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Pythagoras
by
They also offered to pay Pythagoras–that is, put him on the payroll as a public teacher–but he declined to accept money for his services. In this, Iamblichus says, he was very wise, since by declining a fixed fee, ten times as much was laid upon the altar of the Temple of the Muses, and not knowing to whom to return it, Pythagoras was obliged to keep it for himself and the poor.
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Churchmen of the Middle Ages worked the memory of Pythagoras great injustice by quoting him literally in order to prove how much they were beyond him. Symbols and epigrams require a sympathetic hearer, otherwise they are as naught.
For instance, Pythagoras remarks, “Sit thou not down upon a bushel measure.” What he probably meant was, get busy and fill the measure with grain rather than use it for a seat.
“Eat not the heart”–do not act so as to harrow the feelings of your friends, and do not be morbid.
“Never stir the fire with a sword”–do not inflame people who are wrathful.
“Wear not the image of God upon your jewelry”–do not make religion a proud or boastful thing.
“Help men to a burden, but never unburden them.” This saying was used by Saint Francis to prove that the pagan philosophers had no tenderness, and that the humanities came at a later date. We can now easily understand that to relieve men of responsibilities is no help; rather do we grow strong by carrying burdens.
“Leave not the mark of the pot upon the ashes”–wipe out the past, forget it, look to the future.
“Feed no animal that has crooked claws”–do not encourage rogues by supplying them a living.
“Eat no fish whose fins are black”–have nothing to do with men whose deeds are dark.
“Always have salt upon your table”–this seems the original of “cum grano salis” of the Romans.
“Leave the vinegar at a distance”–keep sweet.
“Speak not in the face of the sun”–even Erasmus thought this referred to magic. To us it is quite reasonable to suppose that it meant, “do not talk too much in public places.”
“Pick not up what falls from the table”–Plutarch calls this superstition, but we can just as easily suppose it was out of consideration for cats, dogs or hungry men. The Bible has a command against gleaning too closely, and leaving nothing for the traveler.
“When making sacrifice, never pare your nails”–that is to say, do one thing at a time: wind not the clock at an inopportune time.
“Eat not in the chariot”–when you travel, travel.
“Feed not yourself with your left hand”–get your living openly and avoid all left-handed dealings.
And so there are hundreds of these Pythagorean sayings that have vexed our classic friends for over two thousand years. All Greek scholars who really pride themselves on their scholarship have taken a hand at them, and agitated the ether just as the members of the Kokomo Woman’s Club discuss obscure passages in Bliss Carman or Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Learned people are apt to comprehend anything but the obvious.
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The School of Pythagoras grew until it became the chief attraction of Crotona. The size of the town was doubled through the pilgrims who came to study music, mathematics, medicine, ethics and the science of government.
The Pythagorean plan of treating the sick by music was long considered as mere incantation, but there is a suspicion now that it was actual science. Once there was a man who rode a hobby all his life; and long after he was dead, folks discovered it was a real live horse and had carried the man long miles.
Pythagoras reduced the musical scale to a mathematical science. In astronomy he anticipated Copernicus, and indeed, it was cited as the chief offense of Copernicus that he had borrowed from a pagan. Copernicus, it seems, set the merry churchmen digging into Greek literature to find out just how bad Pythagoras was. This did the churchmen good, but did not help the cause of Copernicus.