Pythagoras: His Life and Teaching, a Compendium of Classical Sources Read online

  Pythagoras

  His Life and Teachings

  A COMPENDIUM OF CLASSICAL SOURCES

  Thomas Stanley

  (From the 1687 edition of The History of Philosophy)

  Preface by

  MANLY P. HALL

  Introduction by

  HENRY L. DRAKE

  Edited by

  JAMES WASSERMAN

  With a Study of Greek and Latin Sources by

  J. DANIEL GUNTHER

  IBIS PRESS

  Lake Worth, FL

  Published in 2010 by Ibis Press

  An imprint of Nicolas-Hays, Inc.

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  All rights reserved.

  The main text of this book was written by Thomas Stanley

  and first published in 1687 in The History of Philosophy.

  This modernized and expanded edition copyright © 2010 by James Wasserman

  Preface by Manly P. Hall copyright © Philosophical Research Society.

  Introduction by Dr. Henry L. Drake copyright © Philosophical Research Society.

  Study of Greek and Latin Sources and all critical Greek and Latin materials

  in the footnotes copyright © 2010 by J. Daniel Gunther.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Nicolas-Hays, Inc. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

  First Edition 2010

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Stanley, Thomas, 1625-1678.

  Pythagoras : his life and teachings : a compendium of classical sources / by Thomas Stanley ; preface by Manly P. Hall ; introduction by Henry L. Drake; edited by James Wasserman ; with a study of Greek and Latin sources by J. Daniel Gunther.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references.

  ISBN 978-0-89254-160-7 (alk. paper)

  1. Pythagoras and Pythagorean school. I. Wasserman, James, 1948– II. Title.

  B243.S67 2010

  182'.2-dc22

  2010000399

  ISBN 978-0-89254-160-7

  Cover painting by Longhi, Pietro (1702-1785)

  Photo Credit : Cameraphoto Arte, Venice / Art Resource, NY

  Book design and production by Studio 31

  www.studio31.com

  Manufactured in the USA

  CONTENTS

  Foreword by James Wasserman and J. Daniel Gunther

  Preface by Manly P. Hall

  Introduction by Dr. Henry L. Drake

  PART ONE: THE LIFE OF PYTHAGORAS

  1. The Country, Parents, and Time of Pythagoras

  2. His First Education and Masters

  3. How He Traveled to Phoenicia

  4. How He Traveled to Egypt

  5. How He Went to Babylon

  6. How He Returned to Samos

  7. Travels to Delos, Delphi, Crete, and Sparta

  8. How He Went to Olympia and Phlius

  9. How He Lived at Samos

  10. His Voyage to Italy

  11. His Arrival at Crotona

  12. His Oration to the Young Men

  13. His Oration to the Senators

  14. His Oration to the Boys

  15. His Oration to the Women

  16. His Institution of a Sect in Private and Public

  17. His Authority in Civil Affairs

  18. Wonders Related of Him

  19. His Death

  20. His Person and Virtues

  21. His Wife, Children, and Servants

  22. His Writings

  23. His Disciples

  24. The Succession of His School

  PART TWO: DISCIPLINES AND DOCTRINES OF THE PYTHAGOREANS

  1. The Great Authority and Esteem of Pythagoras

  2. The Two Sorts of Auditors

  3. Purificative Institution by Sufferings

  4. Silence

  5. Abstinence, Temperance, and Other Ways of Purification

  6. Community of Estates

  7. Admission or Rejection

  8. Distinction

  9. How They Disposed the Day

  10. How They Examined Their Actions

  11. Secrecy

  PART THREE: THE DOCTRINE OF PYTHAGORAS

  Section I. Mathematical Sciences

  The Mathematical Sciences Preparative to Philosophy

  Arithmetic

  1. Number Its Kinds: Intellectual

  2. The Other Kind of Number: Sciential

  3. The Two Kinds of Sciential Number

  4. Symbolic Numbers

  5. The Monad

  6. The Duad

  7. The Triad

  8. The Tetrad

  9. The Pentad

  10. The Hexad

  11. The Heptad

  12. The Ogdoad

  13. The Ennead

  14. The Decad

  15. Divination by Numbers

  Music

  1. Voice, Its Kinds

  2. First Music in the Planets

  3. The Octochord

  4. The Arithmetical Proportions of Harmony

  5. The Division of the Diapason

  6. The Cannon of the Monochord

  7. Institution by Music

  8. Medicine by Music

  Geometry

  1. Of a Point, Line, Superficies and Solid

  2. Propositions

  3. How He Determined the Stature of Hercules

  Astronomy

  1. The System of the Spheres

  2. The Motions of the Planets

  3. The Intervals and Harmony of the Spheres

  4. Of the Planet Venus

  Section II: Philosophy

  Philosophy: Its Name, Definition, Parts, Method

  Practical Philosophy: Its Parts; and First of Education

  1. Institution, Silence, Abstinence

  2. Fortitude

  3. Temperance and Continence

  4. Sagacity and Wisdom

  Of Politics: The Other Part of Practical Philosophy

  1. Common Conversation

  2. Friendship

  3. Worship of the Gods

  4. Piety to the Dead

  5. Reverence of Parents, and Obedience to the Law

  6. Lawmaking

  Theoretical Philosophy: Its Parts

  1. Of the Supreme God

  2. Of Gods, Daemons, Heroes

  3. Of Fate and Fortune

  4. Divination

  Physic

  1. Principles

  2. Of the World

  3. Of the Superior or Aetherial Parts of the World

  Of the Sublunary Parts of the World

  1. Of Living, and Animate Creatures

  2. Of the Generation of Animate Creatures

  3. The Soul: Its Parts, and First of the Irrational Part

  4. Of the Rational Part of the Soul: The Mind

  5. Of the Transmigration of the Soul

  6. The Separate Life of the Soul

  Medicine

  1. Dietetics

  2. Therapeutic

  Section III. Symbols

  1. Pythagoras: His Symbolic Way of Teaching
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  2. The Symbols of Pythagoras According to Iamblichus

  3. Explication of the Pythagorean Symbols by Iamblichus

  4. The Same Symbols Explained by Others

  5. Other Symbols

  6. The Golden Verses of Pythagoras

  PART FOUR: PYTHAGOREAN COMMENTATORS

  Of the Soul of the World by Timaeus the Locrian

  The Doctrine of Pythagoras by John Reuchlin

  1. Of Pythagoras: His Way of Teaching,

  2. The Triple Word

  3. The Supreme World

  4. The Intelligible World

  5. The Sensible World

  6. The State of the Soul after Death

  7. Of the Pythagorean Transmigration

  Glossary

  Endnotes

  Additional Notes to the Text by J. Daniel Gunther

  Bibliography

  FOREWORD

  JAMES WASSERMAN AND J. DANIEL GUNTHER

  The book you are holding is the work of Thomas Stanley (1625-1678), as published in 1687. It consists of the long section he devoted to Pythagoras in his masterful and massive tome The History of Philosophy. The timeless brilliance of Stanley's work is that it presented a survey of the classical writers of antiquity that remains as contemporary today as it was over three hundred years ago.

  A biographical sketch of the author is given by Manly Palmer Hall in the Preface, along with a profound overview of Pythagorean philosophy by Dr. Henry L. Drake in the Introduction. Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) founded the Philosophical Research Society in 1934. He was a prolific author and lecturer, and remains a primary exponent of the Mystery Traditions in Western culture, especially because of his inspiring and comprehensive magnum opus, The Secret Teachings of All Ages. Dr. Drake (1906-1978), a close and loyal friend of Mr. Hall, served as vice-president of the Society for nearly three decades, in addition to editing a collection of Plato's complete works. In 1970, the Philosophical Research Society produced a facsimile edition of Stanley's work on Pythagoras in a limited printing of 2000 copies. The Society has kindly allowed us to include Mr. Hall's Preface and Dr. Drake's Introduction to that facsimile. Our thanks to Paul Austad and the members of the Copyright Committee for their generosity.

  We have reset the text from the 1687 edition of The History of Philosophy to make it more accessible to the modern reader. We have generally regularized spelling, replaced obsolete words that may not be found in a modern dictionary, and used contemporary conventions of punctuation. At the same time, we have endeavored to leave as much of Stanley's expression intact as possible. The reader will do well to allow the archaic tone of the language to become both familiar and pleasant; its pacing seems to call forth a contemplative state of mind. The editing has been done “silently” because of the extent of the work involved. Here is a representative sample of the original book that you may compare with the typeset text on page 122. Thanks to Yvonne Weiser of Ibis Press for helping to define and clarify this task, thereby making it possible.

  We have also attempted to correct and contextualize the extensive Greek language references throughout the text. Thomas Stanley wrote at a time when it was expected that the average reader had been schooled in Latin and Greek, with a well-rounded knowledge of the classics. Not surprisingly therefore, he made numerous references in Greek; often just a single word for clarification; at other times, phrases and sentences with only brief abbreviations noting the source. To complicate matters, the Greek typeface of Stanley's day was quite different from that employed today, as may be seen from the sample page provided. It was a florid script that incorporated a number of “abbreviations” representing various letter combinations that could potentially increment the standard Greek alphabet set by a great many additional characters. These characters are no longer used today, and to a student accustomed only to modern Greek typefaces, even though such texts are visually striking, they are virtually unreadable.

  The initial task was to regularize the Greek references to the convention of a modern Greek typeface in order to make them accessible. Each quotation was then verified with the source document in Greek. Even so, it quickly became apparent that Stanley's copious references would present an enormous challenge to the reader without some sense of context. His knowledge was encyclopedic, encompassing not only the masters of Greek philosophy, mathematics, music, poetry, geography and history, but the Patristic literature as well. Therefore, many of these references are discussed in the annotated appendix with additional material incorporated to clarify the meaning or context of the original quote. A complete bibliography has been included, detailing all the reference works utilized.

  We have included a small Glossary with a number of terms, especially those from musical theory which may be unfamiliar to the non-technical reader. In such cases, the first occurrence of the word is presented in bold type to indicate that it may be found in the Glossary. Certain other words are included as well for the reader's convenience. Comments in editorial brackets are ours, while those in parenthesis are by Stanley. We have tried to retain as much of Stanley's original organization of the text as practical. Because of the large number of chapters and various divisions of his original, we have decided to number the extensive endnotes sequentially for clarity. While we have spared no effort in trying to understand and clarify as much of the text as possible, some of Stanley's original work was not clear to either of us.

  For the reader in search of the next step in the study of Pythagoras, we recommend two books from Phanes Press: The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library, compiled and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, edited and introduced by David Fideler. It includes many of the texts to which Stanley refers. The Manual of Harmonics of Nicomachus the Pythagorean, translation and commentary by Flora R. Levin, will help to clarify the complex musical material Stanley presents.

  This project would not have been possible without the diligent efforts of Wileda Wasserman, who meticulously and painstakingly typed the manuscript from which all further production advanced. Nicole Laliberte cheerfully persisted through untold hours of out-loud proofreading sessions to insure the most accurate reconstruction of Stanley's text. Thanks to Julia and Daniel Pineda for their help in proofreading the finished manuscript, to Mike Estell for his assistance with Greek and Latin sources, and to Dennis Deem for communicating the principles of geometric drawing so many years ago. Special thanks to David L. Vagi, author of Coinage and History of the Roman Empire, for sourcing photos and writing captions for the ancient Greek coins that grace these pages, and for his help with the map (whose place names, for the most part, reflect Stanley's spelling). Thanks also to Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. and Numismatica Ars Classica for permission to reproduce their images of the coins.

  Walking in the company of such giants as Pythagoras, Thomas Stanley, Manly Hall, and Henry Drake has been a great honor for both of us.

  PREFACE

  MANLY P. HALL

  It is now generally acknowledged that Thomas Stanley was the first English historian of philosophy. He had an orderly but versatile mind and gained distinction during his own lifetime, as a poet and a translator of poetical works. His father Sir Thomas Stanley was the author of some prose and poetical fragments, but never attained the recognition that came to his illustrious son.

  The Thomas Stanley, with whom we are directly concerned, was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1625. His early education was under the personal direction of William Fairfax, son of the translator of Tasso, the 16th century Italian poet. While still young, Stanley became a good classical scholar, with fluency in French, Italian and Spanish languages.

  When Stanley went to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, Fairfax accompanied him. Stanley graduated from Cambridge with the degree of Master of Arts in 1641, and took up residence in the Middle Temple, where he combined the practice of law with his studies of philosophy and the classics, and the composition of poetry. During the Civil War he apparently considered it discreet to travel on the continent, where he devoted hims
elf principally to his literary projects. Stanley died in London on April 12, 1678.

  If it seems extraordinary that Thomas Stanley could have studied in both Cambridge and Oxford and graduated at the age of sixteen, it should be noted that he entered Cambridge in his fourteenth year, apparently having received most of his fundamental education by private tutoring. Actually, he issued the first volume of The History of Philosophy in 1655, when he was only thirty years old. The engraved frontispiece [reproduced here on page 17] shows Stanley as a young and handsome man, with long hair hanging on his shoulders. His son of the same name was also educated at Pembroke Hall and at the age of fourteen made a translation of Aelian's Various Histories, which passed through three editions.

  The History of Philosophy was issued in sections between 1655 and 1662. It was reprinted complete in one large folio volume in 1687, and this is referred to as the second edition. There was a third edition in 1700, and a fourth (which included a life of the author) in 1743. Parts of the work were translated into Latin and French. The present text was taken from the edition of 1687. At the beginning of the section devoted to Pythagoras is an engraved portrait of the philosopher. [See frontispiece.]

  Stanley's account of the Italic Sect is compiled from most records preserved by ancient authors and draws heavily upon the historical writings of Diogenes Laertius, who flourished in the 3rd century A.D. Stanley's account of the Pythagorian system is quite extensive, covering nearly one hundred double column pages, in folio. It is divided into convenient headings under which related material is organized in proper sequence. Very little of basic importance can be added to Stanley's compilation, and writings on Pythagoras are few and for the most part difficult to secure.

  In order to make Stanley's text available at a time when there is considerable demand for authentic information on the Pythagorian philosophy, it seems desirable that Stanley's contribution should be republished. The earlier editions, though not listed as great rarities, are extremely difficult to find, and demand has long exceeded the supply.

  There are other books which are useful to the study of the Pythagorean philosophy. One of these is the Theoretic Arithmetic, compiled by Thomas Taylor. On the title page of this volume, Taylor describes his book as “Containing the substance of all that has been written on this subject by Theo of Smyrna, Nicomachus, lamblichus, and Boetius.” Only one hundred copies of this book were issued in London in 1816. It is so rare that I reprinted the volume in 1934, and this reprint is also long out of print. Taylor also translated the Life of Pythagoras by lamblichus. This first appeared in London in 1818 and there have been several reprints.