.328 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XV. 



been the case with Pythagoras. But the reluctance 

 of the Egyptians, particularly in the time of the 

 Pharaohs, to admit strangers to these holy secrets, 

 probably rendered his trial more severe even than 

 that to which the Egyptians themselves were sub- 

 jected ; and it appears that, notwithstanding the 

 earnest request made by Polycrates to Amasis to 

 obtain this favour for the philosopher, many diffi- 

 culties were thrown in the way by the priests, on 

 his arrival in Egypt. Those of Heliopolis *, to whom 

 he first presented the letters given him by Amasis, 

 referred him to the college of Memphis, under 

 the pretext of their seniority ; and these again, on 

 the same plea, recommended him to the priests of 

 Thebes. Respect for the king forbade them to give 

 a direct refusal ; but they hoped, says Porphyry, 

 to alarm him by representing the arduous task he 

 had to perform, and the repugnance of the previous 

 ceremonies to the feelings of the Greeks. It was 

 not, therefore, without surprise that they beheld 

 his willingness to submit to the trials they prOr 

 posed ; for though many foreigners were, in after 

 times, admitted to the mysteries of Egypt, few 

 had then obtained the indulgence, except Thales 

 and Eumol])us. This prejudice of the Egyptians 

 against the Greeks is perfectly consistent with the 

 statement of Herodotus ; and is shown by other 

 writers to have continued even after the accession 

 of the Ptolemies and tlie Roman conquest. 



" The garments t of those initiated into the 



* ror|)I)yi'. tie Vittl Pythag. f Potter, p. 45^. 



