Pythagoreanism
A philosophical and religious movement founded by Pythagoras centred on mathematics, harmony, and the soul
The Meaning of Pythagoreanism
Pythagoreanism originated in the sixth century BCE with Pythagoras of Samos, who established a secretive community in Croton, southern Italy. The movement held that number was the fundamental principle underlying all reality, and that mathematical ratios governed the harmony of the cosmos. Pythagoreans discovered that musical intervals could be expressed as simple numerical ratios, leading them to believe the entire universe was structured by mathematical harmony — an idea they called the "music of the spheres." The community followed strict rules of conduct, including vegetarianism, communal property, and periods of ritual silence. They believed in the transmigration of souls (metempsychosis), holding that the soul was immortal and passed through successive incarnations in human and animal bodies. This belief demanded ethical living to purify the soul and break the cycle of rebirth. Pythagorean ideas profoundly influenced Plato, particularly his theory of Forms and his conviction that mathematical knowledge reveals eternal truths. The movement persisted for centuries and shaped the development of Greek mathematics, astronomy, and metaphysics.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Pythagoreans reportedly refused to eat beans, possibly because they believed beans contained the souls of the dead
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Neoplatonism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A late antique philosophical system teaching that all reality emanates from a transcendent, ineffable One
Nous
💭 conceptPhilosophy and Mind
The Greek concept of pure intellect or mind, the highest faculty of the soul and the organizing principle of the cosmos.
Hermeticism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A syncretic philosophical and spiritual tradition attributed to the legendary sage Hermes Trismegistus
Metempsychosis
💭 conceptTransmigration of souls
Metempsychosis was the belief that souls transmigrate after death into new bodies — human or animal — central to Orphic and Pythagorean thought.
Epicureanism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A Hellenistic school teaching that pleasure through modesty, knowledge, and friendship is the highest good
Orphic Mysteries
💭 conceptreligion, afterlife
An initiatory religious tradition attributed to the mythical poet Orpheus, teaching reincarnation, ritual purity, and liberation of the soul through sacred texts and ascetic practices.
Palingenesia
💭 conceptphilosophy, religion
Rebirth or regeneration — the renewal of the soul through successive lives or the regeneration of the cosmos at the end of a great cycle.
Mnēmosynē
💭 conceptmythology, philosophy
Memory personified — Titaness, mother of the nine Muses, and the principle through which knowledge and identity persist across time and death.
Stoicism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A Hellenistic school teaching virtue, rational self-control, and acceptance of fate as the path to flourishing
Eros
💭 conceptThe primordial force of desire that drives all creation
In Hesiod's cosmogony, Eros was not a cherub but a primordial force — the desire that compels all things to come together and create.
Mystery Cults
💭 conceptReligion
Secret religious rites promising initiates spiritual transformation and a blessed afterlife
Republic
💭 conceptLiterature
Plato's philosophical dialogue exploring justice, the ideal state, and the nature of the soul