 Comparison between the cosmology of the oral sayings ascribed to Pythagoras (the acusmata) and Philolaus’s cosmos shows that Philolaus’ system represents the transition from a cosmology that is primarily mythical to one that is primarily rational and scientific (Huffman 2013a). It remains possible that, while the system is intended to save the phenomena, some of its features may retain religious significance as well; some have argued that the counter-earth might be connected to a realm common in folklore where everything is “counter” to our world, a realm that often has connections to the world of the dead, Hades (Burkert 1972a, 347–8; Kingsley 1995, 186–7), but there are not good parallels for such a conception of Hades in the Greek tradition. Kingsley argues that the central fire is to be equated with Tartarus, a region even below Hades in Greek myth, and that the introduction of the counter earth and central fire is largely inspired by interpretation of Homer’s description of Hades and Tartarus as below the earth; Aristotle attests that the Pythagorean name for the central fire was  Dios phylakê, which Kingsley translates as “prison of Zeus,” which would accord with Tartarus’ function as the prison in which the Titans as well as humans damned to punishment were kept (1995, 183 ff.). The text on which Kingsley relies (Anatolius, On the Decad 6.13 Heiberg) does not mention Philolaus by name, however, and is not, in fact, likely to be referring to Philolaus. Moreover, Philolaus calls the central fire “the hearth,” whose positive connotations as the religious center of the house and state are hard to reconcile with its being the place of punishment, Tartarus. In addition, parallels show that, in the fifth and fourth century, the name  Dios phylakê refers to a garrison that guards Zeus or his palace rather than to a prison (Plato, Protagoras 321d). In mythical terms it thus appears that Philolaus conceived of the central fire as the fire that Zeus kept guarded in his palace and that Prometheus stole and gave to humanity. Philolaus’ cosmogony, in which the central fire draws in void and thus separates off parts of fire and spreads them to the rest of the cosmos thus replicates Prometheus’ theft in naturalistic terms. This connection to myth is confirmed by Plato’s description of Philolaus’ metaphysical system as hurled down from the gods to men by some Prometheus (Philebus 16c), but it is hard to know what religious significance Philolaus saw in the myth (see Huffman 2007 for a response to Kingsley’s points). 