Pythagoras

María Flores Rivas (Universidad de Oviedo)

Ed. by Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti, University of Liverpool
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Eleni Bozia (University of Florida), Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool)

Dates

Born c. -531
Died c. -490
Activity c. -511-c. -490

Places

Born in Ancient Greece
Active in Ancient Greece

Activities

Primary

Divine
Mathematician
Priest

Resources

Overview

Pythagoras is among the philosophers who have exerted the most enduring influence on philosophical and religious thought in both the East and West. However, the accounts we possess of his life are numerous and, in some cases, contradictory, lying somewhere between history and legend. He is regarded as the founder of Pythagoreanism, a philosophical and religious movement that articulated doctrines on a wide range of interrelated issues, including, among others, numbers, harmony, and the immortality and transmigration of souls.

Details of his life

Reconstructing the life and teachings of Pythagoras constitutes a considerable challenge, primarily due to the problematic state of the transmission of the most significant texts concerning him. Although contemporary information is scarce, it becomes more abundant in later centuries. Nevertheless, this very abundance is accompanied by the difficulty of discerning what...

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3046 words

Citation: Rivas, María Flores. "Pythagoras". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 March 2026 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3674, accessed 09 June 2026.]

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