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Essay on Pythagoras
Pythagoras, who was born on the Island of Samos about 580 B.C., departed the farthest of all Greek philosophers from the norm of Reason. It has been said, reproachfully, that he tried to shape philosophy to the outlines of the mystery religions. Again and again in the reading of the biography by Iamblichus, one is reminded of the typical Oriental seer, who so closely links religion and philosophy that one despairs of classifying him as a prophet in the one sphere or the other. Pythagoras is at once the most spiritual of Greek philosophers and the most philosophical of Greek religious leaders.
He took freely from the mystery faiths, and like the founders of the mysteries he organized a brotherhood of spiritual seekers. But if he inherited from Orphic doctrine, he added richly from other sources. As a young man he studied with the aged Thales of Miletus, counted first in the line of Hellenic philosophers, and with Anaximander, whose theory of the boundless or the infinite doubtless widened his mental horizon. When Pythagoras had completed his studies with the Ionian teachers, Thales insisted that he go to Egypt to learn from the priests, who "were the source of Thales' own reputation for wisdom." He is said to have spent twenty-two years with the Egyptian seers. (Jonathan Barnes, 1989)
Where else Pythagoras traveled in the search for knowledge and inspiration is not fully known. He may have gone as far as Babylon and India. When he returned to Samos he achieved fame as philosopher, scientist, and teacher, and also was renowned for his "beauty, wisdom, and divine graciousness." About the year 529 B.C. he immigrated to Crotona, one of the fairest of the Greek cities in lower Italy. There he established his school and brotherhood. From this centre Pythagoreanism spread over all the colonies as well as the states of Greece proper....
