from pythagoras to plato

Pythagoreanism was a philosophy that existed before the time of Socrates, founded by a Greek philosopher named Pythagoras. Those who find the name familiar often identify it with the Pythagorean Theorem from mathematics or possibly Pythagorean intervals in music. This is because Pythagoras and the followers of his philosophy made important discoveries in music and mathematics. How much of this is actually the work of Pythagoras himself as opposed to the work of his followers is unclear. In fact, little is known about Pythagoras himself since there are very few firsthand sources from the time period in which he lived (ca. 570 - ca. 490). Looking past all the legends about his life, most of our sources indicate that Pythagoras was a citizen of the Greek city state of Samos (near the coast of modern-day Turkey before fleeing his home due to the reign of a dictator name Polycrates. Most of our sources come from followers who were so far removed from the original movement, they were dubbed Neopythagoreans. Many of the things Neopythagoreans said about Pythagoras are mythological in nature. Some of the legends have him communicating with animals, living multiple lives, being in two places at once, even owning a Thracian god (Zalmoxis) as a slave.