PYTHAGOREAN LYRE Q. 



plative views. The powers of the inind are reason , 

 and passion ; where the latter is obedient to the 

 former, virtue reigns. The mind possesses unity, j 

 harmony, and a resemblance to God. Right con- ] 

 sists in retribution. The following maxims are also 

 ascribed to him. " Youth should be habituated to j 

 obedience, for it will then find it easy to obey the 

 authority of reason. It should be trained in the 

 best course of life ; habit will soon make it the most 

 pleasant." " Silence is better than unmeaning 

 words." " The wise man should be prepared for 

 every thing that does not lio within his control." 

 " Do what you consider right : whatever the people 

 think of you, despise its censure and its praise." 

 " It is cowardly to quit the post assigned us by 

 God, before he permits us." " Strength of mind 

 rests on sobriety, for this keeps the reason unclouded 

 by passion." " No one is to be deemed free, who 

 has not perfect self-command." " Intoxication is 

 a temporary madness." " The desire for the super- 

 fluous is folly, for it has no bounds," &c. The 

 Pythagoreans recommended, especially, the virtue 

 of friendship. In it, Pythagoras requires the ab- 

 sence of all dissension, perfect confidence, aid under 

 all circumstances, and a mutual endeavour to make 

 each other perfect. To true friends every thing is 

 common. True friendship is imperishable. In per- 

 forming the usages of religion, he required piety of 

 soul. The gods are to be worshipped by symbols 

 corresponding to their nature, by simple purifica- 

 tions and offerings, and with purity of heart. An 

 oath should never be violated. The dead must 

 not be burned. Next to the gods and dasmons, the 

 highest respect belongs to parents and lawgivers. 

 The laws and customs of our country are to be 

 sacredly observed. The Pythagorean philosophy 

 had a great influence on the Platonic. In later 

 times, it was revived and intermingled with New 

 Platonism. See Geshichte der Pythagoraischen 

 Philosophic, by Ritter (Hamburg, 1826), and 

 Bokh's Disputat. de Platonico Systemate Ccelest. 

 Glob., &c. (Heidelb., 1810, 4to.) 



PYTHAGOREAN LYRE. 



PYTHAGOREAN TABLE. 



PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM 



PYTHIA,and PYTHONISSA. 



PYTHIAN GAMES ; one of the four great Gre- 

 cian games, instituted in early times, in honour of 

 Apollo, the conqueror of the Python. They were 

 celebrated in the Crissean fields near Delphi (form- 



See Py- 

 thagoras. 



See Delphi. 



erly called Pytha), at first every nine years, but af- 

 terwards, by the command of the Amphictyons, 

 every live years. Poems in honour of Apollo were 

 sung to the flute or the lyre. HIK! poets contended 

 for the prize, which was a crown of laurel or oak. 

 It is said, that in the first Pythian solemnity, the 

 gods contended, that Castor obtained the victory by 

 horse-races, Pollux at boxing, Calais at running, 

 Zetes at fighting in armour, Peleus at throwing the 

 discus, Telamon at wrestling, Hercules in the Pan- 

 cratium ; and that all of them were honoured by 

 Apollo with crowns of laurel. But others again 

 tell us, that at first there was nothing "but a musical 

 contention, in which he who sung best the praises 

 of Apollo obtained the prize, which at first was 

 either silver or gold, or something of value, but was 

 afterwards changed into a garland. 



In the third year of the 48th Olympiad flutes were 

 introduced which till that time had not been used at 

 this solemnity ; the first that won the prize was 

 Sacadas of Argos : but because they were more 

 proper for funeral songs and lamentations than the 

 merry and jocund airs at festivals, they were in a 

 short time laid aside. The Amphictyons were the 

 judges in the contests. 

 Other musical and gymn- 

 astic contests were after- 

 wards added. In later 

 times, these games were 

 celebrated in other Gre- 

 cian cities, and were kept 

 up at Delphi as late as 

 the third century A. D. 

 The Romans, are said to 

 have introduced them into 

 their city, and called them Apollinares Ludi. 

 PYTHIAS. See Damon. 



PYTHON ; a dreadful dragon, which sprang 

 from the mud left by the flood of Deucalion, and 

 dwelt near Crissa, on Parnassus, watching the future 

 oracle of Delphi. Acquainted with the future, he 

 foresaw that the son of Latona would kill him, and 

 he persecuted her with the greatest violence. 

 Apollo slew him with an arrow, the first day after 

 his birth, threw his bones into a deep chasm, pos- 

 sessed himself of the oracle, and received from this 

 circumstance the surname of Pythian, " the slayer 

 of the Python." This fable was probably meant to 

 indicate the power of the sun over the noxious va- 

 pours, remaining after a great flood. 



a. 



Q ; the seventeenth letter in the English alphabet, 

 and one of the mutes. The ancient Latins had not 

 this letter, but wrote oblicus, locuntur, not obliyuus, 

 loquuntur; and after it was introduced among the 

 Romans, it was considered by some, not as a letter, 

 but a character expressing two letters ; hence some 

 wrote qis, qceret, qid, while others preferred cuis, 

 cuairet, cuid The Greeks had not the letter. The 

 Latin q is probably borrowed from the Phoenician 

 and Hebrew j; (koph). It has been considered by 

 many grammarians, who have treated of different 

 languages, as a superfluous character; and in French 

 and Spanish, which have no k, it has been retained 

 in the alphabet only to express this sound. The 

 Spaniards now write cuanto, not quanta but have 



retained the q in que an jw, pronounced ke and 

 ki ; qite and gilt are now written cite and cut. In 

 the articles on the letters G, H and K, we have 

 touched upon the near affinity of the aspirate and 

 guttural sounds. The sound of qu is that of the 

 guttural k, with the breathing sound of v, or the 

 German w ; and as the aspirate h (see H) is often 

 put before words merely as an addition, so also is 

 this stronger (guttural) sound q. For instance, we 

 find in Ulphilas quivan (to live), the Latin vivere; 

 the German Qualm (smoke) is in Dutch walm. It 

 is not improbable, that in various words the sound 

 qu has been changed into the sounds to or v ; thus 

 Adelung says, that the Latin qiialis and the German 

 welcher ; quis, yuem, guod and the German wer, 



