Who was Pythagoras and what did he actually discover?

Pythagoras of Samos was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and founder of Pythagoreanism who lived from around 570 to 495 BC. While antiquity credited him with major mathematical and scientific breakthroughs like the Pythagorean theorem and planetary ratios, modern historians debate whether he made these discoveries himself or if they came from his colleagues and successors. His most securely identified teaching is the transmigration of souls, and his philosophical traditions deeply influenced Plato, Aristotle, and later Western science.

What we know

• Pythagoras founded a school in Croton in southern Italy around 530 BC where initiates lived a communal, ascetic lifestyle. [2, 3]
• Antiquity credited Pythagoras with discoveries including the Pythagorean theorem, Pythagorean tuning, the five regular solids, and the sphericity of the Earth. [2]
• The teaching most securely identified with Pythagoras is the transmigration of souls, or metempsychosis, which holds that every soul is immortal. [2]
• Following political conflicts with supporters of democracy around 510 BC, Pythagoras's meeting houses were burned and he may have been killed or escaped to Metapontum. [2] · medium confidence

Still open

• Historians debate whether Pythagoras actually made the mathematical and scientific discoveries credited to him, or if they originated earlier or came from colleagues such as Hippasus and Philolaus.
• Modern scholars disagree regarding Pythagoras's specific education and external influences.

Where to go next

• what followedHow did Pythagoreanism shape Western philosophy through Plato?
• a case in pointWhat was life like inside the ancient community at Croton?
• whoWho were Hippasus and Philolaus?
• whereWhere did Pythagoreanism spread after leaving Italy?
• how we knowWhat are the Golden Verses of Pythagoras?
• an unexpected connectionHow did ancient Pythagorean teachings inspire the modern vegetarian movement?The portrayal of Pythagoras's teachings regarding the transmigration of souls in Ovid's Metamorphoses directly influenced the development of the modern vegetarian movement centuries later.

Sources

• [1]Pythagoras (Wikidata Q10261) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Pythagoras · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Pythagoreanism · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Golden Verses · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]School of Pythagoras · CC BY-SA 4.0