P Y T 



P Y T 



contains fpheres, whicli revolve witli mufical harmony. 

 The atmofpherc of the earth is a grofs, immutable, and 

 morbid mafs ; but the air, or ether, which ("urrouiids it is 

 pure, healthful, ferene, perpetually moving, the region of 

 all divine and immortal natures. The fun, moon, and ftars, 

 are inhabited by portioiis of the divinity, or gods. The 

 fun is a fpherical body. Its cclipfes are caufed by the 

 paffing of the moon between it and the earth ; thofe of the 

 moon by the intervention of the antlcbll)on, before explained. 

 The moon is inhabited by daemons. Comets are ftars, 

 which are not always feen, but rife at Itated periods. 



Concerning man, the Pythagoreans taught, that, con- 

 fifting of an elementary nature, and a divine or rational 

 principle, he is a microcofm, or compendium of the uni- 

 verfe ; that his foul is a felf-moving principle, compofcd of 

 two parts, the ititlonal, which is a portion of the foul of the 

 world, feated in the brain, and the irrational, which in- 

 cludes the paffions, and is feated in the heart ; that man 

 participates in both thefe with the brutes, which, from the 

 temperament of their body, and their want of the power of 

 fpeech, are incapable of a(iting rationally ; that the fenfitive 

 foul, hvjj-t,-, perilhes, but the rational mind, C^v.; is im- 

 mortal, becaufe the fource whence it is derived is immortal ; 

 that after the rational mind is freed from the chains of the 

 body, it affumes an ethereal vehicle, and pades into the 

 regions of the dead, where it remains till it is fent back to 

 this world, to be the inhabitant of fome other body, brutal 

 or human ; and that after fuffering fucceffive purgations, 

 when it is fufficiently purified, it is received among the 

 gods, and returns to the eternal fource from which it firft 

 proceeded. 



The doftrine of the Pythagoreans, refpefting the nature 

 of brute animals, and i-nTiiJi-if\jxi<r\;, the trnnfm'tgvation of 

 fouls, were the foundation of their abftinence from animal 

 food, and of the exclufion of animal facnfices from their 

 religious ceremonies. The latter doftrine is thus beauti- 

 fully reprefented by Ovid, who introduces Pythagoras as 

 faying : 



" Morte carent animx : femperque priore relifta 

 Sede, novis domibus habitant, vivuntque receptie. 

 Omnia mutantur ; nihil interit ; errat et ilHnc, 

 Hue venit, hinc illuc, et quoflibet occupet artus 

 Spiritus, eque ferio humana in corpora tranfit, 

 Inque *"eras nofter : nee tempore dcperit uUo, 

 Utque novis fragilis fignatur cera figuris. 

 Nee manet ut fuerat, nee formas fervat eafdem, 

 Sed tam/n ipfa eadem eft, animam fic femper eandem, 

 Effe, fed in varias doceo migrare figuras." 



" What then is death, but ancient matter drell 

 In fome new figure, and a varied veft : 

 Thus all things are but alter'd, nothing dies ; 

 And here and there th" unbodied fpirit flies, 

 By time, or force, or ficknefs difpoflefs'd. 

 And lodges where it lights, in man or beail: ; 

 Or hunts without, till ready limbs it find. 

 And actuates thofe according to their kind ; 

 From tenement to tenement is toft. 

 The foul is ftill the fame, the figure only loft : 

 And as the foften'd wax new feals receives. 

 This face alluir.es, and that impreflion leaves ; 

 Now call'd by one, now by another name. 

 The form is only chang'd, the wax is flill the fame ; 

 So death, thus call'd, can but the form deface, T 

 Th' immortal foul flies out in empty fpace, > 



To feek her fortune in fome other place." J 



Dhyden 



This doArine Pythagoras probably learned m Egypt, 

 where it was commonly taught. Nor is there any fufficient 

 i-eafon for underftanding it, as fome have done, fym- 

 bolically. 



Among the f)TTibols of Pythagoras, recited by Jam- 

 blichus and others, are the following : Adore the found of 

 the whifpering wind. Stir not the fire with a fword. 

 Turn afide from an edged tool. Pafs not over a balance. 

 Setting out on a journey, turn not back, for the furies will 

 return with you. Breed nothing that hath crooked talons. 

 Receive not a fwallow into your lioufe. Look not in a 

 mirror by the liglit of a candle. At a facrificc, pare not 

 your nails. Eat not the heart, or brain. Tafte not that 

 which hath fallen from the table. Break not bread. Sleep 

 not at noon. When it thunders, touch the earth. Pluck 

 not a crown. Roaft not that which has been boiled. Sail 

 not on the ground. Plant not a palm. Breed a cock, but 

 do not facrifice it, for it is facred to the fun and moon. 

 Plant mallows in thy garden, but eat them not. Abftaii. 

 from beans. 



The precept prohibiting the ufe of beans, is one of the 

 myfteries which the ancient Pythagoreans never difclofcd, 

 and which modern ingenuity has in vain attempted to dif- 

 cover. Its meaning was probably rather dietetic, than 

 phyfical, or moral. But enough of thefe enigmatical 

 trifles. Pythagorean precepts of more value are fuch as 

 thefe : Difcourfe not of Pythagorean dottrines without 

 light. Above all things govern your tongue. Engrave 

 not the image of God in a ring. Quit not your ftation 

 without the command of your general. Remember that 

 the paths of virtue and of vice refemble the letter Y. To 

 this fymbol Perfius refers, when he fays, 



" Et tibi qua Samios diduxit litera ramos, 

 Surgentem dextro monftravit limite coUem." 



" There has the Samian Y's inftruftive make 

 Pointed the road thy doubtful foot (hould take ; 

 There warn'd thy raw and yet unpraftis'd youth, 

 To tread the rifing right-hand path of truth." 



Brucker's Hift. Philof. by Enfield, vol. i. b. 2. c. 12. 



After the death of Pythagoras, the care and education 

 of his children, and the charge of his fchool, devolved upon 

 Ariftasus of Crotonia, who, having taught the doftrine of 

 Pythagoras 39 years, was fucceeded by Mnefarchus, the 

 fon of Pythagoras. Pythagorean fchools were afterwards 

 condutled in Heraclia by Clinias and Philolaus ; at Meta- 

 pontum by Theorides and Eurytus ; and at Tarentum by 

 Archytas, who is faid to have been the eighth in fucceflioa 

 from Pythagoras. The firft perfon who divulged the Pytha- 

 gorean doftrine was Philolaus ; fee his article. 



PYTHAGORIC Abacilv. See Abacus and Table. 



Pythagoric Se8, or Italic School. See Pythago- 

 reans. 



Pytiiagoric TetraHys. See Tetractys. 



Pytiiagoric Theorem, or Propofttlon, is the 47th of the 

 firft book of Euclid. See Triangle and Hvi'othe- 



NUSE. 



PYTHEAS, in Biography, an ancient mathematician, 

 aftronomer, and geographer, was a native of the Greek 

 colony of Marfeilles, in Gaul, and flouriflied m the time of 

 Ariftotle and Alexander the Great. He contributed to 

 the improvement ®f fcience by accounts which he wrote of 

 his travels and voyages, and other works. To him is at- 

 tributed a book, entitled yr,; ^.^lijc., or the circuit of the 

 earth ; and in the abridgement of Artcmidorus the Ephefian, 

 he is placed in the number of thofe v.ho have written a 



" Periplu? 



