The Vegetarian Philosopher Pythagoras

"Suddenly, Pythagoras came to a sudden halt. A vast fava bean field stretched before him. He stood frozen, uncertain what to do. His head turned from left to right, in desperation his gaze fell upon the closest beans stalks, just inches away from his papyrus-bound feet The voices of the angry mob grew louder each minute. His pursuers were catching up with him. Frightened, frozen by the thought of inflicting any harm to these most sacred of plants to him, thought of his own demise not as the end but rather one measly stop in the continuous journey of the immortal soul through all living creatures. Butchers cleavers, machetes and many other available weapons, which Pythagoras was so opposed to, came down hard on him spilling blood on his pure white robe, and on the plants which he held so dearly, and thus ending his life."

Pythagoras, the father of mathematics, was born and raised in Samos. around 580BCE. He is one of the most acclaimed pre-Socratic philosophers. Samos is a green island known for its mixed flora, full of mountains and plains, the most fertile of the latter being modern-day Pythagorio [named after the philosopher] and Marathòkampos. Olive groves are covering most of these plains.

Even though Pythagoras spent more than forty years in the beautiful island of his birth, he eventually decided to set sail for new adventures, overseas; his curiosity for wisdom led him to travel throughout most of the then known world, most notably Egypt and Babylon; centres of wisdom, knowledge and secret mystical rites, before according to most accounts settling down to Croton, a town in Magna Graecia, modern Southern Italy. He may have found eager pupils to follow him, and welcoming ears to listen to his preaching. Pythagoras the vegetarian claimed that this diet had, by Demeter, been taught to Hercules, when he was sent into the Libyan deserts. This preserved his body in an unchanging condition; not at one time well, and at another time sick, nor at one time fat, and at another lean.

Despite all his proclamations for vegetarianism, he strikes us curiously in his belief on not eating beans. Healthy, cheap, sustaining, nutritious beans and pulses in general, is what every, reasonable environmentalist is actually recommending nowadays! I think however, peas, chickpeas and lentils were fine, and only the fava beans were part of this controversial belief of his! He somehow was convinced that humans and beans were spawned from the same source, and he conducted a practical experiment to prove it; He buried a quantity of beans in mud, let them remain there for a few weeks, and then retrieved them. He noted their resemblance to human foetuses, thus convincing himself of the intimate relationship between beans and humans. To eat a bean would therefore be akin to eating human flesh. Equally, to crush, smash, or dirty a bean would be to harm a human. Thus the very strict rule to abstain from beans. Pythagoras, wrote nothing: his views were stated in "akousmata", oral teachings, and in the form of "symbola"; symbolic pronouncements whose inner logic, if any indeed existed is now lost or uncertain. Practically every detail of Pythagoras's beliefs was and is controversial. Many of the symbola concern food behaviour, or seem to do so.

In a way not unlike modern "wellness" programs the Vita Pythagorica was concerned with a healthy balanced diet. For breakfast Pythagoras prescribed, as part of his dietetics, honey and bread and for supper "bread made from millet or barley, cooked or raw vegetables, and on rare occasions meat from sacrificed animals, and even then not from every part of the animal." This is a reference to old Pythagorean rules that do not absolutely prohibit the eating meat, but only the consumption of certain parts of the animal, such as the heart. There is an elaborate recipe for power food that Pythagoras is said to have prepared before undertaking long stays in the innermost part of shrines (adyton) For the most part, when he was to penetrate the innermost parts of the gods' temples and wanted to spend some time there, he used foods that made him free from hunger and thirst. the "hunger-free" one (a-limos) he made from poppy seed, sesame seed and squill (or sea onion Drimia maritima) which were carefully washed until they were cleansed of the sap that surrounded them, also of asphodel stems, mallow leaves, barley flour & chickpeas; all these ingredients he cut in equal parts and moisten them with honey from mountain Ymittos in Attica. The "thirst-free" (a-dipsos) food he made of cucumber seeds and plump raisins, whose seeds he removed and also from coriander flowers and likewise from mallow seeds, purslane, and grated cheese, the finest wheat flour and milk fat;

But vegetarian or not, sage, philosopher, mathematician, he and his diet had its critics even in ancient times! A good Pythagorean reason for vegetarianism - relating to the transmigration of souls - is mocked by Archestratus a propos of the eating of shark;

-Cynulcus: Archestratus, whom you worship, for your belly's sake, on a par with Homer — D'and there is nothing more voracious than that,' to quote your friend Timon writes as follows an account of the shark 'Nay, not many mortals know of this heavenly viand or consent to eat it — all those mortals, that is, who possess the puny soul of the booby-bird and are smitten with palsy because, as they say, the creature is a man-eater. But every fish loves human flesh if it can get it. Wherefore it is the simple duty of all who talk such foolishness to betake themselves to vegetables, and going over to the philosopher Diodorus, Eto live abstemiously like Pythagoreans in his company...

Pythagoras and his followers -in the end became politically powerful in Croton. The "school" was more like a monastic communal place of living where pupils of all ages, and sexes would be taught the vital Pythagorean philosophical secrets. After living according to their ways for some time, it is believed that the Pythagoreans attempted to pressure the ordinary citizens of Croton into adopting their unique lifestyle. This, rather unfortunately, did not end well for the Pythagoreans. When the ordinary citizens were told that they must not eat beans and that they must, at all costs, abstain from eating meat, it was too much to bear. Either that or a rival group overcome with jealousy launched an attack on the Pythagoreans at a gathering of the sect, and the group was almost completely destroyed. Butchers cleavers & other available weapons, which Pythagoras was so opposed to, came down hard on him, spilling blood on his pure white robe, and on the plants which he held so dearly, thus ending his life; But not his wisdom!

Thanks for reading! For more about ancient vegetarianism, veganism and the foods of Pythagoras and other Greek philosophers listen to my episode about Pythagoras clicking the link below!

Pythagoras's Pies