present study proposes a close reading of Dicearchus of Messana’s account of the circumstances surrounding Pythagoras’s death (fr. 41 Mirhady). As the analysis shows, the purpose of Dicearchus’ account was to demonstrate that at the moment of the anti-Pythagorean revolt the philosopher was not welcomed in any of Italian cities because he was perceived as a danger to social and political stability. Such an interpretation of the authorial intention stems from a new reading of the scene of Pythagoras’ death in the temple of the Muses. Considering Dicearchus’ narrative as a whole it can be assumed that Pythagoras, as a supplicant, sought protection of gods, and his death should be interpreted as the effect of the philosopher’s isolation in the temple by the inhabitants of Metapontum. Moreover, the author of the present study considers the presence of the Muses in the story and the significance of this fact in the hypothesis concerning the essential role of the goddesses in the Pythagorean movement.

Le scénario global du Banquet se présente comme étonnant, voire énigmatique. Nous est présentée une très curieuse beuverie (sumposion) au cours de laquelle les convives ne s’adonnent pas à des agapes enjouées ni ne rivalisent de plaisanteries. Le Banquet de Xénophon, tout à l’inverse, est certainement plus représentatif de ce qui se déroulait à l’époque lors de ce type de festivités. L’explication habituelle du paradoxe de la version platonicienne est de dire que nous avons affaire à un banquet idéalisé et, au bout du compte, on ne retient qu’une dramaturgie de type littéraire. Comme Platon méprisait les pratiques communes des sumposia (voir Protagoras, 347c-348a ; Phèdre, 276d), on pense qu’il aurait sciemment représenté un banquet idéal, irréel, purifié de toute vulgarité. D’où, en particulier, la perfection formelle des différents discours. Est-il possible, cependant, de déceler à la base de la dramaturgie une cause réelle, à la fois mimétique et philosophique ? En d’autres termes, si l’aspect mimétique du Banquet devait être maintenu, comme c’est le cas généralement pour les logoi sōkratikoi, selon Aristote, ce dialogue pourrait avoir pris modèle sur autre chose qu’un simple banquet, un autre genre de rencontre qui existait à l’époque, un type de réunion, une sunousia bien réelle à caractère philosophique. Une comparaison avec la dramaturgie de deux autres dialogues platoniciens portant la marque du pythagorisme, le Phédon et le Timée, pourrait nous permettre d’avancer quelques éléments de réponse. La dramaturgie non spécialement festive du Banquet s’inspirerait à la fois des rencontres socratiques, qu’il convient d’imiter davantage—comme le dit le Protagoras en 348a (khrēnai mallon mimeisthai) —, et, plus encore, des rencontres pythagoriciennes entre amis (philoi). Telle est l’hypothèse ici proposée, qui s’appuie en partie sur un témoignage récemment réhabilité d’Aristoxène de Tarente (IVe siècle av. J.-C.). La dramaturgie du Banquet aurait alors pour objectif de mettre en scène une extraordinaire transposition de la philia pythagoricienne en erōs socratique.

http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9780888441911-1


http://www.pims.ca/publications/new-and-recent-titles/publication/thierry-of-chartres-the-commentary-on-the-de-arithmetica-of-boethius

Unlike the commentaries on Plato's Timaeus and on Boethius's Consolatio phlosophiae, medieval exegesis of Boethius's De arithmetica has seldom been subjected to comprehensive and systematic enquiry. Inhabiting the shifting boundary between philosophy and history of science, the De arithmetica itself has been neglected by most medievalists. Yet, from the Carolingian renaissance onward, when the scholarly curriculum came to be based on the seven liberal arts, Boethius's work soon became a canonical text for the study of arithmetic. Indeed, the growing interest in it during the twelfth century is attested by the large number of surviving commentaries in manuscript.

The commentary on the De arithmetica preserved in Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Cod. math. 4° 33 and edited here for the first time can be securely attributed to Thierry of Chartres. It belongs to a phase when the Chartrian master's interests were mainly directed toward the liberal arts. We can also discern in Thierry's commentary on the De arithmetica themes and problems developed in his Tractatus de sex dierum operibus and more elaborately in his commentaries on Boethius's Opuscula sacra. Indeed, the discovery of this commentary on the De arithmetica might legitimately be said to clarify not only the more intractable passages in the theological writings but also to illuminate Thierry's philosophical project as a whole. At the heart of that vision is a developing trend in twelfth-century philosophy that places number and proportion at the heart of the physical cosmos. In this profoundly 'mathematical Platonism,' all things are based on number and follow the rule of number; or, to quote Thierry himself, “creatio numerorum, rerum est creatio.”

Celem tego artykułu jest wykazanie, że w wiekach VI i V przed Chrystusem, w obrębie szkoły pitagorejczyków, zostały wypracowane dwa różne i radykalnie przeciwstawne systemy myśli. Można je określić, kolejno, jako systemy: mistyczny oraz naukowy. We wszystkich obiegowych, znanych mi ujęciach pitagoreizmu, próbuje się połączyć rysy obu tych systemów w jednym złożonym wizerunku, co naturalnie się nie udaje. Pomieszanie to sięga wstecz aż do Arystotelesa, który – nie czyniąc rozróżnień – powiada zazwyczaj o "pitagorejczykach”, aczkolwiek pojawiający się od czasu do czasu zwrot "niektórzy pitagorejczycy” wskazuje, że wiedział on o różnych nurtach w obrębie tej szkoły.

Axioms are presented which demonstrate that our system of Cartesian coordinates evolved from the Pythagorean concept of ratio, which arose from the discovery that the integers corresponded to the harmonies produced by a stretched string. It was here were we find the seminal connection being made between number and nature and, hence, the birth of science. These are the harmonic analogues to the Euclidean axioms of geometry but are about two millennia overdue. However, Pythagoras' discovery has been forgotten in physics and consequently it has not recognised that these ratios not only form the very foundation of modern wave theory, including Fourier analysis, but also of the space and time axes themselves. For it is shown that if the equations that describe wave motions are to be correct, then space and time cannot be regarded as 'independent variables' at all for a wave will always supply its own measure of space and time in the form of its wavelength and period. Once this is seen then the entire facade of metaphysical 'space and time' begins to crumble. For example, differentiation and integration with respect to space and time can always and in principle be substituted by operations involving ratios and wavenumber or frequency and 'space and time' (or the variables x and t) completely disappear from the equations. After the axioms are given and their consequences developed, the conclusion is clear; our sense of space and time grew from our collected experiences of periodicities or regularities within nature and it is these which make up the laws of physics. it is why they appear as 'eternal' or 'timeless'. The universe is no longer described by the motion of points in an a priori Cartesian coordinate system but by the fact that these axes themselves represent the class of wavenumbers and frequencies of observable wave phenomena. And special relativity is no exception: Einstein's definition of time dilation, as opposed to length contraction, contravenes the principle of relativity with respect to wave motion. It was (albeit unconsciously) biased to agree with the particle-like picture of the universe handed down from classical kinematics.

Οι Άραβες στο μελωδικό τους σύστημα ενέταξαν ως ανεξάρτητο το μακάμι Σαμπά (maqam Saba) στη θεωρία τους, δίχως να το τοποθετήσουν εντός μιας οικογένειας μακαμιών. Παρόλο που οι παλαιοί διδάσκαλοι ψαλμωδοί δεν μας παρέδωσαν τέτοιο είδος μελωδίας, παρατηρείται το φαινόμενο της εισαγωγής της συγκεκριμένης μελωδίας εντός μαθημάτων της ψαλτικής τέχνης των νεότερων διδασκάλων και μάλιστα σε ελάχιστες περιπτώσεις ως αυτόνομο. Οι Άραβες και οι Τούρκοι παρουσίασαν το Σαμπά ως σύνθεση του τετραχόρδου του Χετζάζ (maqam Hijaz tetrachord) και του τριχόρδου του Περσικού Ατζέμ (maqam Ajem trichord). Ο φθόγγος-περδές του Σαμπά (Saba perdesi) τοποθετήθηκε μεταξύ του περδέ του Τζαρεγκιάχ (Jiharkah perdesi) και του περδέ του Νεβά (Neva Perdesi). Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τη δις χιλιόχρονη θεωρητική των αρχαίων και βυζαντινών της πυθαγόρειας φιλοσοφίας (Αρχύτας, Φιλόλαος, Πτολεμαίος, Ψελλός, Παχυμέρης, Βρυέννιος) μπορούμε να διαπιστώσουμε ότι το συγκεκριμένο είδος μελωδίας, που καλλιεργήθηκε από τους Άραβες, προκύπτει με απόλυτη ακρίβεια από το κανόνιο κγ χορδών των ιστ βασικών ήχων και των παραγώγων αυτών που παρουσίασα το έτος 2019. Παρουσιάζεται δηλαδή η άποψη ότι τα παράγωγα είδη μελωδίας (μακάμι Χιτζάζ, Χουζάμ, Σαμπά..) χρησιμοποιούν το καθένα συγκεκριμένες χορδές των ιστ ήχων.

Philosophers are among the most typical targets of fourth-century Attic Comedy, especially Pythagoreans who, as several fragments show, were frequently mocked on the Athenian stage. In two comic fragments, however, they are surprisingly mocked for their rhetorical skills and this characterisation does not seem to find confirmation in other sources. The first of these fragments is Cratinus the Younger’s fr. 7 K.-A. (from the comedy Men from Tarentum), where a speaker describes the Pythagoreans’ manipulative ethos. They are said to confuse the ordinary people with ‘antithesis, long-winded sentences, and a high-flown style’. The same rhetorical and manipulative inclination is ascribed to them in Alexis’ fr. 223 K.-A. (from a comedy also entitled Men from Tarentum). The present paper aims at analysing these two comic fragments in the context of Athenian comic production and the origin of the idea about the Pythagoreans’ interest in rhetoric and manipulation of words. I shall investigate to what extent this comic topos is connected with the Pythagorean sect from Tarentum (after which both comedies are named), or whether this trait is inherited from the stereotypical portrait of philosophers in comedy.

Revision and expansion of "An Inscription about a Pythagorean(?) at Delphi".  Other inscriptions touching on the Pythagoreans are also mentioned.
Because of the name, occupation and home state of the donor on a Delphic inscription and because of the amount, (100 dr.) this article suggests that 'Mentor' of Heraclea Lucania was a Pythagorean.  Perhaps, this is an example of a Pythagorean going by his "heroic" ancient name, like Euphorbus for Pythagoras, or Midas for Myllias, or 'Orpheus' of Croton.

Lucrarea incearca sa expuna o perspectiva extrem de spiritualizata asupra religiei si comunitatilor trace, in general, cu un accent special pus asupra lumii dacice. Aceasta perspectiva isi gaseste justificarea in rolul influent pe care Zalmoxis si cultul sau de mistere l-au avut asupra lumii trace. Zalmoxis este infatisat drept o zeitate solara careia i se atribuie o importanta functie soteriologica, el fiind zeul in al carui paradis vor ajunge, dupa moarte, sufletele celor initiati in misteriile sale.

In the Cohortatio ad Graecos, a work included in Justin Martyr's corpus and recently attributed to the Monarchian Bishop Marcellus of Ancyra (cf. C. Riedweg, B. Pouderon), there is a passage dedicated to Pythagoras (cf. 19). Such a reference is part of a string of quotations from pagan authors on the subject of the so-called monotheism. Having already proved the antiquity and excellence of Moses, the first prophet (9-12), and presented the story of the Septuagint translation (13), Ps.-Justin meks further remarks about Greeks having become acquainted with the writings of Moses in Egypt and therefore expressing 'monotheistic' views (14). Other authorities quoted are Orpheus (15), Sibyl (16), Homer (17), Sophocles (18), and Plato (20), after which the work progresses as a more detailed attempt to show the dependance of Plato and Homer on the Hebrew Scriptures. In this paper, I aim to explore the Cohortatio account on Pythagoras in its connection with the other authorities quoted in the text, in order to stress the cultural work carried out by Ps.-Justin/Marcellus about the Greek Philosopher and the ideological elements ascribed to him in the treatise. In keeping with his general intention of bringing forward Greek expressions of monotheism, the subject Ps.-Justin announces for Pythagoras is 'monas' (19,1,5), drawing a sort of parallel with the religion of Orpheus (Orpheus is explicitly said to have visited Egypt). The conclusion one can reach is that the monotheism attributed to Pythagoras is a cultural construct, strictly connected with Orpheus, and that the author of Cohortatio aims to defend the so-called Monarchianism, around the period of Arian crisis. My main objective is to emphasize how the (re-)invention of a Pythagorean monotheism and/or religion constitutes a Christian apologetic discourse strictly linked with the invention of an Orphic monotheism, two cultural constructs carried out in the period of the Nicaea Council (325 CE), a seminal phase in the formation of Christian monotheism.

The oldest members of the Pythagorean communities in Southern Italy are, in general, poorly known. Nevertheless, it is possible to draw a portrait of the members of the hetairia in some cities of Magna Graecia. The example of Poseidonia shows that the Pythagoreans were probably present in the city at the end of the archaic period. Literary sources are mobilised, but archaeological and epigraphic finds also tend to show very probable Pythagorean influences in Poseidonia.

Les membres les plus anciens des communautés pythagoriciennes en Italie du Sud sont, en général, mal connus. Il est néanmoins possible de brosser un portrait des membres de l’hétairie dans certaines cités de Grande Grèce. L’exemple de Poseidonia permet de montrer que les pythagoriciens sont probablement bien présents dans la cité à la fin de l’époque archaïque. Les sources littéraires sont mobilisées, mais les découvertes archéologiques et épigraphiques tendent également à montrer de très probables influences pythagoriciennes à Poseidonia.

Le Canon de Polyclète agencé selon un système de proportions (appelé symmetria) peut être considéré comme une mise application concrète de la théorie pythagoricienne des principes, des archai comme symmetriai, qui nous est connue par le biais de la doxographie provenant de l’École de Théophraste (IIIe s. av. J.-C.). Le fameux Canon serait ainsi l’équivalent artistique de la théorie médicale de la symmetria du philosophe Alcméon de Crotone, contemporain et ami des premiers Pythagoriciens. L’ancien pythagorisme semble dès lors être à l’origine d’un renouveau culturel sans précédent, étant à la source des canons esthétiques du classicisme grec, de la médecine hippocratique et de nouveaux développements des mathématiques et de la philosophia — néologisme d’ailleurs introduit par Pythagore lui-même. Sur le plan artistique, une mise en application de la théorie pythagoricienne des principes serait perceptible non seulement au niveau de l’élaboration du système de proportions mais aussi au sein de ce que les Anciens appelaient le rythmos : des études récentes ont mis en évidence le fait que l’eurythmie (associant l’équilibre du maintien et le chiasme des membres supérieurs et inférieurs) du Porteur de lance (Doryphoros) peut être interprétée d’une manière convaincante au moyen de la « table des contraires » qu’Aristote attribue aux premiers Pythagoriciens. Enfin, on ne saurait négliger une curiosité qui a frappé les historiens depuis longtemps : lorsque l’architecte romain Vitruve transmet la théorie artistique de la symmetria des anciens Grecs (associant architectes et sculpteurs), il laisse apparaître incidemment la théorie de la Tétractys, qui est connue par ailleurs comme l’expression emblématique du Canon pythagoricien. Alors que la philosophie pythagoricienne a souvent été minimisée relativement à son impact culturel, quand elle n’était pas littéralement méprisée par les historiens, l’étude ici proposée tente de rendre justice à son dynamisme et à son caractère profondément démiurgique.
The Canon of Polyclitus ordered according to a system of proportions (called symmetria) can be considered as a putting concrete application of the Pythagorean theory of principles, the archai as symmetriai, which is known to us by means of the doxography coming from the School of Theophrastus (IIIth c. BC). The famous Canon would so be the artistic equivalent of the medical theory of symmetria of the philosopher Alcmaeon of Crotone, contemporary and friend of the first Pythagoreans. The Early pythagoreanism seems then to be at the origin of an unprecedented cultural revival, being in the source of the aesthetic canons of Greek classicism, Hippocratic medicine and the new developments of mathematics and philosophia — neologism moreover introduced by Pythagoras himself. On the artistic plan, an application of the Pythagorean theory of the principles would be perceptible not only at the level of the elaboration of the system of proportions but also within what the Ancients called rythmos: recent studies highlighted the fact that the eurhythmy (associating the balance of the bearing and the chiasmus of the lower and upper limbs) of the Carrier of lance (Doryphoros) can be interpreted in a convincing way by means of the " table of opposite " that Aristotle attributes to the first Pythagoreans. Finally, we could not neglect a curiosity which struck the historians for a long time: when the Roman architect Vitruvius transmits the artistic theory of the symmetria of the Ancient Greeks (associating architects and sculptors), he lets appear by the way the theory of Tetractus, which is besides known as the symbolic expression of the Pythagorean Canon. While the Pythagorean philosophy was often minimized with regard to its cultural impact, when it was not literally despised by the historians, the here proposed study tries to obtain justice to its dynamism and to its profoundly demiurgic character.

Fifth section of the first chapter of our online book "Winged Mythical Singers of Cosmic Music" (http://eprints.sim.ucm.es/23744/), where we deal with the hypothetical connections of the myth of Er with a Pythagorean exegesis of the "Odyssey" as an allegory of the heavenly journey of souls.

"La leggenda relativa alla città di Amyclae abbandonata per un'invasione di serpenti risale ad un nucleo tarantino di 4° s. a.C. : ὄφεις = « Ophikoi », Osci, scil. i Romani : Roma si spinge verso il Lazio meridionale costiero a scapito di Taranto ; nel 2° s. a.C. fu elaborata una seconda versione, per cui la città perì per il suo silenzio, un tema conforme alla moda pitagorica del tempo.

(da Année philologique)"

From the introduction (Vassallo): " Kilian J. Fleischer (Philolaus' Book(s) in Philodemus' Index Academicorum) discusses a familiar piece of information concerning Philolaus in the light of a new Herculaneum testimonium. Diogenes Laertius (8.85) reports that Philolaus sold Pythagoras' unpublished books to Plato and, as told in a kind of alternative version, that Philolaus' relatives sold his book to Plato. In each version a huge amount of money is mentioned. Rather recently a passage of Philodemus' History of the Academy (PHerc. 1691, col. 2) was discovered that seems to deal with the purchase of Pythagorean books through Plato and the history of their editions. Fleischer demonstrates how a reappraisal of the passage might shed some new light on its credibility and on the details of the transaction. In particular, the question is discussed of exactly which books were given to Plato and whether the whole episode should be regarded as more than a mere anecdote. "

The publication of the Arabic translation of Nicolaus Damascenus' De plantis confirms the identification of the mysterious philosopher ΛΕΧΙΝΕΟΣ in the Greek translation from Latin (from Arabic from Greek) with ΑΛΚΜΑΙΩΝ. This makes Alcmaeon of Croton the author of the first general naturalistic theory of the origin of plants. The two elements, the fire of the Sun as active element (father), and earth as passive and nourishing element (mother) exactly correspond with the two elements of the roughly contemporary (or of somewhat later date) Doxa of Parmenides. The article also points to another neglected anonymous quotation from Alcmaeon on withering of hair in Aristotle GA 785 a 25.

The present paper deals with the portrait of the uncouth dining philosopher, as drawn in several texts belonging to the Second Sophistic period (Lucian, Alciphron, Athenaeus, Diogenes Laertius, and Aesop). This caricature philosopher figure typically presents a number of key features (boorishness, gluttony, hypocrisy); these features are shown to be the literary continuation and evolution of some specific elements/characteristics detected in more than one stereotypical figures of Greek comedy (the philosopher, the intellectual, the parasite, the glutton). The thematic propinquity as well as the influence exercised by Greek comedy on the - variously receptive and largely imitative - period of the Second Sophistic are highlighted and examined through parallel close-reading of selected passages.

Recorrido crítico por la figura y la obra de Neantes, autor griego (originario de Cícico, en la Propóntide), cuya producción se situaba a medio camino entre los géneros histórico y paradoxográfico, y que se interesó también por la biografía de una gran variedad de personajes ilustres, entre los cuales de filósofos. Su obra estuvo sin duda marcada por su formación como rétor junto a Filisco de Mileto, el discípulo de Isócrates. El momento culminante de su actividad se puede situar a finales del s. IV a.C. Esquema del capítulo: Testimonios y fragmentos. Bibliografía. Identidad y cronología. Obras. Importancia filosófica.