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Surrealism came a couple of decades later than Cubism and Orphism. Surrealism was not influenced by those two movements.
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Cubism, Orphism, Mondrian's Neo-Plasticism.
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She did a lot of Abstract work using circles and geometric shapes. I think they may have even called it Orphism.
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Robert Delaunay was inspired by artists such as Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne, and Paul Signac. He was also influenced by his wife, Sonia Delaunay, who was a prominent artist in her own right and collaborated with him on various projects. Additionally, Delaunay's interest in color theory and the study of light and movement in art influenced his distinctive style known as Orphism.
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 7 words with the pattern O--HI--. That is, seven letter words with 1st letter O and 4th letter H and 5th letter I. In alphabetical order, they are:
orchids
orchils
orphism
orthian
ouching
outhire
outhits
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 8 words with the pattern --PHI--. That is, seven letter words with 3rd letter P and 4th letter H and 5th letter I. In alphabetical order, they are:
kephirs
orphism
paphian
raphias
raphide
sophies
sophism
sophist
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 1 words with the pattern ORP-I--. That is, seven letter words with 1st letter O and 2nd letter R and 3rd letter P and 5th letter I. In alphabetical order, they are:
orphism
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 7 words with the pattern OR---S-. That is, seven letter words with 1st letter O and 2nd letter R and 6th letter S. In alphabetical order, they are:
oralism
oralist
orbiest
orbless
orgiast
oropesa
orphism
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 4 words with the pattern OR-HI--. That is, seven letter words with 1st letter O and 2nd letter R and 4th letter H and 5th letter I. In alphabetical order, they are:
orchids
orchils
orphism
orthian
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 1 words with the pattern O-PH-S-. That is, seven letter words with 1st letter O and 3rd letter P and 4th letter H and 6th letter S. In alphabetical order, they are:
orphism
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 2 words with the pattern --PH-SM. That is, seven letter words with 3rd letter P and 4th letter H and 6th letter S and 7th letter M. In alphabetical order, they are:
orphism
sophism
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 9 words with the pattern -R---SM. That is, seven letter words with 2nd letter R and 6th letter S and 7th letter M. In alphabetical order, they are:
bromism
brutism
bruxism
cretism
erotism
oralism
orphism
tropism
uranism
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 1 words with the pattern ORPH--M. That is, seven letter words with 1st letter O and 2nd letter R and 3rd letter P and 4th letter H and 7th letter M. In alphabetical order, they are:
orphism
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 19 words with the pattern -R--I-M. That is, seven letter words with 2nd letter R and 5th letter I and 7th letter M. In alphabetical order, they are:
bromism
brutism
bruxism
cranium
cretism
erodium
erotism
iridium
oralism
orarium
orphism
premium
protium
tritium
trivium
tropism
uranism
uranium
uredium
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 34 words with the pattern -R--IS-. That is, seven letter words with 2nd letter R and 5th letter I and 6th letter S. In alphabetical order, they are:
arabise
brinish
bromise
bromism
brutish
brutism
bruxism
cretism
cronish
dronish
erotise
erotism
grayish
grecise
greyish
iridise
ironise
ironist
oralism
oralist
orphism
precise
premise
premiss
previse
promise
protist
proviso
prudish
trenise
treviss
tropism
tropist
uranism
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yes he was al egendary Greek poet and hero. The son of Apollo and the muse Calliope, Orpheus was a great musician, his playing moved not only animals and plants but even rocks and the elements. When his wife Eurydice died of a snake bite, Orpheus descended to the underworld, where his lyre'drew iron tears'from Hades, god of death. His wife was delivered up to him, but according to one legend he lost her again. His grief for Eurydice led him to despise other women, who in revenge tore him to pieces under the excitement of their Dionysiac orgies. The doctrines of Orphism, a Greek 'mystery' cult, were derived from poems attributed to Orpheus.
3 answers
According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 70 words with the pattern O----S-. That is, seven letter words with 1st letter O and 6th letter S. In alphabetical order, they are:
oakiest
oakmoss
oarfish
oariest
oarless
obelise
obelisk
obelism
obesest
obverse
oculist
odalisk
oddness
odorise
odylism
offcast
offense
ogreish
ogreism
oiliest
oldness
oligist
ologist
oloroso
onanism
onanist
oneness
onliest
oofiest
ooftish
ooriest
oosiest
ooziest
openest
operose
oppress
oquassa
oralism
oralist
orbiest
orbless
orgiast
oropesa
orphism
otocyst
ouldest
ouriest
outcast
outfast
outfish
outgush
outjest
outkiss
outlash
outlast
outmost
outness
outpass
outpost
outpush
outrush
outtask
outwash
outwish
overuse
owliest
owriest
oxidase
oxidise
ozonise
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 85 words with the pattern -R---S-. That is, seven letter words with 2nd letter R and 6th letter S. In alphabetical order, they are:
arabesk
arabise
arblast
archest
arenose
aridest
armless
armrest
arsiest
artiest
artless
braless
bravest
brawest
brinish
bromise
bromism
brutish
brutism
bruxism
cramesy
cretism
crinose
cronish
crudest
drolest
dronish
dryness
erotise
erotism
gramash
gravest
grayest
grayish
grecise
greyest
greyish
grumose
iratest
ireless
iridise
ironise
ironist
oralism
oralist
orbiest
orbless
orgiast
oropesa
orphism
preasse
precast
precess
precise
predusk
premise
premiss
prepose
pretest
previse
prewash
process
profess
profuse
promise
pronest
propose
protest
protist
proviso
provost
prowess
prowest
prudish
traipse
trenise
treviss
tricksy
tritest
tropism
tropist
uranism
uricase
urinose
wryness
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The modern world owes so much to the early Greeks that it is difficult to describe more than one or two issues in any depth. One of the key areas where Greek philosophy has influenced Western ideas is in religion, and one of the most strongly contested is the meaning of the human soul. When science and philosophy started to grow in Greece, many different ideas about souls developed: Thales, the founder of Greek philosophy, believed that any object that moved itself under its own power showed evidence that it had a soul.Democritus, who introduced the idea of atoms, proposed that the soul is made of very mobile spherical atoms.Others thought that the soul was a gas or liquid. The weakness of these early attempts to explain the soul in natural terms allowed more spiritual explanations to be proposed: The early Greek cult of Orphism taught that a person is a combination of a soul of divine origin and a body of a much lower nature.During the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, Socrates greatly increased the importance of the soul by treating it, rather than the body, as the real personPlato, possibly influenced by Orphism and Pythagoras, maintained that the soul is spiritual, immortal, and has no parts. He believed the soul is the source of one's mental activities and that it causes the body's movements. He regarded the soul as superior to the body and the most important part of a person. His ideas about the soul had a great influence on early Christian theologians.For Aristotle, body and soul are more of a unity. Christianity has long debated the nature of humanity and the relationship of body and soul. This debate has been strongly influenced by the Greek philosophers, particularly Plato and Aristotle. Augustine, one of the most influential Christian theologians, was strongly affected by Plato's ideas on the soul. But, around the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas adopted Aristotle's ideas and introduced a more unified picture of body and soul, rather than the easily separable body and soul advocated by Augustine and Plato. Then, In the seventeenth century René Descartes shifted church thinking back towards Plato's position of a dual human nature. It is the Descartes model that most now associate with the human body-soul relationship.
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 106 words with the pattern ----ISM. That is, seven letter words with 5th letter I and 6th letter S and 7th letter M. In alphabetical order, they are:
ableism
amorism
animism
asteism
atavism
atheism
atomism
baalism
babuism
baptism
bardism
biprism
bogyism
bossism
bromism
brutism
bruxism
cambism
charism
chemism
chorism
cladism
clonism
copyism
cosmism
cretism
cultism
czarism
dadaism
diorism
dodoism
donnism
dualism
echoism
egotism
elitism
entrism
epicism
erotism
etacism
etatism
exotism
faddism
falsism
fascism
fattism
fauvism
fideism
fogyism
foodism
guruism
handism
heroism
heurism
hoboism
idolism
imagism
itacism
jujuism
karaism
ladyism
laicism
leftism
leggism
lionism
locoism
lookism
maidism
mobbism
myalism
mythism
narcism
neurism
obelism
odylism
ogreism
onanism
oralism
orphism
peonism
phaeism
phobism
photism
pianism
pietism
plenism
rankism
realism
selfism
sensism
sizeism
slumism
sophism
statism
tachism
tactism
tourism
tropism
tsarism
tychism
tzarism
uranism
utopism
wholism
yobbism
zanyism
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World's religionsBaha'i Faith
Buddhism
Christianity;
Christian groups, denominations and families (Amish to The Way)
Confucianism [Actually, this religion has no formal symbol. But this one is sometimes used unofficially]
Hinduism
Islam
Jainism
Judaism
Shinto
Sikhism
Taoism
Vodun (Voodoo)
5 answers
According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 141 words with the pattern O---I--. That is, seven letter words with 1st letter O and 5th letter I. In alphabetical order, they are:
oaklike
oakling
oarfish
oarlike
oatlike
obelias
obelion
obelise
obelisk
obelism
obelize
obesity
obeying
obtains
ocarina
ochring
oculist
odalisk
odorise
odorize
odylism
offline
offside
ogreish
ogreism
oilbird
oinking
ointing
okaying
oldwife
olefine
olefins
oligist
olivine
ologies
ologist
omening
omneity
onanism
onanist
onerier
onetime
ongoing
oodlins
ooftish
opacify
opacity
opaline
opening
opining
opinion
opioids
oporice
oracies
oralism
oralist
orality
orarian
orarion
orarium
orating
oration
orceins
orchids
orchils
ordains
orifice
origins
orphism
orthian
osseins
ostrich
otaries
otarine
otolith
ouching
ouglied
ouglies
ouguiya
ousting
oustiti
outbids
outcity
outfind
outfire
outfish
outfits
outgive
outhire
outhits
outjinx
outkick
outkill
outkiss
outlied
outlier
outlies
outline
outlive
outpity
outride
outrigs
outring
outside
outsing
outsins
outsits
outsize
outvied
outvies
outwick
outwile
outwill
outwind
outwing
outwins
outwish
outwith
outwits
ouvrier
ovality
ovarial
ovarian
ovaries
ovating
ovation
ovening
overing
ovicide
ovonics
owllike
oxazine
oxidise
oxidize
oxonium
oxslips
oxtails
ozalids
ozonide
ozonise
ozonize
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According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 369 words with the pattern -R--I--. That is, seven letter words with 2nd letter R and 5th letter I. In alphabetical order, they are:
arabica
arabins
arabise
arabize
aralias
aramids
archils
archine
arching
archive
arcking
arcmins
arcsine
arcsins
arctics
arctiid
ardrigh
areding
arefied
arefies
arenite
argling
arguing
aridity
arising
armlike
armoire
armpits
arraign
arshine
arshins
artsier
artsies
braaied
bracing
brakier
braking
brasier
brasils
braving
braxies
braying
brazier
brazils
brazing
bredies
breding
breiing
brevier
brevity
brewing
breying
bribing
bridies
briding
briming
brinier
brinies
brining
brinish
broking
bromide
bromids
bromine
bromins
bromise
bromism
bromize
brucine
brucins
brucite
brutify
bruting
brutish
brutism
bruxing
bruxism
craking
cranial
craning
cranium
crapier
craping
crating
craving
crazier
crazies
crazily
crazing
credits
creeing
cremini
crepier
creping
cretics
cretins
cretism
crevice
crewing
crimina
crimine
criming
crimini
criminy
crining
crinite
critics
crocine
crojiks
croming
cronies
cronish
crosier
crowing
crozier
crucial
crucian
crucify
crudity
crusian
crusies
crusily
cruzies
drapier
draping
drawing
draying
dreeing
drevill
driving
dronier
droning
dronish
droving
drusier
druxier
erasing
erasion
eremite
erinite
erlking
eroding
erodium
erosion
erosive
erotica
erotics
erotise
erotism
erotize
errhine
erudite
fragile
framing
franion
fraying
frazils
freeing
fremits
frizing
frolics
frowier
frutify
gracile
gracing
gradine
grading
gradini
gradino
gradins
granita
granite
grapier
graping
gratify
gratine
grating
gratins
gravida
gravies
graving
gravity
graying
grayish
grazier
grazing
grecian
grecise
grecize
greeing
gremial
grewing
greying
greyish
gricing
griding
grimier
grimily
griming
gripier
griping
grising
grodier
groning
groping
growing
grozing
grueing
grunion
gryding
irenics
iridial
iridian
iridise
iridium
iridize
irising
ironier
ironies
ironing
ironise
ironist
ironize
krising
oracies
oralism
oralist
orality
orarian
orarion
orarium
orating
oration
orceins
orchids
orchils
ordains
orifice
origins
orphism
orthian
praline
praties
prating
pravity
praying
prebids
prebill
prebind
precipe
precise
predial
predict
predied
predies
predive
preeing
prefile
prefire
prejink
prelife
prelims
premier
premies
premise
premiss
premium
premixt
prepill
preriot
preside
presift
preview
preving
previse
prewire
prexies
preying
pricier
pricily
pricing
pridian
priding
primine
priming
prising
privier
privies
privily
privity
prizing
probing
probits
probity
prodigy
profile
profits
proking
proline
proling
promine
promise
propine
prosier
prosify
prosily
prosing
protist
protium
provide
provine
proving
proviso
proxies
proximo
prudish
pruning
prurigo
prusiks
prysing
tracing
trading
tragics
traping
treeing
tremies
trenise
treviss
tricing
trilith
trining
trinity
tripier
tritide
tritium
trivial
trivium
troking
tromino
tropics
tropine
troping
tropins
tropism
tropist
trowing
trucial
trucing
trueing
uracils
uralite
uranian
uranias
uranide
uranins
uranism
uranite
uranium
urchins
uredial
uredine
uredium
uremias
uridine
urining
urnlike
urolith
writing
wrybill
1 answer
THE FOURTH MONOTHEISTIC RELIGION
by BV Bhagavat Maharaja & Isa das
Which religion is that? You may ask, and rightly so. Most academic and news articles usually talk about the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Even though these three religions share a common theological precept that there is one GOD ([1]El Kana) and no other, they are anything but unified in describing the path that the devotee must take to reach that one and only GOD.
Today we have attempts by all three religions to create interfaith harmony through theological fiats at ecumenical conferences that draw people's attention to the things that unify these three religions as opposed to their differences.
Hinduism (Vedic Religion, Sanatan Dharma) would like to join this dialog and be recognized as Monotheistic.
Hinduism (Vedic Religion Sanatan Dharma) appears to be a polytheistic theological conception where a pantheon of deities ([3]Angels) are worshiped, it is actually a systematic process of elevating each individual soul over one birth or millions ([4]Transmigration; Jewish) to greater and greater levels of faith in the divine existence of the one original and infallible GOD ([1]Kana).
In the Bhagavad Gita which is the book that many consider the Bible of the Vedic Religion, Lord Sri Krishna (Kana) who is understood to be GOD ([5]Allah), The Supreme Personality of Godhead explains.
"After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare." BG 7:19
"I am in everyone's heart as the Supersoul ([6]Lord in the heart; Jewish). As soon as one desires to worship the demigods ([3]Angels), I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to some particular deity." BG 7:21
"Endowed with such a faith, he seeks favors of a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone." BG 7:22
In these verses Lord Sri Krishna explains how the worship of the Demigods in the pantheon is for less intelligent persons who want the temporary material pleasures of the world and not the eternal spiritual pleasures of eternal spiritual life on HIS Spiritual Planet ([7]The Garden Of Eden). Furthermore HE explains that it is actually HE who provides such temporary material benefits by empowering the Demigods to provide them. Hence directly or indirectly all Human beings are worshiping that one Supreme Personality of Godhead.
There are many other evidences in the Vedic Scriptures of Lord Sri Krishna's position as the original Supreme Personality of Godhead , and as the source of, even Mahavishnu ([8]Metatron), Brahma ([9]Abraham), and Siva ([10]Shiva;Judaism) what to speak of lesser demigods like Indra, Ganesha, and Durga ([11]Jewish)
We find in the Vedas this definition of God all religions can agree on.
The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.
Sri Isopanisad Verse One
The point of this brief monograph is to give the reader an insight into the real nature of the Vedic Religion which in reality is monotheistic as opposed to polytheistic. The so called display of polytheism is only a device to appeal to the widest array of souls having a human experience.
God is always inviting us "Back home back to Godhead"
.............................................................
[1] The most holy of all names of God for a Jew is KNA or KANA, Rabbi's have slapped my face when I have said this name out loud.
This is considered to be the most intimate name for God in the Old Testament. Where it is translated, "I am a jealous God, have no other gods before you", the literal Hebrew translation is, "My name is EL KNA, have no other gods before you."
[2]From a Vedic (Hindu) view point, Kana is also an affectionate name of Krishna, The pronunciation used above "KRE ShTN" is very similar to the way south Indians pronounce Krishna.
[3]DEMIGODS AND ANGELS have the same function in both traditions.
a. The Midrash teaches, "There is no blade of grass that does not have a constellation (Mazal) over it, telling it to grow." [Sefer Yetzirah 4.6]
"As commentaries explain, 'God's providence works through the angels, but the angels, in turn, work through the stars and planets. As some authorities put it,the angels are, in a sense, like souls to the stars. Thus, for example, some sources speak of the stars as having intelligence, but the commentaries note that this is actually speaking of the angels that are associated with them.'" [Sefer Yetrzirah 4.6]
b. The Vedic conception is that there are many specially empowered demigods who help manage the affairs of the universe including the planets of our solar system.
The controlling demigods, although not eternal themselves, function within various posts that exist as long as the universe exists.
[4]Although the majority of sects within Judaism, Christianity and Islam do not believe that individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Kabbalah, the Cathars, theAlawi, the Druze[3] and the Rosicrucians.[4] The historical relations between these sects and the beliefs about reincarnation that were characteristic of the Neoplatonism, Orphism, Hermeticism, Manicheanism and Gnosticism of the Roman era, as well as the Indian religions, is unclear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmigration_of_the_soul
[5]In the "Old Testament" the 5 books of Moses, God explains that He is the beginning to the end. This same idea is expressed in the New Testament. Revelation 22:13, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. ThisEnglish usage of Alpha is based on the Hebrew Alef. Also in the Hindu (Vedic) scripture, Bagavad Gita, Krishna says "of letters I am A."
[6]When the soul is about to descend to this world, it first goes down to the terrestrial Garden of Eden and sees there the glory of the souls of the righteous, and then goes down to Gehinnom and sees the wicked who cry "Woe, woe", and find no compassion. That holy form (God) stands by him until he emerges into the world, after which it keeps him company and grows up with him." [The Zohar 43b] [KI TAZRIA (LEVITICUS)]
[7]Apiryon symbolizes the Palace below which is formed in the likeness of the Palace above. This the Holy one, blessed be He, calls 'The Garden of Eden,' for He created it in order to satisfy His own ardent desire for joyous and continual communion with the souls of the righteous who have their abode there-these being those souls who have no bodies in this world. These all ascend and are crowned in that place of perfect delight, and have each their appointed places from whence they can perceive the "loveliness of the Lord", and partake of all the delicious streams of pure balsam (aparsamon). This aparsamon symbolizes the hidden Supernal Palace, whereas apiryon is the Palace below." [Zohar 127a Terumah (Exodus)] In other words, there is a Garden of Eden in the eternal spiritual kingdom of God, and there is also a manifestation of the Garden of Eden that exists within the material world.
[8]Metatron in Origins of the Kabbalah where it is said, "Metatron is therefore not a proper name at all but a designation for the whole category of celestial powers performing a mission."[Origins of the Kabbalah, III, 6]
Regarding the revolving sword or flaming sword that revolves, it is said "the manner in which the sword rotates depends on the readiness of the individual attempting to enter. If he is worthy, it becomes the mirror through which he perceives, while if he is not worthy, he is burned out and cut off by the fire of this sword. The one who oversees the sword, preventing the unworthy from entering, is the angel Metatron." [Meditation and Kabbalah p 80 Chapter 4, Teachings of Rabbi Abraham Abulafia]
[9]Brahmä is said to have four heads. There is an obscure reference to a four-headed angel in the Talmud. It is said, "Angels are supposed to have no back and four faces, so always to be able to behold God."[Talmud, cf. Ezek i. 6] Also, many rabbis say that an ancient Abraham, with secondary creative power like Brahma is being referred to when speaking of Brahma.
There is a description of how the universe was in chaos until Abraham appeared. It is said, "Over the whole, there hovered Tohu (chaos) and as long as Tohu dominated, the whole world was not in being or existence. When did that key open the gates and make the world fruitful? It was when Abraham appeared." [Genesis II 4]
[10]Shiva (Judaism)
Among Sephardic Jews believe that every beracha (blessing) said elevates the neshama, (soul) of the deceased.
(see Sitting Shiva link below)
[11]"He summoned to issue from the side of Darkness a kind of female moon, which rules over the night, and is associated with Adonai, the Lord of all the earth. In his days, the moon was magnified and reached her fullness. A thousand mountains rose before her, and she blew them away with a puff. A thousand mighty rivers flowed before her, and she swallowed them at a draught. Her nails reached out in a thousand and seventy directions and her hands in twenty-four thousand, so that nothing could escape her. Thousands of bucklers clung to her hair. From between her feet went forth a youth who stretched from one end of the world to the other with sixty clubs of fire..." [Zohar]
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Pythagoras of Samos (Greek: Ὁ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, O Pūthagoras o Samios, "Pythagoras the Samian", or simply Ὁ Πυθαγόρας; born between 580 and 572 BC, died between 500 and 490 BC) was an Ionian Greek mathematician and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mystic and scientist; however some have questioned the scope of his contributions to mathematics and natural philosophy. Herodotus referred to him as "the most able philosopher among the Greeks". His name led him to be associated with Pythian Apollo; Aristippus explained his name by saying, "He spoke (agor-) the truth no less than did the Pythian (Pyth-)," and Iamblichus tells the story that the Pythia prophesied that his pregnant mother would give birth to a man supremely beautiful, wise, and beneficial to humankind.[1] He is best known for the Pythagorean theorem, which bears his name. Known as "the father of numbers", Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religious teaching in the late 6th century BC. Because legend and obfuscation cloud his work even more than with the other pre-Socratics, one can say little with confidence about his life and teachings. We do know that Pythagoras and his students believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were the ultimate reality and, through mathematics, everything could be predicted and measured in rhythmic patterns or cycles. According to Iamblichus of Chalcis, Pythagoras once said that "number is the ruler of forms and ideas and the cause of gods and daemons." He was the first man to call himself a philosopher, or lover of wisdom,[2] and Pythagorean ideas exercised a marked influence on Plato. Unfortunately, very little is known about Pythagoras because none of his writings have survived. Many of the accomplishments credited to Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues and successors. Pythagoras was born on Samos, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean, off the coast of Asia Minor. He was born to Pythais (his mother, a native of Samos) and Mnesarchus (his father, a Phoenician merchant from Tyre). As a young man, he left his native city for Croton, Calabria, in Southern Italy, to escape the tyrannical government of Polycrates. According to Iamblichus, Thales, impressed with his abilities, advised Pythagoras to head to Memphis in Egypt and study with the priests there who were renowned for their wisdom. He was also discipled in the temples of Tyre and Byblos in Phoenicia. It may have been in Egypt where he learned some geometric principles which eventually inspired his formulation of the theorem that is now called by his name. This possible inspiration is presented as an extraordinaire problem in the Berlin Papyrus. Upon his migration from Samos to Croton, Calabria, Italy, Pythagoras established a secret religious society very similar to (and possibly influenced by) the earlier Orphic cult. Pythagoras undertook a reform of the cultural life of Croton, urging the citizens to follow virtue and form an elite circle of followers around himself called Pythagoreans. Very strict rules of conduct governed this cultural center. He opened his school to both male and female students uniformly. Those who joined the inner circle of Pythagoras's society called themselves the Mathematikoi. They lived at the school, owned no personal possessions and were required to assume a mainly vegetarian diet (meat that could be sacrificed was allowed to be eaten). Other students who lived in neighboring areas were also permitted to attend Pythagoras's school. Known as Akousmatikoi, these students were permitted to eat meat and own personal belongings. Richard Blackmore, in his book The Lay Monastery (1714), saw in the religious observances of the Pythagoreans, "the first instance recorded in history of a monastic life." According to Iamblichus, the Pythagoreans followed a structured life of religious teaching, common meals, exercise, reading and philosophical study. Music featured as an essential organizing factor of this life: the disciples would sing hymns to Apollo together regularly; they used the lyre to cure illness of the soul or body; poetry recitations occurred before and after sleep to aid the memory. Flavius Josephus, in his polemical Against Apion, in defence of Judaism against Greek philosophy, mentions that according to Hermippus of Smyrna, Pythagoras was familiar with Jewish beliefs, incorporating some of them in his own philosophy. Towards the end of his life he fled to Metapontum because of a plot against him and his followers by a noble of Croton named Cylon. He died in Metapontum around 90 years old from unknown causes. Bertrand Russell, in A History of Western Philosophy, contended that the influence of Pythagoras on Plato and others was so great that he should be considered the most influential of all western philosophy.The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to take up mathematics, not only advanced this subject, but saturated with it, they fancied that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all things. -Aristotle, Metaphysics 1-5 , cc. 350 BC The organization was in some ways a school, in some ways a brotherhood, and in some ways a monastery. It was based upon the religious teachings of Pythagoras and was very secretive. At first, the school was highly concerned with the morality of society. Members were required to live ethically, love one another, share political beliefs, practice pacifism, and devote themselves to the mathematics of nature. Pythagoras's followers were commonly called "Pythagoreans". They are generally accepted as philosophical mathematicians who had an influence on the beginning of axiomatic geometry, which after two hundred years of development was written down by Euclid in The Elements. The Pythagoreans observed a rule of silence called echemythia, the breaking of which was punishable by death. This was because the Pythagoreans believed that a man's words were usually careless and misrepresented him and that when someone was "in doubt as to what he should say, he should always remain silent". Another rule that they had was to help a man "in raising a burden, but do not assist him in laying it down, for it is a great sin to encourage indolence", and they said "departing from your house, turn not back, for the furies will be your attendants"; this axiom reminded them that it was better to learn none of the truth about mathematics, God, and the universe at all than to learn a little without learning all. (The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall). In his biography of Pythagoras (written seven centuries after Pythagoras's time), Porphyry stated that this silence was "of no ordinary kind." The Pythagoreans were divided into an inner circle called the mathematikoi("mathematicians") and an outer circle called the akousmatikoi ("listeners"). Porphyry wrote "the mathematikoi learned the more detailed and exactly elaborated version of this knowledge, the akousmatikoi(were) those who had heard only the summary headings of his (Pythagoras's) writings, without the more exact exposition." According to Iamblichus, the akousmatikoi were the exoteric disciples who listened to lectures that Pythagoras gave out loud from behind a veil. The akousmatikoi were not allowed to see Pythagoras and they were not taught the inner secrets of the cult. Instead they were taught laws of behavior and morality in the form of cryptic, brief sayings that had hidden meanings. The akousmatikoi recognized the mathematikoi as real Pythagoreans, but not vice versa. After the murder of a number of the mathematikoi by the cohorts of Cylon, a resentful disciple, the two groups split from each other entirely, with Pythagoras's wife Theano and their two daughters leading the mathematikoi. Theano, daughter of the Orphic initiate Brontinus, was a mathematician in her own right. She is credited with having written treatises on mathematics, physics, medicine, and child psychology, although nothing of her writing survives. Her most important work is said to have been a treatise on the philosophical principle of the golden mean. In a time when women were usually considered property and relegated to the role of housekeeper or spouse, Pythagoras allowed women to function on equal terms in his society.[3] The Pythagorean society is associated with prohibitions such as not to step over a crossbar, and not to eat beans. These rules seem like primitive superstition, similar to "walking under a ladder brings bad luck". The abusive epithet mystikos logos ("mystical speech") was hurled at Pythagoras even in ancient times to discredit him. The prohibition on beans could be linked to favism, which is relatively widespread around the Mediterranean. The key here is that akousmatameans "rules", so that the superstitious taboos primarily applied to the akousmatikoi, and many of the rules were probably invented after Pythagoras's death and independent from the mathematikoi (arguably the real preservers of the Pythagorean tradition). The mathematikoi placed greater emphasis on inner understanding than did the akousmatikoi, even to the extent of dispensing with certain rules and ritual practices. For the mathematikoi, being a Pythagorean was a question of innate quality and inner understanding. There was also another way of dealing with the akousmata - by allegorizing them. We have a few examples of this, one being Aristotle's explanations of them: "'step not over a balance', i.e. be not covetous; 'poke not the fire with a sword', i.e. do not vex with sharp words a man swollen with anger, 'eat not heart', i.e. do not vex yourself with grief," etc. We have evidence for Pythagoreans allegorizing in this way at least as far back as the early fifth century BC. This suggests that the strange sayings were riddles for the initiated. The Pythagoreans are known for their theory of the transmigration of souls, and also for their theory that numbers constitute the true nature of things. They performed purification rites and followed and developed various rules of living which they believed would enable their soul to achieve a higher rank among the gods. Much of their mysticism concerning the soul seem inseparable from the Orphic tradition. The Orphics advocated various purificatory rites and practices as well as incubatory rites of descent into the underworld. Pythagoras is also closely linked with Pherecydes of Syros, the man ancient commentators tend to credit as the first Greek to teach a transmigration of souls. Ancient commentators agree that Pherekydes was Pythagoras's most intimate teacher. Pherekydes expounded his teaching on the soul in terms of a pentemychos ("five-nooks", or "five hidden cavities") - the most likely origin of the Pythagorean use of the pentagram, used by them as a symbol of recognition among members and as a symbol of inner health (ugieia). The Pythagorean theorem: The sum of the areas of the two squares on the legs (a and b) equals the area of the square on the hypotenuse (c).
Since the fourth century AD, Pythagoras has commonly been given credit for discovering the Pythagorean theorem, a theorem in geometry that states that in a right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle), c, is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides, band a-that is, a2 + b2 = c2. While the theorem that now bears his name was known and previously utilized by the Babylonians and Indians, he, or his students, are often said to have constructed the first proof. It must, however, be stressed that the way in which the Babylonians handled Pythagorean numbers, implies that they knew that the principle was generally applicable, and knew some kind of proof, which has not yet been found in the (still largely unpublished) cuneiform sources.[5] Because of the secretive nature of his school and the custom of its students to attribute everything to their teacher, there is no evidence that Pythagoras himself worked on or proved this theorem. For that matter, there is no evidence that he worked on any mathematical or meta-mathematical problems. Some attribute it as a carefully constructed myth by followers of Plato over two centuries after the death of Pythagoras, mainly to bolster the case for Platonic meta-physics, which resonate well with the ideas they attributed to Pythagoras. This attribution has stuck, down the centuries up to modern times.[6] The earliest known mention of Pythagoras's name in connection with the theorem occurred five centuries after his death, in the writings of Cicero and Plutarch. Today, Pythagoras is revered as a prophet by the Ahl al-Tawhid or Druze faith along with his fellow Greek, Plato. But Pythagoras also had his critics, such as Heraclitus who said that "much learning does not teach wisdom; otherwise it would have taught Hesiod and Pythagoras, and again Xenophanes and Hecataeus".[7] Pythagoras' religious and scientific views were, in his opinion, inseparably interconnected. Religiously, Pythagoras was a believer of metempsychosis. He believed in transmigration, or the reincarnation of the soul again and again into the bodies of humans, animals, or vegetables until it became moral. His ideas of reincarnation were influenced by ancient Greek religion. He was one of the first to propose that the thought processes and the soul were located in the brain and not the heart. He himself claimed to have lived four lives that he could remember in detail, and heard the cry of his dead friend in the bark of a dog. One of Pythagoras' beliefs was that the essence of being is number. Thus, being relies on stability of all things that create the universe. Things like health relied on a stable proportion of elements; too much or too little of one thing causes an imbalance that makes a being unhealthy. Pythagoras viewed thinking as the calculating with the idea numbers. When combined with the Folk theories, the philosophy evolves into a belief that Knowledge of the essence of being can be found in the form of numbers. If this is taken a step further, one can say that because mathematics is an unseen essence, the essence of being is an unseen characteristic that can be encountered by the study of mathematics. No texts by Pythagoras survive, although forgeries under his name - a few of which remain extant - did circulate in antiquity. Critical ancient sources like Aristotle and Aristoxenus cast doubt on these writings. Ancient Pythagoreans usually quoted their master's doctrines with the phrase autos ephe ("he himself said") - emphasizing the essentially oral nature of his teaching. Pythagoras appears as a character in the last book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, where Ovid has him expound upon his philosophical viewpoints. Pythagoras has been quoted as saying, "No man is free who cannot command himself." There is another side to Pythagoras, as he became the subject of elaborate legends surrounding his historic persona. Aristotle described Pythagoras as a wonder-worker and somewhat of a supernatural figure, attributing to him such aspects as a golden thigh, which was a sign of divinity. According to Aristotle and others' accounts, some ancients believed that he had the ability to travel through space and time, and to communicate with animals and plants.[8] An extract from Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable's entry entitled "Golden Thigh": Pythagoras is said to have had a golden thigh, which he showed to Abaris, the Hyperborean priest, and exhibited in the Olympic games.[9] Another legend, also taken from Brewer's Dictionary, describes his writing on the moon: Pythagoras asserted he could write on the moon. His plan of operation was to write on a looking-glass in blood, and place it opposite the moon, when the inscription would appear photographed or reflected on the moon's disc.[10]
One of Pythagoras's major accomplishments was the discovery that music was based on proportional intervals of the numbers one through four. He believed that the number system, and therefore the universe system, was based on the sum of these numbers: ten. Pythagoreans swore by the Tetrachtys of the Decad, or ten, rather than by the gods. Odd numbers were masculine and even were feminine. He discovered the theory of mathematical proportions, constructed from three to five geometrical solids. One member of his order, Hippasos, also discovered Irrational Numbers, but the idea was unthinkable to Pythagoras, and according to legend, Hippasos was executed. Pythagoras (or the Pythagoreans) also discovered square numbers. They found that if one took, for example, four small stones and arranged them into a square, each side of the square was not only equivalent to the other, but that when the two sides were multiplied together, they equaled the sum total of stones in the square arrangement, hence the name "Square Root"[11]. He was one of the first to think that the earth was round, that all planets have an axis, and that all the planets travel around one central point. He originally identified that point as Earth, but later renounced it for the idea that the planets revolve around a central "fire" that he never identified as the sun. He also believed that the moon was another planet that he called a "counter-Earth" - furthering his belief in the Limited-Unlimited. Pythagoras or in a broader sense, the Pythagoreans, allegedly exercised an important influence on the work of Plato. According to R. M. Hare, his influence consists of three points: a) the platonic Republic might be related to the idea of "a tightly organized community of like-minded thinkers", like the one established by Pythagoras in Croton. b) there is evidence that Plato possibly took from Pythagoras the idea that mathematics and, generally speaking, abstract thinking is a secure basis for philosophical thinking as well as "for substantial theses in science and morals". c) Plato and Pythagoras shared a "mystical approach to the soul and its place in the material world". It is probable that both have been influenced by Orphism.[12] Plato's harmonics were clearly influenced by the work of Archytas, a genuine Pythagorean of the third generation, who made important contributions to geometry, reflected in Book VIII of Euclid's Elements. In the legends of ancient Rome, Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, is said to have studied under Pythagoras. This is unlikely, since the commonly accepted dates for the two lives do not overlap. Pythagoras started a secret society called the Pythagorean brotherhood devoted to the study of mathematics. This had a great effect on future esoteric traditions, such as Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry, both of which were occult groups dedicated to the study of mathematics and both of which claimed to have evolved out of the Pythagorean brotherhood. The mystical and occult qualities of Pythagorean mathematics are discussed in a chapter of Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Agesentitled "Pythagorean Mathematics". Pythagorean theory was tremendously influential on later numerology, which was extremely popular throughout the Middle East in the ancient world. The 8th-century Muslim alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan grounded his work in an elaborate numerology greatly influenced by Pythagorean theory
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